Chesapeake Bay Commission

The commission is a signatory to all agreements on matters regarding the bay, and advises Congress on bay-related issues.

[2] Since its inception, the Commission has led the adoption of hundreds of federal, multi-state, and state policies and laws in order to improve the environment of the bay.

[3] The Commission was a signatory to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983, which was also signed by the governors of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania; the Mayor of the District of Columbia; and the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The agreement recognized the need for a cooperative approach among the various governmental jurisdictions to address pollution problems in the bay, and established the Chesapeake Bay Program, an inter-agency partnership of federal and state agencies, academic institutions, citizen groups and non-governmental organizations.

[7] The full commission meets quarterly, and staff maintain offices in Annapolis, Maryland; Richmond, Virginia; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus addressing a Chesapeake Bay Commission conference on December 9, 1983. The 1983 Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed at the conference.