President Donald Trump has revoked a 2009 Chesapeake Bay restoration order and directed federal agencies to shift money and staff toward projects that produce measurable reductions in nutrient and sediment pollution.
The new order also tells the Environmental Protection Agency to work with New York and five other watershed states to assess local stormwater fees and encourage their repeal where possible.
Federal agencies must prioritize direct projects
The order applies to the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Interior and Defense, along with the EPA. Each must review its support for Chesapeake Bay health and prioritize work in areas of greatest need.
Federal resources are to move away from activities that do not show measurable progress under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and toward projects that directly reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the bay and its tributaries.
Agencies must use documented performance measures and strategies supported by scientific analysis. Implementation remains subject to existing law and available funding.
The White House said EPA changes in fiscal 2026 reduced annual administrative spending by nearly $1 million and increased funding distributed to the six watershed states and Washington, D.C., by $2.7 million over the previous year.
Order challenges local stormwater charges
Trump revoked Executive Order 13508, signed in 2009, arguing that its broad requirements lacked clear implementation standards and contributed to local stormwater charges the administration calls “rain taxes.”
The EPA must coordinate with New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to measure the financial burden of those fees.
The agency is also directed to explore water-quality approaches that do not increase individual residents' costs and encourage states and municipalities to rescind stormwater charges.
Local governments commonly use stormwater fees to maintain drainage infrastructure and reduce runoff. The new order does not directly invalidate those local charges or create a private right to challenge them.
Administration cites progress and remaining pollution
The order says watershed jurisdictions had met their collective sediment-reduction target by 2025 and reached 90% of the phosphorus target and 57% of the nitrogen target.
It also cites a 2026 scientific projection that the bay's annual low-oxygen “dead zone” would be about 31% smaller than the long-term average and among the smallest recorded since 1985.
The administration said those gains support replacing the earlier federal framework with programs focused on direct, measurable projects. Future federal support will continue under the Clean Water Act and the revised 2025 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
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