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U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said Tuesday complying with new federal pollution standards for waters that make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed will be costly to upstate New York.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released its proposed Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load requirements that sets limits on various chemicals discharged into the water system.
Reed, R-Corning, echoed the concerns of other elected officials and agencies claiming the new regulations would require billions of dollars in investment to attain.
Reed called the new regulations “crippling.”
“Who is going to pay for this? Our taxpayers, farmers and businesses simply cannot afford it,” Reed said.
The draft regulation would set limits on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution discharged into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries by various pollution sources.
It calls for 25 percent reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus, averaged across the bay watershed that encompasses New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
However, the draft would require even steeper reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus discharge in New York’s portion of the watershed, which includes 21 counties including Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler and Yates.
“Just 10 percent of the water in the Chesapeake Bay originates in New York,” Reed said. “That water leaves New York much cleaner than it arrives in the Chesapeake.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said Tuesday complying with new federal pollution standards for waters that make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed will be costly to upstate New York.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released its proposed Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load requirements that sets limits on various chemicals discharged into the water system.
Reed, R-Corning, echoed the concerns of other elected officials and agencies claiming the new regulations would require billions of dollars in investment to attain.
Reed called the new regulations “crippling.”
“Who is going to pay for this? Our taxpayers, farmers and businesses simply cannot afford it,” Reed said.
The draft regulation would set limits on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution discharged into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries by various pollution sources.
It calls for 25 percent reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus, averaged across the bay watershed that encompasses New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
However, the draft would require even steeper reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus discharge in New York’s portion of the watershed, which includes 21 counties including Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler and Yates.
“Just 10 percent of the water in the Chesapeake Bay originates in New York,” Reed said. “That water leaves New York much cleaner than it arrives in the Chesapeake.”
