Preserving York County

2010 Municipal Educational Series

January 28, 2010

Rick Keister, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Jake Romig, York County Circuit Rider

The Chesapeake Bay TMDL

What is a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)?

• Requirement of the Clean Water Act

• Identifies maximum load to the waterbody to achieve Water Quality Standards– Includes maximum point source loads– Includes maximum NPS loads

In other words... a pollution budget

How did we get here?

• 1972 – Clean Water Act– All Streams: Fishable and Swimmable– Gives EPA Authority – Focus on Point Source

• 1983 – Chesapeake Agreement– 3 States and DC Agree to Meet H20 Quality

Standards in CWA

• 1999 – American Canoe Association– Consent Decree: Establish Bay TMDL By

2011

How did we get here (cont.)?

• 2000 – Chesapeake 2000– Set Cleanup Goals for 2010 – Missed.

• 2008 – Chesapeake Executive Council– Set 2 Year Milestones – Not 10.

• 2009 – Pres. Obama Executive Order– Aligns Federal Agencies For Bay Restoration– Reporting Protocol– Strategy for Protection and Restoration

How did we get here (cont.)?

• Nov. ‘09 – EPA State Allocations– PA: 73.64 N (Mil.Lbs.) & 3.16 P (Mil.Lbs.)– Sediment – TBD – But Will Be!

• Dec. ‘09 – Consequences Letter to States– Framework for Accountability

• June 1, 2010 – Preliminary Phase I WIP

• Aug. 1, 2010 – Draft Phase I WIP

• Nov. 1, 2010 – Final Phase I WIP

How did we get here (cont.)?

• Dec. 1, 2010 – Draft Phase II WIP

• June 1, 2011 – Final Phase II WIP

• 2011 – Final TMDL

It’s about water quality!

Extensive low to no summer dissolved oxygen conditions

persist throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its Tidal

Tributaries

Source: www.chesapeakebay.net/data

TMDL

Myth

• The Bay TMDL will be another paper exercise resulting in limited implementation of nutrient and sediment controls.

Fact

• The Chesapeake Bay TMDL will be unlike any other, being part of a comprehensive framework for implementation.

This will be the most extensive

and complicated TMDL ever

developed.

Chesapeake Bay TMDL: The Basics

• Will establish a ‘pollution budget’ for N, P, and S

• Will establish load caps for all six Bay states and the District of Columbia

• Planned for completion by December 2010

The Bay science allows a local look…

Phase 4 Watershed Model Phase 5 Watershed Model

Who will develop the TMDL?

• EPA Region 3 WPD establishes Bay Watershed TMDLs – Watershed states provide input and support on the

Bay TMDL

– A Stakeholder committee (WQGIT) under the CBP

provides key input

The Allocation Process

Identify Bay-wide target

load

EPA+

Identify basin-state target

loads

EPA+

Identify PS/ NPS target loads (Watershed

Implementation Plans)

States & local

Current State Target Loads

StateTributaryStrategy

Target Load

DC 2.12 2.37

DE 6.43 5.25

MD 42.37 41.04

NY 8.68 10.54

PA 73.48 73.64

VA 56.75 59.21

WV 5.93 5.71

Total 195.75 197.76

StateTributaryStrategy

TargetLoad

DC 0.10 0.13

DE 0.25 0.28

MD 2.54 3.04

NY 0.56 0.56

PA 3.10 3.16

VA 6.41 7.05

WV 0.43 0.62

Total 13.39 14.84

Nitrogen Phosphorus

All loads are in millions of pounds per year.

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Distribution By Sector: Where are we going to get our

reductions?• Point Source

– Treatment Plants– Industrial Dischargers– Regulated Urban

Stormwater– Construction– Mines

• Non-Point Source– Agriculture– Septics– Forest– Harvested Forest– Non-Regulated Urban

Stormwater

So how do we get to a restored Bay?

• Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs)

• WIPs Serve as the Vehicle To Meet TMDL Loads

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Watershed Implementation Plan Includes:

1. Interim and Final Target Loads by Major Basin and Sector

2. Current Program Capacity and Gap Analysis

3. Policies, Rules, Dates for Key Actions to Fill Gaps

4. Mechanisms to Account for Growth

5. Contingencies for Failed or Delayed Implementation

6. Appendix with:a. Loads divided by 303(d) segment drainage and source sectorb. 2-year milestone loads by jurisdiction – EPA will use to assess

milestonesc. No later than November 2011: Update to include loads divided by

local area and controls to meet 2017 interim target load

Phased Approach

• Phase I – Final by Nov. 2010– Gross Allocations at Basin Level (ie: Susq.)– Broad Scale Approach– General Methods for Achieving Reductions– Not County or Sub-Basin Specific– Commitment to Engage Local Governments

Phased Approach (cont.)

• Phase II – Final by Nov. 2011– Allocations at Sub Basin or County Level (ie:

York County)– Finer Scale Approach– More Specific Methods for Achieving

Reductions at the Sub-Basin or County Level– Parameters for Engaging Local Governments

Local Government participation is critical!

• TMDL– Local input on allocation, etc, provide local

information• Implementation Planning

– Identify county level loading targets, controls, support needs from state/federal governments

• Implementation– Upgrade WWTP – Well Maybe!– Work with conservation districts– Adopt ordinances to reduce nutrients and sediment– Smart Growth– Public Education

Status of PA WIP

• On Schedule – For Pre. Draft Due June 1

• Document Non-Cost Share Improvements

• Setting Milestones For Existing Programs

• Reliance on Technology: Point & Non-Point

• Compliance

• Stormwater

Potential Effects on York County?

Who’s Paying?$15 Billion Estimated Cost (More Like $30B)

• $188 Million In Current Farm Bill– For Ag and Non-Point Source

• $11 Million To States– From EPA

• $1.5 Billion – Cardin Bill– Stormwater Grants

• $12 Million – Innovation Grants – NFWF

Further Information

• Jake Romig, York County Circuit Rider– www.ecostructionllc.net/circuitrider– circuitrider@yccf.org

• Rick Keister, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay– www.acb-online.org– rkeister@acb-online.org