Troubled Waters — Charting a New Course for Restoring the Chesapeake Bay
With decades of experience representing discharges in all sectors, particularly those involving use, development and improvement of the land, Hunton & Williams is now forming an alliance of builders and developers to proactively address the unique and challenging regulatory issues in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. BARGE will advocate on behalf of the development community to ensure that new laws, regulations and policies aimed at regulating discharges from development activity are based on sound science and policy and do not unfairly burden the development community. Given Hunton & Williams' extensive work and established relationships with the many stakeholders involved in Bay restoration, BARGE will also seek to identify innovative and cost-effective solutions for its members to meet these new requirements.
The formation of this alliance is driven by the ongoing focus to restore the Bay and the start of a new regulatory approach. The proposed new TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay will be at the center of this new approach and will set enforceable limits and caps for discharges from development activity. It will change the current schemes and allocations used by the States and may reallocate the available allocation of nutrients, sediments and other pollutants in the Bay region. The development community needs to be involved in this process to ensure that the community's interests are thoughtfully represented and that there are sufficient allocations to continue to grow and build in the region.
Hunton & Williams brings its well recognized leadership in environmental issues to the problems facing the development community in the Chesapeake Bay region. Our environmental experience on issues related to the Bay and on water quality issues in the Region is unique and provides a level of understanding and commitment to these issues that existing organizations cannot provide. Our team, composed of seasoned lawyers and former government officials, is well-versed in the laws and policies governing decisions involving the Bay and development activities.
