Strong Polluted Runoff Controls

    Polluted runoff is the greatest source of water quality problems in the United States today. Polluted runoff is rainwater and snowmelt that moves across the land, picking up pollutants and delivering them to streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal waters. Polluted runoff, as the term is used in this Action Plan, is generated by many activities managed by states, territories, and tribes as nonpoint source pollution, as well as a number of activities that may be regulated as point sources under the Clean Water Act.

The 1996 National Water Quality Inventory, which summarizes state surveys of water quality in the United States, indicates that about 40 percent of surveyed U.S. waterbodies are impaired by pollution, with the leading source being polluted runoff. About 70 percent of impaired rivers and streams and 49 percent of lakes are impaired by runoff or discharges from agriculture. While the nation has begun to make progress in controlling polluted runoff, meeting clean water goals in the next decade and beyond will require picking up the pace of this effort.

The development and implementation of plans to restore water quality on a watershed basis will result in a significant reduction of polluted runoff. Chapter III of this Action Plan presents a unified watershed assessment and restoration approach to pull together the many state, tribal, and federal programs that can help quicken the pace of reducing polluted runoff. In addition to these programs targeted to specific problem areas, more needs to be done to prevent polluted runoff and to help ensure that waters that are now meeting clean water goals continue to do so.

Bad River Watershed, South Dakota The Bad River watershed, 3,172 square miles that drain into the Missouri River, did not support certain uses such as sport fishing because of the large amount of sediment entering the system. Many partners, including USDA Farm Services Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA, and other state, local, and environmental organizations, agreed to set up a project to demonstrate the array of practices that can help alleviate the sediment problem. These measures include erosion control structures, riparian re-vegetation, range seedings, water spreader systems, and alternative stock watering facilities. The result of this section 319 project has been a significant reduction from 82.7 tons of sediment per acre/foot of runoff in 1990, to an average annual sediment deposit of 10.2 tons per acre-foot measured in 1993 through 1995.

Strengthen State and Tribal Polluted Runoff Programs

States and authorized tribes now implement general programs to reduce polluted runoff under section 319 of the Clean Water Act. These programs are successfully preventing polluted runoff from a wide range of existing facilities and locations and are helping to ensure that new facilities and projects are designed to minimize polluted runoff impacts. Actions to improve the effectiveness of these programs are described in the following text.

Help States and Tribes Implement Strengthened Nonpoint Source Programs

In May 1996, EPA and the states reached agreement to upgrade section 319 programs to prevent polluted runoff to address nine key elements, including, among others, establishing short- and long-term goals and objectives; strengthening working partnerships with all appropriate public- and private-sector groups; focusing on impaired waters and waters threatened by new sources and activities; implementing better-focused programs to address these problems; working to promote consistency of federal programs among state and tribal nonpoint source programs; and using monitoring and feedback loops to ensure continued progress. One state has developed program upgrades in all nine key areas; many other states are working toward that goal.

An essential feature of effective nonpoint source programs will be the coordination and integration with other closely related state- and tribal-managed water quality programs, such as coastal nonpoint pollution control programs under section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, source water protection programs under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and total maximum daily load programs under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. The strengthening of partnerships as described above will ensure that all appropriate programs, authorities, and resources are used effectively and consistently to solve shared problems.

KEY ACTION: EPA and other federal agencies will provide technical assistance to states and tribes to help upgrade polluted runoff programs to address all nine key program elements. Beginning in FY 1999, EPA and all states, territories, and tribes will expedite incorporation of the nine key elements established in national guidance into section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Programs. Also in FY 1999, EPA will advise states and tribes that, beginning in FY 2000, EPA will award any section 319 monies exceeding the $100 million authorized level only to those states and tribes that have incorporated all nine key elements into an approved section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program.

North Carolina Cherokee Tribe Treats Critical Area Severe erosion along access roads on Cherokee tribal trust lands was adding 150 tons of soil per acre each year to nearby streams, degrading habitat for animals. With the help of an EPA Clean Water Act section 319 grant, sections of the road were re-graded and re-seeded to permanent vegetation. Since its completion, soil loss has fallen to less than six tons of soil per year. Now, species of bear, deer, and small game birds are active in the area and stream habitats have improved; native trout have returned to many streams.

