November 23rd, 2017 by WCBC Radio
If the Senate does not restore a deep, House-passed cut in federal funding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, the ripple effect on Maryland conservation efforts could be far larger than what the state would lose in actual dollars, according to program supporters.
WTOP reports that for the fourth consecutive year, House appropriators in September slashed funding for the EPA’s Chesapeake program by 20 percent, to $60 million.
In past years, the Senate restored the cut, maintaining annual funding for the program at $73 million, more than $12 million of which went to Maryland in 2016, according to an analysis done by the Choose Clean Water Coalition.
But with the retirement of Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who was the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, past is no longer precedent.
.jpg)
