Maryland has received federal approval to conduct an environmental study to help find a location for a new Chesapeake Bay crossing.

Hampton Roads in Virginia—seven communities and 11 federal facilities—is facing one of the worst combinations of erosion, subsidence and sea-level rise in the nation.

For years, Chesapeake Bay has been the subject of dire reports: dwindling fish, crab and oyster populations, loss of native underwater grasses, eroding shorelines, murky water and algae blooms caused by excessive levels of nitrogen and phosphorus.