1. New York’s Chesapeake Bay WIP
Overview
Upper Susquehanna Watershed Forum
November 3, 2016

2. Chesapeake Bay Watershed TMDL

3. Chesapeake Bay Program Background
1983 A multi-state program formed to restore Chesapeake Bay “dead zones” -.EPA, D.C., MD, PA, VA original program members 2000 DE, NY, WV signed on to help with water quality goals 2009 Clean Water Act Lawsuit 2010 TMDL Finalized
Chesapeake Bay impaired due to excess nutrients and sediment
Informal agreement between EPA and the states that comprise the majority of the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Other states added to the agreement in 2000
Voluntary agreement included goals for WQ improvement –not largely successful in achieving improvement
Lawsuit brought in 2009 against EPA for failure to enforce the Clean Water Act
Resulted in the creation of the CB watershed TMDL – finalized in 2010

4. Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL)
A TMDL defines the capacity of a waterbody to absorb a pollutant and still meet water quality standards - “Pollution diet”
Chesapeake Bay TMDL is for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment
Legal mechanism to address impaired waters
TMDL – defines the maximum amount a waterbody can receive of a pollutant and still meet WQ standards
EPA completed a multistep process to develop the TMDL
Set nutrient allocations for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment for each watershed state and D.C.
States that contribute the most pollution are required to achieve higher reductions
Legal mechanism – higher level of implementation compared to voluntary agreement

5. Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP)
All 7 Chesapeake Bay watershed “jurisdictions” have a WIP.
The WIP provides BMP implementation goals (“input deck”) and reasonable assurance that the goals can be met
Phase II – 60% reduction (2017)
Each jurisdiction developed watershed implementation plan – plan to move toward achieving load reductions
WIP covers point and NPS pollution
Point sources – regulated via SPDES permits (WWTPs, General SPDES – CAFO, MS4, construction)
NPS – voluntary programs, structural/non-structural BMPs
EPA evaluates progress (i.e. Two-year Milestones)

6. NY Portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
10% of watershed area
4% of watershed population
76% forested
21% agricultural
3% developed
NY portion of the watershed – majority is forested
Ag. is dominant land use type
Not highly developed overall

7. New York Pollution Sources
Wastewater Treatment Plants
Urban Runoff
Agriculture
Phosphorus
Septic 3%
Percentages from 2009 Watershed Model 5.3.2
Nitrogen

8. NY’s Wastewater Sector Targets

9. Nutrient Effluent Limits
Limits established for Bay-significant facilities (~30 facilities with greatest contributions)
Monitoring only for Bay-nonsignificants
Nitrogen
Establishes a total “bubble” limit (Next slide)
Phosphorus
Individual Effluent Limits assigned for individual facilities

10. The Nitrogen “Bubble”
Cumulative limit placed on all significant facilities within the Bay
Individual Limits assigned for tracking purposes
Enforcement only if bubble is broken
Could focus enforcement on those facilities who exceeded their individually assigned limits
Helps us achieve our overall nutrient reduction goals without forcing costly upgrades.

11. NY’s Urban Sector Targets

12. Urban BMP Lack of BMP inputs to model
Summer of 2016 effort to input historical BMPs into model
Erosion and Sediment Control inputs from Construction Stormwater General Permit database
Stormwater practice inputs from MS4s
MS4s required to maintain post-construction control practice inventory within their jurisdiction
The model showed very little stormwater BMP implementation prior to the historical BMP collection effort of With those practices now included in the model, the model should better reflect what is actually discharging from the Urban sector.

13. NY’s Agricultural Sector Targets
We’re going to let Wendy Walsh from USC describe whats going on with the Agricultural Sector and our unique, we believe very successful, relationship with USC to help us fulfill our TMDL obligations.

14. Currently in the works

15. Current projects underway
WWTP Optimization
Tweaking plant maintenance and operations to get further nutrient reductions
Involving NYSARC
Better Urban BMP tracking using MS4s
Inspection/maintenance tracking
Installation tracking
New York State Association of Regional Councils (NYSARC) are a group that works with MS4s to help them meet their regulatory obligations. We hope to use them to help us collect better stormwater data from MS4s for our use in the Watershed model.

16. Thank You
For more information visit: EPA TMDL: bay-tmdl
Chesapeake Bay Program:
DEC Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program:
Sara Latessa Environmental Program Specialist Division of Water, Albany (518)