Innovating Policy for Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Satellite imagery of the Chesapeake Bay
The one-day conference fostered innovative thinking on the suite of federal and state policies needed to reduce water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Presenters examined shortcomings of existing policy approaches and highlighted opportunities for correcting those deficiencies from economic, political, legal, ecological, and policy perspectives. The conference also examined issues related to the pace and magnitude of the nutrient and sediment reductions, efficient and fair allocations of load reductions between states, the structure of interstate agreements, ecological and economic uncertainty, and adaptive management. The presenters included leading economic, scientific, and policy authorities on water quality policy from academia, government agencies, and nonprofits.
Innovating Policy for Chesapeake Bay Restoration was made possible through the generous support of:
- Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center
- USDA Economic Research Service
- Virginia Institute of Marine Science
- Farm Foundation
- Penn State Environment and Natural Resources Institute
Russell Redding, Dean of Agriculture, Delaware Valley College, and former Secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, served as moderator.
Marc Ribaudo (mribaudo@ers.usda.gov) is Senior Economist at the Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C. James Shortle (jshortle@psu.edu) is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania. The papers were presented at the conference "Innovating Policy for Chesapeake Bay Restoration" sponsored by the Farm Foundation, the Penn State Environment and Natural Resources Institute, the Office of the Chief Economist of the USDA, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, and the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center.
Richard Batiuk, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, Chesapeake Bay Program
Carl Hershner, Professor in the School of Marine Science for the College of William and Mary, and Director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Ted McConnell, Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland.
Do USDA Conservation and Commodity Programs Provide What is Needed? Dr. Marc O. Ribaudo, Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.
Lessons from Three Bay State Nutrient Management Laws Michelle Perez, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute.
Dr. James Shortle, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Economics, Penn State University.
Leonard A. Shabman, Resources for the Future.
What's Fair, What's Efficient, and How Can we Agree to Get There? Anthony M. Kwasnica, Associate Professor of Business Economics, Penn State University.
Does Regulating Farmers work? Lessons from Three Bay State Nutrient Management Laws (Michelle Perez, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute). Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Agri-environmental Policies for the Chesapeake Bay (Dr. James Shortle, Distiquished Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Economics).
Beyond Trading: Practical Applications of Market Principles for Water Quality Management (Leonard A. Shabman, Resources for the Future), Allocating Pollution Load Reductions Between State - What's Fair, What's Efficient, and How Can we Agree to Get There? (Anthony M. Kwasnica, Associate Professor of Business Economics, Penn State)
Presentations on the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of the Chesapeake Bay and Implications of the Certainty of Confronting Uncertainty in TMDLs.
Presentations on the Benefits, Cost, and Bay Restoration as well as Incentivizing Pollution Control In Agriculture.
Presentations and a recorded webinar on Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Agri-environmental Policies for the Chesapeake Bay and raising the question Does Regulating Farmers Work?
Presentations and a recorded webinar on Practical Applications of Market Principles for Water Quality Management and Allocating Pollution Load Reductions Between State.