Improve Anti-degradation Policies to Reduce Polluted Runoff

States and tribes may, however, allow some increase in water pollution levels, but not to such an extent that water quality standards are violated, where such increased pollution is "necessary to accommodate important economic or social development." In allowing any degradation of waters with good water quality, the regulations require states and tribes to ensure that "all cost-effective and reasonable best management practices" be applied to reduce polluted runoff.

EPA has not defined this requirement for implementation of polluted runoff controls in detail, and many states have not developed procedures to ensure compliance with this regulation.

KEY ACTION: EPA will develop guidance that more specifically defines expectations and procedures for states to follow in fully implementing anti- degradation policies related to polluted runoff and will publish final guidance on this subject by December 1998.

Ohio Revolving Loan Fund Finances Conservation Easement Ohio EPA recently awarded the first low-interest water pollution control loan to foster creek bank conservation. The Nature Conservancy received the $110,000 loan award to purchase a permanent conservation easement along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County. This is the first time The Nature Conservancy has obtained financing for stream restoration and protection from a state revolving loan fund established under the Clean Water Act. A significant statewide water resource, the creek supports four state/federally listed endangered aquatic species, including the club shell mussel. The 154-acre permanent conservation easement will prevent future development and will provide a buffer to The Edge of Appalachia Preserve, a system managed by The Nature Conservancy. The Water Pollution Control Loan Fund is jointly administered by Ohio EPA and the Ohio Water Development Authority. Since 1989, this fund has loaned more than $1 billion for a variety of water pollution control projects.

Improve State and Tribal Enforceable Authorities

KEY ACTION: EPA and, in coastal states and territories NOAA, will promote by the year 2000 the establishment of enforceable state and tribal authorities needed to ensure the implementation of nonpoint source controls to achieve water quality standards. EPA, in consultation with NOAA, will publish guidance describing existing and potential models of enforceable authority related to polluted runoff and will assist states and tribes in this effort.

Increase Commitment of Clean Water Loan Funds to Polluted Runoff

The total value of the state funds is about $25 billion, making over $2 billion in new loans each year, drawing on both repayments of existing loans and capitalization grants from the federal government. Although traditionally used to finance sewage treatment facilities, loans are used increasingly for projects to prevent polluted runoff. About three percent of the total loans made to date are for polluted runoff projects.

States indicate that some of the reasons for the small number of loans for polluted runoff projects are that sewage treatment projects have a higher priority than polluted runoff projects, that the risk of loan default is higher for polluted runoff control projects, and that potential loan recipients usually prefer grants rather than loans.

The investment of state clean water loan funds in polluted runoff control projects could be increased if EPA helped states identify ways to reduce risks of loans for polluted runoff projects, defined ways to identify polluted runoff control projects in the planning process, and set clear goals for increasing investments in these projects. EPA will work with states and territories to ensure that state loan funds are used for the highest priority polluted runoff projects that meet the programs' financial criteria.

KEY ACTION: EPA will work with states to increase the number and dollar amount of loans made through clean water revolving loan fund programs for priority projects to prevent polluted runoff, with the goal of increasing the annual percentage of funds loaned for this purpose to at least 10 percent (or about $200 million) by the year 2001. EPA will also work with states toward the goal of increasing to 25 the number of states using integrated priority-setting systems to make clean water funding decisions by the year 2000.

Algae blooms like this one near Shelburne, Vermont are not as common as they were in the 1970's due to phosphorus detergent bans, phosphorus reductions from municipal wastewater treatment plants, and nonpoint source pollution control efforts.

Reduce Nutrient Over-enrichment

Nutrients, in the appropriate amounts, are essential to the health and continued functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Excessive nutrient loadings will, however, result in excessive growth of macrophytes or phytoplankton and potentially harmful algal blooms (HAB), leading to oxygen declines, imbalance of aquatic species, public health risks, and a general decline of the aquatic resource. Nutrient over-enrichment has also been strongly linked to the large hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico and to recent outbreaks of Pfiesteria along the mid-Atlantic Coast.

State water quality reports indicate that over-enrichment of waters by nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) is the biggest overall source of impairment of the nation's rivers and streams, lakes and reservoirs, and estuaries. In the 1996 National Water Quality Inventory, states reported that 40 percent of surveyed rivers, 51 percent of surveyed lakes, and 57 percent of surveyed estuaries were impaired by nutrient enrichment. Agriculture is the most widespread source of these impairments, followed by municipal sewage treatment plants, urban runoff and storm sewers, and various other nonpoint pollution sources, including air deposition.

