UPDATE: Obama officials seek new steps to restore Chesapeake Bay

BAY REPORT: Read the executive summary

The Obama administration proposed new requirements and incentives yesterday for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

The draft plans call for developing new regulations to reduce runoff pollution from urban, suburban and farm lands.

The plans also call for better enforcing current pollution laws and punishing states -- by withholding federal money, for example -- that allow too much pollution in bay waters.

"The poor health of the Chesapeake remains one of our nation's most significant environmental challenges," said Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition, the plans suggest increasing the voluntary participation of farmers in conservation programs, incorporating climate-change concerns in bay cleanup plans, and increasing the protection of open lands.

The administration is scheduled to release a more-detailed draft in November and a final plan in May.

Federal and state governments pledged in 1983 to clean the bay, but the estuary remains badly polluted.

Howard R. Ernst, a U.S. Naval Academy political scientist who has written widely about the bay, said the draft plans sound good but are vague.

It remains to be seen, Ernst said, if President Barack Obama's administration can institute significant cleanup measures in the face of opposition from farmers, developers and other affected parties. "To say that the EPA is moving in the right direction is not to suggest that real progress is inevitable."

William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group, generally applauded the plans but said they need strengthening.

For example, Baker said, the report virtually ignores air pollution. Scientists say much of the pollution hurting the bay stems from emissions from power plants, cars and other sources as far away as the Midwest.

Representatives for the Virginia Farm Bureau and the Home Builders Association of Virginia said they needed more time to study the plans.

During a telephone news conference featuring Obama officials, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said his agency plans to set aside up to $638 million over the next five years for farm incentives and other measures to help the bay.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said the government might expand wildlife refuges or parks in the bay region. Wild lands help absorb pollution.

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said: "I am pleased that the long-term health of the Chesapeake Bay is such a high priority of this administration."

A separate but related plan, detailing specifically how to get the bay and its tributaries down to acceptable pollution levels, is expected in late 2010 or early 2011. Federal and state officials are working on that one.

In a related matter, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., said this week that he would push legislation to strengthen the Clean Water Act and bolster the bay cleanup.

Cardin's proposal would include $1.5 billion in new grants to control urban storm-water pollution and establish a pollution "trading" program to give farmers new financial incentives to reduce polluted runoff.

Thursday:

President Barack Obama's administration released draft plans today for restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

The strategies include increasing the voluntary participation of farmers in conservation programs; incorporating climate-change concerns in bay cleanup plans; increasing the protection of open lands; and reducing storm-water runoff from federal lands.

The administration is scheduled to release more-detailed plans late this year.

Federal and state governments pledged in 1983 to clean the bay, but the polluted estuary has seen little improvement.

The bay is contaminated by runoff from farms, lawns and streets as well as by air pollution and discharges from sewage-treatment plants.