Chesapeake Bay Program

By combining the resources and unique strengths of each individual organization, the Chesapeake Bay Program is able to follow a unified plan for restoration.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Congress funded scientific and estuarine research of the Chesapeake Bay, which pinpointed three areas that required immediate attention: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report in September 1983, based on seven years of research on the bay.

[1][2] In December 1983 the governors of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania; the mayor of the District of Columbia; and the EPA Administrator signed The Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983.

Since the signing of 1983 agreement, the Chesapeake Bay Program has adopted two additional agreements that provide overall guidance for Chesapeake Bay restoration: Since the creation of the program, Congress has provided annual appropriations, and the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture have provided the majority of federal agency funds.

Additional significant funding amounts from federal agencies have been provided by the Departments of Defense, Interior and Commerce.

Map of the Chesapeake Bay watershed
EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus addressing a Chesapeake Bay Commission conference on December 9, 1983. The 1983 Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed at the conference.
Organization chart of the Chesapeake Bay Program