Define Nutrient Reduction Goals

EPA is developing a strategy to establish an objective, scientifically sound basis for assessing nutrient over- enrichment problems. Specifically, EPA will develop nutrient criteria -- numerical ranges for acceptable levels of nutrients (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) in water. Unlike other criteria that EPA has developed, nutrient criteria will be established as a menu of different numeric values based on the type of water body (i.e., river, estuary, lake) and the region of the country in which the water is located. It is vital that this work be done to provide the technical basis for pollution reduction plans.

EPA will develop nutrient criteria for the various water body types and ecoregions of the country by the year 2000. Under the Clean Water Act, states use pollutant criteria established by EPA as the basis for adopting water quality standards. Within three years of EPA issuance of applicable criteria, all states and tribes with water quality standards should have adopted water quality standards for nutrients. Where a state or tribe fails to adopt a water quality standard for nutrients within the three-year period, EPA will begin to promulgate the nutrient criteria appropriate to the region and water body type. When promulgated, the EPA standard would apply until a state or tribe adopts, and EPA approves, a revised standard.

KEY ACTION: EPA will establish, by the year 2000, numeric criteria for nutrients (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) that are tailored to reflect the different types of water bodies (e.g., lakes, rivers, and estuaries) and the different ecoregions of the country, and will assist states in adopting numeric water quality standards based on these criteria over the following three years. If a state does not adopt appropriate nutrient standards, EPA will begin the process of promulgating nutrient standards.

Assess and Reduce Air Deposition of Nitrogen

More than 23 million tons of nitrogen are emitted to the atmosphere each year. About half of the nitrogen compounds emitted from fossil-fuel-burning plants, vehicles, and other sources in the United States are deposited on U.S. watersheds. Nitrogen compounds are released from a variety of other sources, including application of fertilizers and manure, and publicly owned treatment works. EPA has moved, under the Clean Air Act, to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from new vehicles and electric power plants since the 1970s. EPA has proposed NOx emissions budgets for 22 states and the District of Columbia to reduce regional NOx emissions in the eastern United States. As the states take action under their plans to meet the new ozone and particulate standards, NOx emissions will be further reduced.

KEY ACTION: EPA and NOAA will work with other federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies and others to better quantify the risks associated with atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds and other pollutants to water bodies.

KEY ACTION: EPA will work through the TMDL program to evaluate the linkage of air emissions to the water quality impacts to help determine appropriate reduction actions. EPA will work with states, tribes, and federal land management agencies to employ both Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act authorities to reduce air deposition of nitrogen compounds and other pollutants that adversely affect water quality. EPA will develop a report on methods for this work by the spring of 1999.

Improve Subsurface Sewage Disposal

States report that these wastewater systems have failed because of inappropriate siting or design or inadequate long-term maintenance and that septic tanks constitute the third most common source of ground water contamination. Onsite systems can also cause surface water quality problems. Improved management of these sources is essential to achieving water quality goals.

KEY ACTION: In 1998, EPA will publish technical guidance providing detailed information on onsite sewage disposal management programs, performance standards, water conservation techniques, and alternative and innovative onsite disposal system designs. EPA will also, in 1999, develop voluntary national standards for onsite management programs that address siting, performance, design, and maintenance of these systems.

KEY ACTION: EPA will promote the use, where appropriate, of centralized management of decentralized wastewater systems. This initiative will include financial and technical support of state, tribal, and local efforts to consolidate management of decentralized wastewater programs so that they are consistently managed and administered. Beginning in 1999, EPA will also fund projects that demonstrate how to overcome barriers to decentralized sewage management. EPA will publish guidance on the appropriate use of state loan funds to support these systems in 1999.

Expand Clean Water Act Permit Controls

The Clean Water Act provides that discharges of pollutants from a pipe or other point source are required to have a permit that limits the discharge as necessary to attain the water quality standard for the receiving waters. For many years, EPA and states worked to develop and issue permits to large point source dischargers, such as sewage treatment plants and industrial facilities. Recently, additional attention has been focused on point sources that discharge polluted runoff from urban areas and large facilities such as confined animal feeding operations. These permits are expected to make a significant contribution to reducing the water quality impacts of polluted runoff.

