HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - Virginia is defending the federal and state plan to restore the Chesapeake Bay.
Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced Thursday the state has filed a friend-of-the court brief in support of pollution limits to restore the bay after decades of neglect. The filing is with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
Farm industry groups are appealing a federal judge's decision last September to uphold the federal pollution limits.
At a news conference in Hampton, Herring said the clean-up plan represents the best hope for the bay. He says it's in the state's economic interest to protect it when it comes under attack.
Besides the American Farm Bureau Federation, 21 attorneys general have also challenged the plan.
