WASHINGTON - Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin today introduced legislation to expand the activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in efforts to restore living resources to the Chesapeake Bay. Sen. Paul Sarbanes has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.

"NOAA is a major federal partner in our efforts to restore and manage living resources in the Bay. This expansion is important because it will improve management of the many variety of living resources that inhabit the Bay," said Rep. Cardin.

On June 28, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia signed the Chesapeake Bay 2000 Agreement to continue the multi-state effort to restore and protect the Bay. The new Bay Agreement, the first major revision since 1992, institutes new goals that will involve citizens and will address the growing problems of runoff from developed areas, unmanaged growth, and nitrogen pollution reaching the Bay.

The NOAA legislation would:

• Increase funding for the NOAA Bay Program to $6 million a year;
• Allow NOAA to carry out fishery and habitat restoration projects with local communities and interest groups;
• Authorize NOAA to undertake a five-year study of the relationships between water, habitat quality, ecosystem health and food chains to improve protection of the Bay's living resources;
• Establish an Coastal Prediction Center for the Bay that would coordinate and monitor new technologies to improve predication capabilities of physical and chemical events within the Bay watershed; and,
• Move the administration and oversight of the NOAA Bay Office to the Office of the Undersecretary of Commerce in order to heighten visibility of efforts to restore the Bay.