Expand Control of Storm Water Runoff from Cities and Construction Sites

Stormwater outflow.

The Phase II storm water regulation promotes the use of best management practices, such as preventing illicit sewage connections and providing information to the public about pollution prevention measures they can undertake to minimize storm water impacts as part of a municipal storm water program. For construction, best management practices might include silt fencing and sediment ponds to trap storm water runoff.

The benefits of controlling storm water runoff are numerous. The reduction in flow and movement of sediment reduces stream bank erosion, stream channeling and modifications to stream habitat from shallower waters. Sediment reduction will also greatly reduce the cost of dredging reservoirs and navigation channels and will generate recreation benefits, such as increased fishing and swimming opportunities and protection of spawning grounds.

KEY ACTION: EPA will publish final regulations in 1999 on Phase II of the storm water program, consider public comments on the proposal, and work with states, tribes, municipalities, and the regulated community to make sure that storm water control measures are implemented as required.

KEY ACTION: EPA will focus its compliance assistance and enforcement resources on addressing noncompliance with existing Phase I storm water requirements by targeting priority watersheds where storm water is of concern.

Polluted runoff associated with rapid growth in many American cities presents a challenge. Pictured here is Portland, Oregon.

Substantially Reduce Pollution from Animal Feeding Operations

Of the 450,000 AFOs, only a small percentage currently have discharge permits under the Clean Water Act. Research, technical assistance, voluntary installation of best management practices, and educational programs have contributed to significant progress, but have not adequately addressed the scope of environmental impacts.

EPA has developed a draft AFO Strategy that outlines steps that it will take to minimize the environmental and public health effects of AFOs. The EPA draft strategy calls for improving data collection; expanding research on effects and control measures; increasing compliance assistance and enforcement with respect to applicable environmental laws and regulations; significantly expanding the number of Clean Water Act permits issued for CAFOs (with emphasis on the largest, unpermitted facilities); ensuring that permits address such activities as land application of animal waste; revising outdated regulations; and creating incentives for voluntary implementation of measures to protect the environment and public health.

KEY ACTION: EPA will publish and, after public comments, implement an AFO Strategy for important and necessary EPA actions on standards and permits by March 1998.

A broader strategy that covers key activities for both EPA and USDA will also be needed. EPA and USDA agree on the need for a joint, unified strategy to refocus the federal government's technical, financial, and programmatic efforts to more effectively address the environmental and public health issues associated with AFOs. The unified EPA/USDA National AFO Strategy will include the following key elements, in addition to outlining the roles of involved agencies:

• Coordinate program and interagency cooperation. USDA and EPA will work together in common areas of interest, including data collection and management, technical standards development, monitoring, and establishment and tracking of appropriate environmental performance measures. For example, USDA will continue to review and revise comprehensive technical standards and educational programs for AFOs in cooperation with other federal agencies. In addition, USDA and EPA will develop a plan to ensure that appropriate management systems are incorporated into Clean Water Act discharge permits by states and EPA.

• Develop and implement comprehensive management systems for AFOs. USDA and EPA will work to establish environmentally sustainable systems that will offer practical and cost-effective approaches to managing manures and carcasses. For example, USDA and EPA will establish comprehensive and verifiable management systems for AFOs by 2002, engage stakeholders to achieve use of farm-specific nutrient budgets for at least 50 percent of AFOs by 2005, and promote development of marketable products from animal wastes and carcasses from 1998 onward. Comprehensive management systems should be incorporated into Clean Water Act discharge permits issued by EPA and states. EPA will work with states to issue Clean Water Act discharge permits to all Confined Animal Feeding Operations (i.e., the largest facilities with more than 1,000 animal units) by 2005.

• Revise and strengthen existing permit regulations. EPA will work with USDA and states to revise the Clean Water Act discharge regulations, including comprehensive management measures (e.g., land application), by 2002; revise the existing feedlots effluent limitations guideline for poultry and swine by 2001 and for beef and dairy cattle by 2002; and develop improved tools for writing discharge permits under current regulations (e.g., case-by-case designation guidance and guidance on establishing best management practices and technology requirements) by the end of 1998.

• Provide incentives to enhance environmental protection. Federal agencies will encourage environmental protection beyond that required by regulatory controls through new initiatives such as an awards program recognizing efforts by AFOs to reduce pollution (by 2000); through the provision of incentives for the conversion of animal wastes into marketable products (by 2004); and through the formation of a public/private partnership to create market incentives to improve environmental performance.

