Providing Meaningful Water Quality Improvements Through Collaboration and Oversight of Federal Support

Summary: This executive order, signed September 16, 2026, revokes the 2009 Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration order and redirects federal Chesapeake Bay efforts toward measurable, direct water-quality projects. Rationale: Executive Order 13508 (2009) is characterized as having created a vague 17-year mandate for states and localities to improve Bay health without clear implementation guidance, which some jurisdictions used to justify stormwater management fees ("rain taxes") costing residents hundreds of dollars annually with little demonstrated environmental benefit. The order notes that Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, D.C., Delaware, West Virginia) have made progress: 100% of their sediment reduction goal, 90% of phosphorus reduction goal, and 57% of nitrogen reduction goal as of 2025, with the 2026 dead zone projected to be among the smallest since 1985 (31% below the long-term average), citing research from William & Mary, VIMS, FlowWest, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Actions: Section 2: Formally revokes Executive Order 13508. Section 3: Directs the Secretaries of War, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and the EPA Administrator to redirect agency resources toward direct, high-impact, on-the-ground water quality projects rather than activities without measurable progress. The EPA must coordinate with the six watershed states and D.C. to assess stormwater fee burdens on residents, find cost-neutral ways to support Bay health, and encourage repeal of stormwater fees. All strategies must be grounded in objective, data-driven performance metrics (e.g., sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen load reductions). Standard provisions: Preserves existing agency authorities and OMB functions, requires implementation consistent with law and available funding, creates no enforceable private rights, and assigns publication costs to the EPA.