WASHINGTON (AP) - Regional leaders and federal officials are getting together to talk about cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.
Thursday's annual meeting of the Chesapeake Executive Council, chaired by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, will include an announcement of how officials plan to meet the goals of a federal-led bay cleanup agreement that was signed last year.
The agreement establishes pollution limits in the nation's largest estuary and sets goals for the bay to be fully restored by 2025
Ahead of Thursday's meeting, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is appealing to the regional leaders to get the bay's restoration back on track.
Foundation President William C. Baker wrote in a letter to McAuliffe and other council members that the bay advocacy group is disappointed with the progress toward pollution-reduction targets. He calls the multi-state cleanup "dramatically off track."
Baker urged the council to use its leadership to make a strong public commitment to the blueprint to restore the bay.
The foundation's appeal comes two years before a key assessment on the regional restoration.
The Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the regional cleanup, which followed years of neglect by the states.
Among the officials scheduled to attend Thursday's meeting in Washington are EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will miss the meeting while he undergoes treatment for cancer.
