"The federal government said Thursday that it would seek an unprecedented role as the environmental police of the Chesapeake Bay -- enforcing new rules on farmers and keeping a closer eye on state-level bureaucrats -- in an effort to halt the estuary's long decline.

If the Environmental Protection Agency's plan works, a bay known for soft-touch oversight could become one of the most aggressively regulated bodies of water in the country. "

David A. Fahrenthold reports for the Washington Post September 11, 2009. [2]