Trump EO reshapes Chesapeake Bay cleanup, calls for end to ‘rain taxes’

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order revoking a 17-year-old federal directive on Chesapeake Bay restoration and ordering federal agencies to concentrate money and personnel on projects that can demonstrate measurable improvements in water quality.

The order, signed Wednesday, Sept. 16, rescinds Executive Order 13508, issued by President Barack Obama in 2009. Trump’s replacement directs federal agencies to prioritize projects that directly reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. It also directs the Environmental Protection Agency to work with Virginia and the other Chesapeake Bay watershed jurisdictions to examine stormwater-management fees and encourage their repeal or removal.

The White House says the change is intended to reduce administrative costs and move federal resources toward projects that produce measurable environmental results. The administration argues that the 2009 order created broad requirements without enough clarity about how they should be carried out and says state and local governments have used those requirements to support stormwater fees, sometimes referred to by opponents as “rain taxes.”

The new executive order itself notes, however, that the 2009 order did not specifically require or authorize such fees. Rather than eliminating any state or local fee directly, Trump’s order instructs EPA to assess their financial impact and take steps to encourage states and localities to repeal or rescind them.

Under the new policy, the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Homeland Security and War, along with EPA and other agencies involved in Chesapeake Bay work, are directed to review their programs and shift resources toward projects in areas of greatest need. Projects are to be evaluated using measurable indicators such as reductions in sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen and improvements in water quality.

The White House pointed to recent progress in the Bay as evidence that restoration efforts are producing results. Chesapeake Bay Program modeling released in August found that, as of 2025, watershed jurisdictions had achieved 100 percent of their sediment-reduction goal and 90 percent of their phosphorus-reduction goal, while reaching 57 percent of the nitrogen-reduction target. Those figures come from the regional Chesapeake Bay partnership, which includes Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, West Virginia, the District of Columbia and the federal government.

Scientists have also reported comparatively favorable conditions in the Bay this year. William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, FlowWest and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science forecast that the 2026 Chesapeake Bay dead zone could be about 31 percent below the long-term average and among the mildest recorded since monitoring began in 1985. Researchers attributed much of this year’s outlook to below-average river flow and lower nitrogen entering the Bay, while also noting that long-term nutrient-reduction efforts have improved the Bay’s resilience.

Environmental organizations, however, say eliminating the 2009 order could weaken the federal coordination that has accompanied that progress.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation sharply criticized the decision, saying Executive Order 13508 created a framework for federal agencies to coordinate restoration work, make use of Clean Water Act authorities and establish science-based accountability across state lines. Foundation President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk said repealing the order “weakens this historic federal-state partnership” and urged Congress, states and local governments to maintain their restoration commitments.

The 2009 order established a federal leadership committee for the Chesapeake Bay and directed federal agencies to develop coordinated strategies involving water quality, agriculture, habitat, federal lands, climate impacts and public access.

Trump’s action does not, by its terms, repeal the Chesapeake Bay pollution limits established separately by EPA under the Clean Water Act. EPA established the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load, commonly called the Bay’s “pollution diet,” in December 2010 to establish limits for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed.

The new executive order also does not revoke the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement adopted in December 2025. That agreement is a separate partnership among the watershed states, the District of Columbia and the federal government and establishes goals dealing with clean water, habitat, fisheries, healthy landscapes and public involvement. The Trump order specifically references continued commitments under that agreement.

For Virginia and the Eastern Shore, the immediate effects are likely to depend on how EPA and other federal agencies carry out the directive. Federal Chesapeake Bay funding is not eliminated by the order. Instead, agencies are instructed to reconsider how that money is distributed and favor projects that can demonstrate direct reductions in nutrient and sediment runoff.

The order also begins a potentially significant debate over stormwater fees used by some communities to finance drainage, runoff-control and water-quality projects. EPA is now directed to work with Virginia and the other watershed jurisdictions to identify those costs and encourage alternatives that do not increase costs for individual residents.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation argues that the change risks weakening accountability and coordination, while the Trump administration says the new approach will preserve Bay restoration efforts while concentrating federal dollars on projects that produce measurable water-quality improvements.