This report contains the findings and recommendations of the Chesapeake Bay Legislative Advisory Commission. This Commission was created by resolutions passed by the General Assemblies of Maryland  and Virginia during the 1978 Session. Those resolutions directed the Commission to evaluate existing and proposed management institutions for the Chesapeake Bay and to report to the 1980 Sessions of both State legislatures with recommendations for improving the management of this common resource. 

The Commission has held a series of eight meetings and workshops at locations alternately in Virginia and Maryland. Since its inception, the Commission has called upon private individuals and State  representatives to provide background information and supporting documents identifying areas of concern and providing a database from which the Commission could work in pursuing its objectives. In early  1979 the co-chairmen of the Commission distributed inquiry letters to 235 public and private agencies and individuals, soliciting comments on the need for improved coordination in management of the  Chesapeake Bay and the means by which such improvements may be achieved. The Commission's request for information and opinions generated a tremendous response and provided the Commission with numerous letters and studies providing insight into Chesapeake Bay affairs. This material has been carefully reviewed by the Commission in its deliberations and in the formulation of these recommendations.

This report includes a synthesis of some of this information in order to provide to the legislators of both States an overview of the history of interstate relations concerning the Chesapeake Bay, a summary of issues of interstate concern, and an analysis of existing agency roles in these various areas. The principle alternative management institutions which might conceivably be adapted to the Chesapeake Bay region are reviewed and evaluated. Finally, the recommendations of the Commission, together with a draft of the necessary enabling legislation, are presented. These recommendations call for the creation of a permanent advisory body serving the legislatures of the two states and providing a central body for the resolution of policy questions of mutual concern to the States of Virginia and Maryland.