EPA applauds Virginia's revised Bay plan

The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that Virginia's amended plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay is "significantly improved on all counts" compared with one submitted in September.

Still, a senior EPA official, Jeff Corbin, could not say whether the plan goes far enough to meet a proposed federal "pollution diet" that seeks to restore the Bay over the next 15 years.

If the plan is deemed inadequate, the EPA has threatened to impose its own "backstops," or strict mandates, on Virginia and five other states and the District of Columbia, which all influence the Bay.

"Our goal is to have a plan that is strong enough in Virginia so we don't impose backstops," Corbin said in a telephone interview. "I can't say today that we're there yet, mostly because we just cracked open the plan last night."

Maryland and New York missed a Monday deadline for filing their final cleanup plans, but Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia all submitted theirs on time, said EPA spokesman David Sternberg.

Also Tuesday, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation applauded the McDonnell administration for turning in a revised plan that is more detailed and more aggressive than the initial version, which the group sharply criticized.

"We are encouraged by the new commitments outlined in the final plan," said Ann Jennings, the foundation's executive director in Virginia.

However, Jennings said, the foundation still sees shortcomings in how the state intends to cut nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment - the three main pollutants plaguing the Bay - especially with agricultural runoff, which can be rich in fertilizer, manure and dirt.

"We anticipate the EPA will have no choice but to impose backstop... measures, which could result in increased EPA oversight," Jennings said.

The Virginia Farm Bureau, meanwhile, continues to have its own problems with the aggressive move from the EPA and the Obama administration to set regulations on cropland and livestock farms.

Speaking at a conference Tuesday, Farm Bureau Federation President Wayne Pryor said farmers are willing to do their part to help the Bay, "but this must be positive change that helps farmers, not mandatory regulations."

The new state plan leans more heavily on sewage treatment plants to cut nitrogen and phosphorus discharges - a move that environmental groups had requested.

Overall, the state is aiming to cut 2.6 million more pounds of nitrogen from plants that release treated wastes into the James River alone. That would mean plants operated by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District probably would have to upgrade their facilities to meet the cleaner goal.

Ted Henifin, who heads the district, said Tuesday that the new plan is "doable" and better than tough backstops threatened by the EPA.

He estimated that it could cost $150 million to modernize plants on the James River.

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