Amy Callis, Agricultural NPS Implementation Coordinator Mary Anne Lowndes, Runoff Management Section Chief Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

 Purpose  AM & WQT Basics  Roles  Evaluation/Development  Implementation  Post-implementation  Next Steps

 Discuss how AM & WQT fit into existing NPS implementation structure in WI  Audience: NPS Implementers  County Land Conservation Departments  Non-governmental organizations focusing on agricultural conservation work  Private consultants in agricultural conservation fields  Provide considerations to NPS implementers for voluntary participation in AM and WQT

 DNR  DATCP  UWEX  NRCS  Wisconsin Land + Water  Columbia County  Barron County  Outagamie County  Washington County  The Nature Conservancy  Clean Wisconsin

 Do you have the technical capacity and infrastructure to meet the data, information, implementation and tracking needs?  Do you have sufficient staff resources to conduct this type of evaluation, implementation or post-implementation work?  Will you conduct these activities for free, charge a fee, etc.?  Should you develop an agreement or contract identifying roles and responsibilities for this work?  How will this impact existing workload and local priorities?

Compliance options for WPDES permit holders to meet discharge requirements

Evaluating Compliance OptionsDeveloping the Plan/StrategyImplementing the Plan/StrategyConducting Post-Implementation Work

 Permittee is conducting an investigation to determine if they will:  Optimize the facility  Conduct a facility upgrade  Utilize AM to meet water quality standards in the receiving water  Implement WQT to offset loads  Combination of options … In order to select and submit compliance method to DNR.

 Determine NPS pollutant loading in target watershed  Provide existing inventory data  Estimate potential load reductions and credits available in target watershed  Assist in identifying criteria used to target critical sources for NPS reduction or credit generators  Historical perspective on landowner cooperation and willingness to implement BMPs

 Once a permittee has preliminary approval to utilize AM or WQT for compliance with WPDES permit requirements, it is time to develop:  An adaptive management plan  A water quality trading strategy Identifies how the permittee will meet the permit requirements

 Conducting an inventory and identifying sources of pollution  Identifying load reduction potential, critical source areas or credit generators  Propose corrective measures/best management practices  Estimate pollutant reductions

 Adaptive Management ◦ In-stream water quality monitoring plan  Water Quality Trading ◦ Modeling load reductions in order to calculate credits

 If approved, the permittee will then have a compliance schedule in the WPDES permit to implement the plan or strategy ◦ This will likely occur in 5-year increments consistent with 5-year WPDES permit terms ◦ Permittees may contract with NPS implementers to assist with completing the goals of the plan/strategy

 Contracts  Responsibilities  Funding  Regulatory authorities  Implementing BMPs  Verification  Tracking & Reporting

 Use to define scope of work  Clearly identify roles and responsibilities between parties involved  Considerations for a contract: ◦ Identify funding information, if applicable ◦ Timeline and schedule for implementation ◦ Post-implementation responsibilities ◦ Tracking and reporting ◦ Ability to re-evaluate and modify contract conditions

 Participation in AM or WQT by the permittee is required once incorporated into the permit ◦ Permittee is responsible for compliance with the WPDES permit requirements and water quality limits  Contracts between permittees and NPS implementers should outline responsibilities  NPS implementers will be responsible for activities and tasks agreed to in a contract Permit compliance cannot be transferred from the permittee

 Will the permittee pay the NPS implementer for their services?  Who manages the money?  What activities should be considered for funding: ◦ Staff expenses ◦ Best management practices ◦ Maintenance of practices ◦ Performance incentives ◦ Other?

 Local  State  Federal  NGO/Other Work with the appropriate program contacts to determine project eligibility and overlap with AM or WQT programs

NR 153 does not allow for funding of permit compliance requirements o Includes TRM and NOD grants o Eligibility will depend on:  How the plans/strategies are developed?  What is written into the permit compliance schedule? DNR may review projects on a case-by- case basis to determine eligibility

 Implementation of local, state or federal regulations may overlap with the implementation goals of AM or WQT  It is important for landowners to understand the difference between voluntary program participation and existing regulatory requirements

 Ordinances ◦ Town, Village, City, County ◦ Examples: zoning, livestock siting, animal waste, manure storage, storm water management, building codes, etc.  Educate the permittee on how these authorities interact with the implementation of AM or WQT

 DNR ◦ NR 243 and NR 151 are the primary water quality standards related authorities  Other state authorities ◦ i.e DATCP

 Production sites = no implementation options ◦ Required to meet “zero discharge”  Cropland = potential implementation options ◦ To participate, facility has to maintain compliance their WPDES permit ◦ Proposed practices should go beyond the existing WPDES permit requirements ◦ Practices could be related to something not regulated by the WPDES permit

 Site is posing imminent threat to public health or fish and aquatic life… ◦ Timeline for compliance to stop the threat may not be conducive to participation in AM or WQT ◦ Case-by-case fashion regarding their participation in AM or WQT…

 Runoff pollution performance standards and prohibitions for agricultural facilities to meet water quality standards  Implementation of AM and WQT does not require compliance with NR 151 performance standards  DNR expects the performance standards to be attained  However, if a permittee is proposing to not attain the performance standards, they will need to submit the proposal to DNR for review  Manure management prohibitions are not available as options for WQT  Prohibited activities  Typically not able to be modeled for credit calculations

 Sheet, rill and wind erosion*  Tillage setback  Phosphorus index*  Manure storage facilities  Process wastewater handling  Clean water diversions  Nutrient management* *Most likely to be considered for AM and WQT implementation

 No overflow of manure storage facilities  No unconfined manure pile in a water quality management area  No direct runoff from a feedlot or stored manure to waters of the state*  No unlimited access by livestock to waters of the state* *Most likely to be considered for AM implementation

 Mostly program participation  Landowner’s responsibility to ensure compliance OR  Sign a release with NPS implementer to assist with information review

 Participation in AM and WQT is voluntary for the landowner  Compliance with local, state or federal regulations or program requirements may not be voluntary in order to continue participation in those programs (depending on the program requirements)  Landowners should understand how participating in AM or WQT may/may not impact their participation in other programs

 Federal Programs ◦ Recommend participants work with the federal program contacts on program requirements  State Programs ◦ Work with appropriate agency contacts to ensure compliance with applicable program requirements  Local Programs ◦ Work with local contacts

 Meet with participants  Identify eligible BMPs  Develop agreement/contract with participant  Design and install BMPs  Verify post-construction conditions  Document project status

 Long-term verification of BMPs ◦ Additional funding for maintenance? ◦ How long; how often? ◦ Continued load reduction modeling (WQT) ◦ In-stream monitoring (AM)

 Tracking systems ◦ Pollutant load modeling ◦ BMPs and technical standards used ◦ Location information ◦ Compliance determinations with AM/WQT contracts ◦ Repairs/modifications needed/completed  Report to permittee for permit compliance

 Compliance and enforcement ◦ Depends on the agreement/contract language with the landowner ◦ Depends on the agreement/contract language with the NPS implementer  Statewide Variance

Draft guidance document will be posted on DNR’s guidance website for comment ◦ Anticipated by the end of March

 AM and WQT are tools for NPS implementers to use to help meet local goals to control NPS pollution  There are no regulatory requirements for NPS implementers to participate in AM and WQT

Amy Callis Agricultural NPS Implementation Coordinator Mary Anne Lowndes Chief, Runoff Management Section