Wastewater utilities, municipalities and states are facing compliance with stringent new requirements for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment under a strict new “pollution diet” for the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The “diet,” announced by the Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 29, is known as the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). It establishes a legal framework to ensure that six states and the District of Columbia meet the new requirements established to restore the bay to health by 2025. The jurisdictions affected are Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and D.C.