Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has directed Brian Frosh, the state’s attorney general, to pursue legal action against Pennsylvania as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in regards to pollution of the Chesapeake Bay.
The governor gave the direction Wednesday in a letter to Attorney General Frosh.
The letter alleges that Pennsylvania has repeatedly fallen short of necessary pollution reduction goals. Gov. Hogan wrote that litigation against the EPA is for “failing to enforce the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).”
According to the governor, Pennsylvania has proposed a draft Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) that would fall short of its agreed-upon 2025 pollution reduction target date.
It’s alleged that the EPA has made excuses for Pennsylvania and downplayed the enforceability of the TMDL.
“Maryland is a leader in bay restoration and plans to continue to fight to enhance and preserve this national treasure,” the governor wrote.
The direction from Gov. Hogan follows an August 2018 letter sent to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Andrew Wheeler, an EPA administrator.
In that letter, Gov. Hogan wrote that Maryland has “alarming concerns regarding Pennsylvania’s progress on clean water” and that the commonwealth falls short of the federally established nitrogen goal by achieving 73% of the required reduction.
