United States ;
Environmental^Protection
Agency , -„ '
Office Of Water
(4503F)
EPA-841-F96-004E'
March 1996
Nonpoint Pointers
Understanding and managing nonpoint source pollution in your community
Protecting Coastal
Waters from Nonpbint
Source Pollution
_ CqastaLwaters provide homes for an amazing .array of plants and ani- -
mals and are jrecfeatidnal havens for more than 180 millionrvisitots^each-
yeaf. Yet, high levels of pollution prevented people frdm swimming safely at,
coastal beaches on more than 12,000 occasions from 1988 through 1994, and
"the latest National Water Quality Inventory reports that one-third of surveyed
estuaries (areas near the coast where seawater. and freshwater mixing
occurs) are damaged. Rapidly increasing population growth ajnd develop-'
-•" ment in coastal regions could be a source of even more cqastal water
quality problems in the future. .. ^~ _; - - ~r
^ ''--•' ' -•- -~ '' ""' ' ATsrgnificant portion of the
Jthreats torepastal waters"~are~caused
by nonpoinfsource ppllution
(NFS). Major sources in~coastal "\
waters include'agriculture and
?" urban,runoff7Qther significant . ,
; sources include faulty septic .,
systems, forestry/marinas and
Coastal waters include estuar-
ies', soundsrbaysrla.gpons,-and
other bodies dj Water that have
a large percentage of seawater,"
as well a& the Great Lakes.
recreational boating, physical
. " changes to stream channels, and
.habitat degradation, especially the destruction of wetlands andyegetated
areas near streams. .. . ,V -- ^ .... " ^ „> ; '
In 1990, Congress^passed the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorizatiori Amend- -
ments (CZARA) to tackle the nonpoint source pollution problem in coastal
watersl Section 6217 of CZARA requires the 29 states and territories with
approved Coastal Zone Management Programs to develop Coastal ._ - -c
Nonpoint Pollution ContrplPrOgrams. m its program,, a state or territory
describes how it will impiementnonpojnt source pollution controls, known
as management measures, that conform with.those-deseribed'ifi Guidance
Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal
Waters. " '• \ ' ~ . ^" "~^ -3~" — /-'"' '"-' ^-".'" '•'. "~
If these original rnanagement measures fail to produce the necessary
coastal water quality improvements, a state or territory dien must imple-
ment additional management measures to address remaining water quality.
problems. Approved programs will update and expand upon NFS Manage-,.
ment Programs developed under section 319 of the Clean Wafer Act-and 7'
v v^ * -
/$*''&
kffow
Wat by 2010,
almost one-half dfi
. —- , j~ ' s"
a*.
coastal waters In
*&*>
NPS pollution occurs when
water runs over land or-through.
the ground, picks up pollutants,
and deposits them in surface
waters drjntroduce& them into
ground water.
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RELATED PUBLICATIONS
(EPA-841-F-96-004)
• Coastal Nonpoint Pollution
r_ Contrplprogram: Program
siiiSfii'iiPi-is-B^^'
OD
° pjveMty. Center.for Marine
sIarTd'Press,
1993 1^
': - Management Measures_for
^.^g—.——^.^.—^^—---.
- 4fon in Coastal Waters (EPA-
840-B-92-002)
• The Quality ofOur NationTs
Water: 1994 (EPA-841-S-95-
004)
• Testing the Waters, V:
Politics and Pollution at US
Beaches, Natural Resources
Defense Council, June 1995
To order any EPA documents
call or fax the National Center
for Environmental Publications
and Information.
Tel (513)489-8190
Fax (513) 489-8695
FOR MORE INFORMATION
.• ' ,!:: • ' ,„ , -
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency
Nonpoint Source Control Branch
Washington DC 20460
Internet Address:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/np s/
index.htrnl
Coastal Zone Management Programs developed under section 306 of the
Coastal Zone Management Act.
The coastal nonpoint program strengthens the links between federal .and
state/territory coastal zone management and water quality programs in
order to enhance efforts to manage land management activities that degrade
coastal waters and coastal habitats. State and territorial cpastal zone agen-
cies and water quality agencies have coequal roles, as do the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) at the federal level.
.'' • .''•""- ' - , ' .-v • •- - ., •''- "' -'- ,- '- ->.-, • ' . •' • " ., •'• -".
Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs
In 1995, coastal states and territories submitted their coastal nonpoint. . •'.
programs to EPA and NOAA for review and approval. States and territories
are scheduled to implement the first phase of their approved program by
2004 and, if necessary, the second phase by 2009. Approved programs
include several key elements, described below. " , '- ;
Boundary. The boundary defines the region where land and water uses
have a significant impact on a state's or territory's coastal waters. It also
includes areas where future, land uses reasonably can be expected to impair
coastal waters. To define the boundary, a state or territory'may choose a
region suggested by NOAA or may propose its own boundary based "on
geologic, hydrologic, and other scientific data. . -• . "
Management Measures. The state or territory coastal nonpoint program
describes how a state or territory plans to control NPS pollution within the
boundary. To help states and territories identify appropriate technologies "".
and tools, EPA issued Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of
Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters. This technical guidance describes the
best available, economically achievable approaches used to control NPS
pollution from the major categories of land management activities that can
degrade coastal water quality. States or territories may elect to implement
alternative measurement measures as long as they will achieve the same
environmental results as those described-in the guidance.
Enforceable Policies and Mechanisms. States and territories need to
ensure implementation of the management measures. Mechanisms may
include, for example, permit programs, zoning, "bad actor" laws, enforce-
able water quality standards, and general environmental laws and prohibi-
tions. States and territories may also use voluntary approaches like eco-.
nomic incentives if they are backed by appropriate regulations. ...
Final Approval and Conditional Approval
In certain circumstances, NOAA and EPA may grant a program condi-
tional approval for up to five years. Conditional approval provides a state or
territory additional time to fully develop its management program while it
gjnsjnitial program implementation. Conditional approval would in-
progje^sjtpjw^d_eventual fujljprogram development
pproyal
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