State says its Bay cleanup plan is 'cost-effective'

Virginia released its plan Tuesday for hastening the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, promising a "sensible, fair and cost-effective" approach for reducing pollution from farms, development sites, storm drains and sewage systems over the next two decades.

The report also takes a few swipes at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama administration for pursuing a more aggressive policy toward the Bay during an economic recession, and it questions a federal reliance on computer models, instead of scientific results, to support the effort.

"Governor McDonnell has expressed his concerns about the cost, science, authority, allocations, and timeliness in the development of the EPA mandates and process," Doug Domenech, Virginia's secretary of natural resources, wrote in a cover letter dated Sept. 3.

Domenech estimated that implementing the plan will cost "billions in new money," much of it on the shoulders of agriculture, and will be successful only if the federal government ponies up more money.

Despite the critical tone, Virginia is cooperating with five other states and the District of Columbia in the federal drive to accelerate the cleanup. Its goal: to remove the Bay from a national list of polluted waters by 2025.

After more than 30 years of restoration efforts, the Bay continues to suffer from too many nutrients and sediments mucking up its ecology. The Bay is slowly choking from excessive algae growth, scant oxygen and poor water quality.

Among other actions in the plan, Virginia intends to:

- Help 90 percent of the state's farmers reduce pollution from their livestock and fields, mostly by crafting conservation plans that would define the smartest remedies.

- Limit the sale of lawn and turf fertilizers that contain phosphorus.

- Offer incentives to home-owners who replace old septic systems with nitrogen-reducing technologies.

- Require nutrient management plans for all golf courses and publicly owned lands in order to curb pollution from them.

Environmental groups were less than wowed by the report, saying it lacked specifics and commitment.

"It seems to be more of the same vague promises," said Mike Gerel, a senior scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, based in Richmond.

Gerel compared the plan to writing an outline for losing weight, but without saying what foods or actions a dieter intends to avoid.

"There's all these phrases like, 'We intend to explore this,' and 'We may consider that.' But until you say what exactly you're going to do, it's just another plan. Diets don't work that way."

David Paylor, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, said the state wants to expand its use of "nutrient trading" to cut pollutants damaging the Bay.

It works this way: If a sewage plant wants to expand and release more nutrients into the Bay, it first must find a way to offset the new pollution.

Virginia wants the freedom to "trade between sources," Paylor explained. In the case of the sewage plant, the owner could purchase pollution credits from a local farmer who had just planted trees or created a buffer from a nearby creek.

This way, he said, the farmer is compensated for doing the right thing and the owner has found a way to safely expand his or her plant.

To implement such a program, the state General Assembly would likely have to pass a new law. Paylor said he expected to see such legislation as early as next year.

Virginia filed its 117-page plan to the EPA on Friday, two days past a Sept. 1 deadline. Five other states - Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New York - as well as Washington, D.C., turned in their plans on time.

The EPA will review them and either accept them or ask for changes.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com