Bill creating Chesapeake National Recreation Area dies in Congress

Christine Condon, The Baltimore Sun on Dec 26, 2024

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After passing the U.S. Senate, a bill that would have established the Chesapeake National Recreation Area fell short in the 118th Congress, but advocates are hoping to ride the momentum into next year.

The bill would have linked natural and historical sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed under the banner of the National Park Service, including several sites in the Annapolis area.

“We’re closer than ever to elevating the Chesapeake Bay to iconic American landscapes like Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Tetons,” wrote Joel Dunn, outgoing president and CEO of the Chesapeake Conservancy, in a statement.

“As advocates look to the next Congress, this momentum has brought together a bipartisan coalition of elected officials, local communities, national and regional advocates with a shared goal,” Dunn said.

On Dec. 18, the bill received unanimous support on the floor of the U.S. Senate, but the House of Representatives did not vote on the bill before leaving Washington for the holidays.

In a statement, Maryland U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a bill sponsor, said the legislation’s progress, since its initial introduction in 2023, was noteworthy even though the clock ran out.

“To advance legislation this far on its own often takes years, and I’m proud that we were able to get this close to the finish line in less than two,” he wrote. “The progress we have made strengthens our resolve to make our vision for the CNRA a reality, and I’ll be pushing hard in the new year to get this done.”

Bay advocates did, however, notch a victory when the House and Senate passed a renewed America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, re-upping several key government programs for the bay restoration effort through 2030.

That list includes the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which coordinates the multi-state cleanup effort for the nation’s largest estuary. President Joe Biden still must sign the legislation, which reauthorizes the Bay Program at $92 million per year.

It comes at a pivotal moment for the Program, which is going back to the drawing board in 2025 to come up with an achievable pollution reduction plan for the bay, after bay states missed a 2025 deadline for curbing the flow of harmful nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus into the estuary.

The bay states did achieve some reductions, mainly by improving wastewater treatment plants, but reductions in pollution from stormwater and agricultural operations have been a challenge.

Other 2025 goals, including those focused on fish passage and blue crab management, are on course to be achieved.

“With the 2025 deadline fast approaching and a new presidential administration about to take office, the Bay restoration effort is at a critical juncture,” wrote Chesapeake Bay Foundation federal director Keisha Sedlacek in a statement earlier this month. “Renewing the ACE Act will ensure the Bay jurisdictions and their federal partners have the resources and authority they need to tackle coming challenges.”

The Bay Program may not have a friend in President-elect Donald Trump, who several times attempted to zero out or dramatically reduce funding for the office. But it was Trump who originally signed the ACE Act into law in 2020.

This year’s ACE bill would also reauthorize the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways Program at $3 million annually and the Chesapeake WILD Program from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at $15 million.

Both administer grant funding opportunities for bay-related projects. The Gateways program promotes a network of bay sites to the public.

“These resources will strengthen our efforts to improve water quality, restore the Bay, and enhance public access to Maryland’s natural treasures,” Van Hollen, a sponsor for the bill, said in a statement after its passage.

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