United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(WH-556F)
EPA 840-F-93-001C
July 1993
vyEPA Management Measures for
Controlling Coastal
Nonpoint Source Pollution
Water pollution, as evidenced by beach
closures, prohibitions on harvesting shellfish,
and the loss of biological productivity in coastal
habitats, is a serious problem for coastal areas.
Based on the states' assessments of 75% of
estuarine waters, current best estimates are that
35% of these waters are impaired and 10% are
threatened.
Although great strides in controlling
point sources of pollution have been made,
nonpoint source pollution remains a major
problem in many coastal areas. According to .
state water quality assessments, the leading
nonpoint contributors to estuarine waters are
urban runoff (construction and development
activities, and septic systems) and runoff from
agricultural lands. Forestry operations, mari-
nas, flood control, and dam building projects
also contribute to the nonpoint source problems
in coastal areas. The loss of wetlands and
riparian areas have increased the problem of
nonpoint source pollution in coastal areas
because they act as natural filters removing and
transforming nutrients, chemicals, and organic
wastes carried in the runoff.
Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization
Amendments of 1990
In response to growing concerns about
the health and productivity of our coastal areas,
Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Act Reau-
thorization Amendments of 1990. The law
requires states with coastal zone management
programs to adopt coastal nonpoint source
programs. State programs can be tailored to
particular needs and problems, but must assure
that landowners implement management
measures to control nonpoint source pollutants
by January, 1999; States programs may use a
variety of approaches including technical
assistance and cost-sharing, but must include
sufficient "enforceable policies arid mecha-
nisms" to ensure implementation.
The law requires coastal nonpoint
source programs to protect and restore coastal
waters by ensuring that landowners or opera-
tors apply management measures to control
pollutants and runoff. The Environmental
Protection Agency has developed a document,
Guidance Specifying Management Measures for
Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal
Waters, to assist state and local governments,
as well as landowners and operators, in identi-
fying and implementing the most effective
management measures.
To ensure that the management mea-
sures contain the best and most recent informa-
tion, EPA convened workgroups with represen-
tatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(Soil Conservation Service, Extension Service,
and Forest Service), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, and other federal agencies, as well as
experts from state water quality and coastal
zone management agencies.
The guidance identifies management
measures for five major categories of nonpoint
pollution: Agriculture, Forestry, Urban, Mari-
nas and Recreational Boating, and
Hydromodification. The measures reflect the
greatest degree of pollution reduction that is
economically achievable through the use of best
available technology, siting criteria, operating
methods, and other alternatives.
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The measures focus first on pollution
prevention activities such as carefully planning
the application of nutrients and pesticides and
minimizing soil erosion. These types of mea-
sures are often the most cost-effective.
The measures also consider nonpoint
pollution of both ground and surface waters
because of their interaction in the hydrologic
cycle. In coastal areas, nonpoint sources, which
may contribute to ground-water contamination,
are of special concern because of the role
ground water often plays in recharging coastal
waters.
Agriculture-Related Nonpoint Source
Pollution
The primary agricultural nonpoint
source pollutants are nutrients (particularly
nitrogen and phosphorus), sediment, animal
wastes, pesticides, and salts. Agricultural
nonpoint sources enter surface water through
direct surface runoff or through seepage to
ground water that discharges to a surface water
outlet. Various farming activities result in the
erosion of soil particles. The sediment pro-
duced by erosion can damage fish habitat and
wetlands and, in addition, often transports
excess agricultural chemicals resulting in
contaminated runoff. This runoff in turn affects
changes to aquatic habitat such as temperature
increases and decreased oxygen. The most
common sources of excess nutrients in surface
water from nonpoint sources are chemical
fertilizers and manure from animal facilities.
These nutrients cause eutrophication in surface
water.
Pesticides used for pest control in
agricultural operations can also contaminate
surface and ground-water resources. Return
flows> runoff, and leachate from irrigated lands
may transport sediment, nutrients, salts, and
other materials. Finally, improper grazing
practices in riparian, as well as upland areas,
can cause water quality degradation.
A Summary of the Management
Measures
SEDIMENT/EROSION CONTROL
Soil erosion is one of the leading causes
of water pollution in the United States. The
goal of this measure is to minimize the delivery
of sediment from agricultural lands to receiving
waters. Landowners have a choice of one of
two approaches: 1) apply the erosion compo-
nent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Conservation Management System through
such practices as conservation tillage, strip
cropping, contour farming, and terracing, or 2)
design and install a combination of practices to
remove settleable solids and associated pollut-
ants in runoff for all but the larger storms.
CONFINED ANIMAL FACILITY
Animal waste contaminates many of
our waters with pathogens and nutrients. The
management measure for all new facilities and
existing facilities over a certain size is to limit
discharges from confined animal facilities to
waters of the United States by storing wastewa-
ter and runoff caused by all storms up to and
including the 25-year, 24-hour frequency storm.
For smaller existing facilities, the management
measure is to design and implement systems
that collect solids, reduce contaminant concen-
trations, and reduce runoff to minimize the
discharge of contaminants caused by the same
storms.
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This measure also specifies manage-
ment of stored runoff and solids through proper
waste utilization and use of disposal methods
which minimize impacts to surface and ground
water. Confined animal facilities required to
obtain a discharge permit under the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit program are not subject to
these management measures.
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
This measure calls for comprehensive
nutrient management plans. Plans should
include a nutrient budget for the crop, identifi-
cation of the types and amounts of nutrients
necessary to produce a crop based on realistic
crop yield expectations, and an identification of
the environmental hazards of the site. Other
items called for in the measure include soil tests
and other tests to determine crop nutrient needs
and proper calibration of nutrient equipment.
PESTICIDE MANAGEMENT
This measure is designed to minimize
water quality problems by reducing pesticide
use, improving the timing and efficiency of
application, preventing backflow of pesticides
into water supplies, and improved calibration of
pesticide spray equipment. A key component
of this measure is use of integrated pest man-
agement (IPM). IPM includes evaluating
current pest problems in relation to the crop-
ping history, previous pest control measures,
and applying pesticides only when an economic
benefit to the producer will be achieved, i.e.,
application based on economic thresholds. If
pesticide applications are necessary, pesticides
should be selected based on consideration of
their environmental impacts such as persis-
tence, toxicity, and leaching potential.
LIVESTOCK GRAZING
The goal of this measure is to protect
sensitive areas, which include streambanks,
wetlands, estuaries, ponds, lake shores, and
riparian zones. Protection is to be achieved
through improved grazing management to
reduce the physical distance and direct loading
of animal waste and sediment caused by
livestock by restricting livestock access to
sensitive areas. In addition, upland erosion is to
be reduced by either: 1) applying the range and
pasture components of a Conservation Manage-
ment System or 2) maintaining the land in
accordance with the activity plans established
by either the Bureau of Land Management or
the Forest Service. These techniques include the
restriction of livestock from sensitive areas by
locating salt, shade, and alternative drinking
sources away from sensitive areas, and provid-
ing livestock stream crossings.
IRRIGATION
This measure promotes an effective
irrigation system that delivers necessary quanti-
ties of water yet reduces nonpoint pollution to
surface waters and ground water. To achieve
this, the measure calls for uniform application
of water based upon an accurate measurement
of crop water needs and the volume of irriga-
tion water applied. When applying chemicals
through irrigation (a process known as
chemigation), special additional precautions
apply. The measure also recognizes that states'
water laws conflicting with this measure will
take precedence over the measure. ,
To obtain a copy of the management
measures guidance, please write:
Environmental Protection Agency
Nonpoint Source Control Branch (WH-553)
401M Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20460
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