Congressmen Say Bush Budget Hurts the Bay

Contact: By: Pamela Wood, Staff Writer

President Bush's proposed budget includes more than $75 million in cuts to Chesapeake Bay programs, prompting criticism from politicians and environmental activists.

The spending plan would cut programs that teach children about the bay, preserve land, restore oysters and pay for sewage upgrades.

Some of Maryland's congressmen say the president's budget shortchanges the effort to clean up the bay.

"The administration's proposal leaves us far short of the amount necessary to significantly improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay," Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-St. Mary's, said in a statement. Mr. Hoyer is the House majority leader.

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., chimed in as well, calling the budget "deeply disappointing."

"If the president's budget were enacted, it would be devastating for the bay," he said.

According to Mr. Cardin's and Mr. Hoyer's offices, the proposed cuts affecting the bay include:

• $58.7 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps to pay for sewage plant upgrades.

• $3.5 million for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training Program, which provides field trips for school children. The program, nicknamed "B-WET," is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• $4 million from land preservation programs.
• $1.6 million from the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Eastport, dropping the office's total budget to $1.9 million.
• $5.15 million from NOAA's oyster-restoration programs, dropping funding to $850,000.
• $1.125 million from the Army Corps of Engineers oyster-restoration projects.
• $1.5 million by eliminating the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, a part of the National Park Service that links and promotes parks and museums in the watershed.

The federal Chesapeake Bay Program, which is headquartered in Eastport and oversees the bay cleanup, would get $28.8 million, about the same as last year.

Doug Siglin, a federal lobbyist for the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation, was blunt in his assessment.

"The administration's proposal doesn't help move us to the goal of cleaning up the bay by 2010," he said. "It doesn't do anything for us."

The federal budget year begins in October, so members of Congress have until then to make changes in the president's proposal.

Mr. Cardin noted that the Chesapeake-area lawmakers will have to work hard to push the bay higher up the funding ladder.

"Obviously, this is a tough budget year with the war in Iraq and the president's priorities not lined up for helping environmental problems," he said.