Providing Meaningful Water Quality Improvements Through Collaboration and Oversight of Federal Support

What it does

• •Revokes Executive Order 13508 (May 12, 2009), which established broad mandates for states and municipalities to improve Chesapeake Bay environmental health.
• •Directs six federal agencies (War, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and EPA) to assess and refocus their Chesapeake Bay support on direct, on-the-ground projects in high-need areas with measurable water quality impacts, redirecting funding away from activities that do not generate measurable progress.
• •Instructs the EPA to coordinate with seven Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions to assess financial burdens from stormwater management fees, explore alternatives that do not increase resident costs, and encourage repeal of such fees.
• •Requires that strategies for bay health prioritize objective metrics, proven water management practices, empirical data, and measurable performance indicators such as sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen load reductions.

Why it matters

• •The order cites significant progress in pollution reduction (100% of sediment goals met, 90% of phosphorus goals met as of 2025) and projections of the smallest dead zone since 1985, suggesting that prior mandates may no longer be necessary.
• •The order addresses claimed economic hardship by asserting that stormwater fees (rain taxes) imposed under the previous order have burdened residents and small businesses without generating measurable bay improvements, and seeks to eliminate or reduce such fees.
• •The order emphasizes accountability and efficiency by requiring federal agencies to focus resources on demonstrable water quality outcomes rather than broadly mandated programs.

Who is affected

• •Federal agencies: the Departments of War, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Homeland Security, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• •State and local governments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
• •Residents and small businesses in Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions that currently pay stormwater management fees.

What happens next

The order is effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register; federal agencies must begin reassessing their Chesapeake Bay programs and the EPA must initiate coordination with state and local governments to assess fee burdens and explore alternatives.