|
|
|
EPA's
Chesapeake Bay Program
Chesapeake Bay Partner Communities and The Community Environmental Review Program In 1995 the Chesapeake Executive Council, comprised of the Governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., the Chairman of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and the Administrator of the E.P.A., adopted the Local Government Participation Initiative, which established goals and objectives to strengthen local government efforts in the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. As part of this Initiative, the E.P.A.’s Chesapeake Bay Program contracted Redman/Johnston Associates to help develop programs that broadened the role of local governments in the Bay clean-up and restoration effort, and to increase understanding of the issues that local governments face in addressing the challenges of this effort. Redman/Johnston Associates, working with representatives from state and local governments in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C., developed the Chesapeake Bay Partner Communities program and the Community Environmental Review program. These programs assist local governments within the Bay watershed in their Bay restoration and protection efforts through the initiation of environmental and natural resource protection measures, growth management and community revitalization policies, and education programs for citizens and businesses. The Chesapeake Bay Partner Communities program recognizes local government efforts. Communities participating in the Bay Partner program are evaluated and awarded Bay Partner Community status based on their population size and their ability to achieve benchmarks in six categories which include Development that Works, Preventing Pollution, Conserving and Preserving Living Resources, Valuing Trees and Forests, Conserving the Countryside / Revitalizing Communities and Community Participation. Since the inception of the Bay Partner program in 1997, over 50 communities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia have been recognized for their outstanding efforts in each of the six categories. The Community Environmental Review program assists local government efforts. The Review helps communities assess their natural and built environments, identifies sources of pollution that are affecting the health of those environments, and provides recommended actions that communities may consider to better manage local resources, minimize adverse environmental impacts, and protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. Recommended actions range from innovative natural resource protection plans to land management and economic development techniques that, when employed, will help ensure the future health and well being of the community itself and the Chesapeake Bay.
Peter Johnston & Associates, LLC 416 Goldsborough Street Easton Maryland 21601 Telephone 410.822.9630 Fax 410.820.5039 Email plj@peterjohnstonassociates.com |