Chesapeake Bay Foundation settles suit against EPA a day before cleanup plan to be announced

Chesapeake Bay Foundation settles suit against EPA

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has settled its lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, calling it a “game changer” for the health of the nation’s largest estuary.

The foundation had sued the federal agency over the slow pace of Chesapeake cleanup efforts, but put the suit on hold while the EPA developed a restoration strategy.

The settlement made public Tuesday comes a day before the EPA is to announce a strategy mandated last year under executive order by President Barack Obama.

The foundation says that unlike previous agreements, the settlement is a legally enforceable commitment requiring EPA to take specific actions to cut certain pollutants.

An EPA Deputy Administrator, Bob Perciasepe, has said the agency shares the foundation’s goals.