May 12, 2009 was an historic day for the Chesapeake Bay. That morning, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order that declared the Bay a national treasure and ushered in a new era of federal leadership in protecting and restoring the Chesapeake and the thousands of streams, creeks and rivers in its watershed. This was the first-ever Executive Order on the Chesapeake Bay and the first Executive Order on an environmental issue by President Obama, which are signs that a restored Bay is incredibly important to the nation and the current administration.
Under the Executive Order, EPA and the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Transportation are working on new approaches to restore the Chesapeake Bay and reduce water pollution in communities throughout the Bay’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to 17 million people. A new strategy must be finalized and published within one year of the President’s Executive Order. Read more about the Executive Order and ongoing work.
This website was launched to increase government transparency during the Executive Order process and expand public participation in the development of new approaches for cleaning up the Bay and its watershed. Read more about the website launch.
In the weeks and months ahead, you can visit this website to learn about the latest developments, documents and meetings related to the Executive Order. The federal agencies also want to hear from you, so please share your thoughts under the Provide Feedback section or by posting after blog entries. You can also use the tools under Stay Connected to track what is happening with the Executive Order. Use the RSS feed, Twitter updates page for news and information. Visit the YouTube channel for videos and Flickr for photos.
President Obama’s Executive Order has created a landmark opportunity to create cleaner water in the Chesapeake Bay, provide more public access, protect wildlife and habitat, improve scientific understanding, and deal with the impacts of climate change. Please use this website to stay informed and active in making the most of this unprecedented opportunity for our nation’s largest estuary. Learn more about the Chesapeake Bay and restoration efforts on the Chesapeake Bay Program website.