Trump rescinds Obama-era order that overhauled Chesapeake Bay cleanup

President Donald Trump rescinded an Obama-era executive order Wednesday that had organized the federal response to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup for nearly two decades.

The announcement repeals a decree, signed by former President Barack Obama in 2009, that was seen as a landmark step in the federal government’s leadership of the Chesapeake Bay restoration. States in the watershed have pledged to clean up the bay for over four decades, but the Obama order overhauled the federal government’s involvement and laid out new pollution standards for animal farms, sewage treatment plants and stormwater from developed land.

In a fact sheet published Wednesday, Trump’s White House called the Obama order “outdated and misguided.” The president directed federal agencies to steer funds away from programs that “do not create measurable progress” toward cleanup goals.

The announcement marks perhaps the sharpest attack on the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort in Trump’s second term.

During his previous term, Trump repeatedly tried to slash federal support for the Chesapeake Bay Program, the federally organized initiative that helms much of the cleanup across the six-state watershed. Though the Trump administration has cut support for many environmental programs important to restoring the bay, he has so far left federal funding for that key bay initiative untouched.

Wednesday’s announcement drew condemnation from the head of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a leading advocacy organization, who argued that Trump now hopes to “destroy the bay restoration by executive order” after his attempts to eliminate funding failed.

The Obama order ensured federal leadership on the bay restoration for 17 years, foundation president Hilary Harp Falk said in a statement, and its repeal “undermines the federal government’s role while eroding the ability of states and local governments to fix problems ranging from pollution to flooding.”

In addition to outlining a new federal strategy, the Obama order preceded the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s sweeping pollution diet for the estuary, a standard that has governed regulations and targets for nutrient contamination in the bay ever since.

In its announcement, the White House cited recent milestones in the bay cleanup effort as justification for rolling back the Obama administration decree. Trump’s order singled out local stormwater fees — frequently slammed by critics as a “rain tax” — which cities and counties levy on households to help finance runoff management.

Trump’s previous efforts to wipe out or slash funding for the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program in his first budget were all blocked by Congress.

Falk warned Wednesday that “playing politics with the Bay is a risky proposition.”

The restoration effort has long drawn strong bipartisan support from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, she said. “Now is the time for leaders in Congress, the states, and local communities to step up and defend the Chesapeake Bay movement.”