EPA Water Quality Programs Katie Flahive 202-566-1206 Flahive EPA Water Quality Programs Katie Flahive 202-566-1206 Flahive.Katie@epa.gov North Central / Southern Region Extension Program Leaders Meeting June 3, 2015

What I’ll Cover Today Nonpoint Source Pollution and Section 319 of the Clean Water Act Example of Collaboration: SERA-46 – Hypoxia Task Force Challenges

What is a “Nonpoint Source?” Point Sources are defined by the CWA as conveyances that discharge: pipe, ditch, channel, conduit, well, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), etc. (NPDES) Nonpoint Sources - NPS (§319) Not specifically defined under the CWA—anything that is not regulated as a point source Includes: agriculture stormwater discharge and irrigation return flows

Nonpoint Sources Dominate the Nation’s Impaired Waters (Source: Draft CWA 305(b) National Water Quality Inventory: http://www.epa.gov/waters/ir/)

Section 319 of the CWA 319(b) - State Management Programs (NPS Management Programs) 319(h) - Grant Program In addition to CWA, states follow grant guidelines in spending 319 funds: http://water.epa.gov/nps/319 Recent revisions (4/13) note that implementation work is directed by Watershed Based Plans (9-element plans) Discuss the importance – the foundation of 319 is in 319 b – the NPSMP. This is the underpinning of the grant program. With this plan a state is eligible to receive grant dollars Add the guidelines ( and circulars) as determining how federal grant dollars are to be spent. Important shift in latest revision is the 9 element plan – mention alternatives and to check with their state.

Section 319 Funds, cont’d Most states run RFP or other competitive processes and award subgrants for watershed projects Check your state’s NPS website

(46 Septic system related) A snap shot of types of 319 projects funded 2008-2013 Agriculture related 1,968 Land disposal 197 (184 – Septic related) All sources 733 Hydromodification 609 Historical 117 Resource Extraction 177 Other 578 Urban 1,507 (46 Septic system related) Marinas 54 State NPS Coordinators: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/upload/state_nps_coord.pdf

§319 and USDA Conservation Programs Are complementary: shared goals; rely on local partners, voluntary action by landowners §319 funds expand and complement USDA funds EQIP financial assistance funds may only go to practices Planning and siting that is key for water quality outcomes Build and sustain local coalitions for action Assistance through local CDs and other partners adds capacity for technical assistance, outreach In 2011 half of state NPS agencies reported active ongoing collaboration with USDA – we would like to see this expand to all states Growing the partnership with USDA is a top priority for EPA – Conservations districts plan an important role NWQI – LGUs play an important role in monitoring in many states

Hypoxia Task Force Members 5 Federal Agencies and Tribes: US Army Corps of Engineers US Geological Survey US Environmental Protection Agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration US Department of Agriculture National Tribal Water Council 12 State Agencies: Arkansas Ohio Missouri Louisiana Iowa Illinois Tennessee Mississippi Minnesota Kentucky Indiana Wisconsin Mississippi River Basin HTF States The Task Force is a federal/state partnership that works collaboratively to reduce excess nitrogen and phosphorus to the Mississippi River and eventually to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf. The map here shows the entire Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, which encompasses all or parts of 31 states (CLICK TWICE) The Task Force consists of 12 Basin states shaded in green and listed on the slide. They include the states that contribute the highest nutrient loads delivered to the Gulf. Five federal agencies and a Tribal representative are also members of the Task Force. It provides a forum for state water quality and agriculture departments to partner on local, state, and efforts to mitigate nutrient loading, encouraging a holistic approach that takes into account upstream sources and downstream impacts. (new sentence based on Joe’s suggestion to emphasize connections and partnerships) This collaboration between so many agencies has provided a good foundation for strong partnerships within the Hypoxia Task Force and with many external partners, which I will describe in more detail later in the presentation. Each state is represented by either: Agriculture agency , Environment (pollution control) agency, or Natural Resources agency

HTF Goal and Environmental Impact 5-yr average Long term Average HTF Coastal Goal Each summer the hypoxic is measured. The size of the zone is an important indicator of how much progress is being made to reduce nutrient inputs to the Gulf. While the slide shows variation in the zone size due to a number of factors, such as droughts and floods, its areal extent has remained relatively steady. The 2014 area of hypoxia measured 13,080 square kilometers (=5,052 square miles). The 2014 dead zone size is below the five-year average (14,353 square kilometers), but still well above the Hypoxia Task Force goal of 5,000 square kilometers. Source: N. Rabalais

SERA-46 – HTF Collaboration: Unfunded MOU How did this come about? Objective 1: Establish and strengthen relationships that can serve the missions of multiple organizations addressing nutrient movement and environmental quality. Objective 2: Expand the knowledge base through the discovery of new tools and practices as well as the continual validation of recommended practices. Objective 3: Improve the coordination and delivering of educational programming and increase the implementation effectiveness of nutrient management strategies that reduce nutrient movement for agricultural and non-agricultural audiences. Extension and Research members from each state – each brings incredible value to the basin-wide efforts as a whole, as well as bringing their other efforts and collaborators to the table EPA and our federal partners on the Task Force see this as a model for engagement across the country Opportunity to leverage work in state priority watersheds as well

Grants and Other Funding Opportunities http://www2.epa.gov/home/grants-and-other-funding-opportunities http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/

Manure Nutrient Recovery Technology (MNRT) Innovation Challenge Why an Innovation Challenge? Provide exciting platforms to solutions by tapping into the ingenuity and creativity of the private sector and others Goal: Encourage development and adoption of MNRTs that can extract and/or transform the nutrients in manure and sequester them into products that could be used onsite, transferred, or sold to where they are needed, yielding environmental and economic benefits What can EPA do? Facilitate by working with stakeholders to identify barriers to MNRT adoption, connecting innovators and animal agriculture partners, and stimulating markets for co-products generated by MNRTs How will the Innovation Challenge Work? Phase 1 - Challenge Development/Announcement Phase II - Designs: EPA advertises and solicits designs from developers Phase III - Technology development Phase IV: Demonstration, Testing, and Monitoring

Nutrient Water Sensor Challenge An open-innovation competition to accelerate the development and deployment of affordable sensors that can measure nutrients in aquatic environments  Specifically, the Challenge sought sensor solutions that: are accurate over concentration ranges commonly observed, are easy to use in maintenance-free, autonomous, remote deployments of three months cost less than $5,000 to purchase can be commercially available by 2017 We are currently compiling interested researchers that are willing to pilot test the sensors – please send me an email (Flahive.Katie@epa.gov)

EPA – USDA NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON WATER QUALITY MARKETS SEPTEMBER 15 – 17, 2015 at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Workshop will highlight recent progress in water quality trading across the country with an emphasis on policy, resources, and tool development Workshop will provide EPA and USDA with an opportunity to lay out their vision for the role of water quality markets in advancing conservation and water quality goals, and provide you with the tools to engage in water quality markets  The Workshop will feature:  Regional water quality trading forums Conservation finance opportunities Stormwater trading Payments for watershed services programs and other related environmental markets Recent developments in Economics, Science & Technology

Please be in touch when you are in DC, we’d love to sit down and talk Questions? Please be in touch when you are in DC, we’d love to sit down and talk