More Feedback on Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Plan

Since the federal government issued a draft of its comprehensive plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay last week, local environmentalists have begun to react. According to this article in the Maryland Daily Record, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is concerned that the plan lacks details. In blog post on its web site, CBF calls the plan "disappointing because it lacks specific goals, deadlines, programs and strategies."

Meanwhile, Environment Maryland is distressed that it leaves too much up to the states, as you can read in their press release, here. The Capital, out of Annapolis, reports on the "wiggle room" left in the plan for the states to try it their way first, here.

On the other side of the issue, the Maryland government is concerned that the plan will unfairly crack down on Maryland poultry farmers for runoff from chicken waste, as the Baltimore Sun reported here. (They may be justified in their concerns that poultry farmers in their state will face tougher regulations. But ultimately, compliance shouldn't impose a huge financial burden, as I mentioned here. And if one Illinois farmer and attorney is to be believed, the EPA is out to get concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs, aka factory farms) anyway, as you can read in his article about how "EPA is targeting CAFOs!" across the country, complete with exclamation points, here!).

The Baltimore Sun, meanwhile, thinks that the concern from both sides is a sign that the plan just may work, as you can read here.