On March 30, 2012, Virginia submitted its final Phase II Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Submission of the Final Plan follows a draft Phase II WIP previously submitted on December 15, 2011. In the draft, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Douglas W. Domenech acknowledged that the results of local engagement efforts and strategies to meet required pollution reductions were not included in the draft plan, but he defended the draft stating that EPA’s timeframe for the state to convey, and the localities to produce such was too short.
Not surprisingly, when EPA issued its comments to Virginia’s draft Phase II plan and milestones, on February 15, 2012, it stated concerns that the plan “lack[ed] important detail pending local input…” and requested that “Virginia provide some of these local plans prior to the submission of the final Phase II WIP in order to give EPA a sense of the local input.”
Please see full publication below for more information.