• Develop a coordinated plan for research. Federal agencies will, in coordination with stakeholders, develop a coordinated plan for research, development, and assessment that establishes priorities for developing ways to better manage nutrients, pathogens, and other pollutants; modify animal diets to reduce nutrients in manure; mitigate sites with excess pollutants; and assess impacts of best management practices from farm and watershed perspectives.

• Develop watershed nutrient budgets. Federal agencies will determine the relative contributions of nutrients in watersheds from all sources. USDA will publish by 1998 data on counties having potential nutrient excess from animal manure. EPA and USDA will estimate by 2000 a baseline of nutrient loads to the watersheds identified above from animal data, fertilizer sales, Census of Agriculture, permit limits, and other estimates. USDA will revise the Census of Agriculture to include waste management practices by the 2002 Census.

• Target activities to priority watersheds. Federal and state agencies should ensure that activities such as permitting, inspections, enforcement, funding, education, outreach, and technical assistance for AFOs are targeted to priority watersheds. For example, EPA, with support from USDA, states, and tribes, will identify by 1999 watersheds at greatest risk from AFOs. EPA and USDA will develop criteria for and demonstrate the effectiveness of targeting coordinated assistance and federal environmental subsidies to states and AFOs by 2000. EPA will also increase enforcement of existing permits and unpermitted discharges, require new permits where appropriate, and use emergency powers to address situations presenting an imminent and substantial endangerment, where appropriate.

• Encourage establishment of a certification program. The Strategy will encourage establishment of a certification program to ensure effective development and implementation of management systems for unpermitted AFOs.

KEY ACTION: EPA and USDA will jointly develop a unified national strategy to minimize the environmental and public health impacts of AFOs. This Unified Strategy will be published for public review and comment in July 1998 and will be finalized in November 1998.

Develop Incentives For Reducing Polluted Runoff

Federal agencies will work with diverse stakeholders to develop creative, new approaches to reducing polluted runoff, including expanding recognition of the benefits of "smart growth" policies and considering innovative tax policies for preventing water pollution and enhancing natural resources.

Smart Growth

KEY ACTION: EPA will develop a means to credit pollution load reductions from local growth management efforts in the Total Maximum Daily Loads submitted by states and tribes to EPA under the Clean Water Act.

KEY ACTION: The Council on Environmental Quality will develop guidance to ensure that National Environmental Policy Act analysis fully considers the secondary impacts that can be avoided by smart growth policies.

Tax Incentives to Encourage Improved Stewardship

Implementing tax incentives related to water quality and natural resource enhancement would require amendments to the tax code. Several states have developed tax incentives for landowners to develop farm conservation plans. Other states are considering tax incentives that would encourage "smart growth" practices, support the development of easements for critical lands such as wetlands and lands providing buffers for streams and riparian areas, and define opportunities for exchanges of "debt for easement" with participants of USDA and other federal lending programs.

National water quality is heavily influenced by the character and management of private lands. Private forest lands comprise a significant share of critical watersheds. Trends in land ownership and development are causing the loss of critical watershed functions of substantial amounts of these lands. The current tax code can be a disincentive to hold these as forested lands. Tax incentives also can help landowners invest in best management practices that maintain and enhance water quality.

Over the next several years, it is likely that Congress will consider a range of amendments to the tax code. For Congress to consider tax incentives related to water pollution control and natural resource enhancement, more work must be done to identify the full range of possible measures, explore the effectiveness of measures that now exist at the state level, and evaluate relative costs and environmental and public health benefits of various proposals.

KEY ACTION: An interagency task force will, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, identify and assess tax incentive proposals related to water pollution prevention and natural resource enhancement and identify potential changes, with any appropriate offsets, for proposal in future budgets.

Smart Growth Pays Dividends in Maryland Baltimore County has developed a comprehensive county-wide watershed management strategy for its population of more than 700,000 people and more than 2,000 miles of streams. Developed through the consensus of a steering committee with broad and diverse local interests, the strategy and its corresponding regulations conserve forests and rural countryside and organize over $24 million in county resources for watershed-based stream, wetland, and forest restoration; citizen participation; storm water retrofit; and waterway cleanup.