FY 2014 Draft National Water Program Guidance Office of Water April 2013 &EPA 850-K-13-001 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. National Water Program Areas of Focus Guidance 5 A. Protecting Populations at Risk 5 1. Children's Health 5 2. Environmental Justice 5 B. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality 8 C. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure 9 D. Controlling Nutrient Pollution 13 E. Assuring High Quality and Accessible Water Information 14 III. National Water Program (Subobjective) Specific Guidance 17 A. Cross-Cutting Themes 17 1. National Water Program and Tribes 17 2. Protecting Urban Waters 19 3. Climate Change 20 4. Implementing Innovative Technology in Water 21 5. Grants Management 22 B. Strategies to Protect Public Health 25 1. Water Safe to Drink 25 2. Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat 34 3. Water Safe for Swimming 35 C. Strategies to Protect and Restore Fresh Waters, Coastal Waters, and Wetlands 36 1. Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis 36 2. Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters 50 3. Increase Wetlands 52 D. Strategies to Protect and Restore the Health of Communities and Large Aquatic Ecosystems 55 1. The Great Lakes 55 2. The Chesapeake Bay 57 3. The Gulf of Mexico 60 4. Long Island Sound 61 5. The Puget Sound 62 6. U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health 64 7. Pacific Island Territories 65 Office of Water Page 1 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 8. The South Florida Ecosystem 66 9. The Columbia River Basin 68 10. The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary 69 Appendices A. FY 2014 National Water Program Measures B. Key Contacts C. Explanation of Key Changes Summary D. Additional Guidance for CWA Section 106 State and Interstate Grant Recipients Office of Water Page 2 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance I. Introduction This National Water Program Guidance (Guidance) for fiscal year (FY) 2014 describes how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, territories, and tribal governments will work together to protect and improve the quality of the Nation's waters, including wetlands, and ensure safe drinking water. Within EPA, the Office of Water (OW) oversees the delivery of the national water programs, while the regional offices work with states, tribes, territories, and others to implement these programs and other supporting efforts. Section II, National Areas of Focus Guidance, describes priority program areas for FY 2014. EPA, states, and tribes need to give special attention to these national priority areas to ensure safe and clean water for all Americans. In doing so, OW recognizes that EPA regional offices, states, and tribes need flexibility in determining the best allocation of resources for achieving clean water goals and safe drinking water at the regional, state, and tribal level. Section III. Program Specific Guidance, describes the key actions needed to accomplish the public health and environmental goals in the EPA FY2011-2015 Strategic Plan, published on September 30, 2010. The Strategic Plan addresses water programs in Goal 2, Protecting America's Waters. In Goal 2, two key objectives, Protect Human Health and Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems, are supported by subobjectives that define specific environmental or public health results to be accomplished by the National Water Program by the end of FY 2015. This Guidance is organized into 15 subobjectives1 and cross-cutting water themes to describe the increment of environmental progress that EPA hopes to make in FY 2014 and the program strategies to be used to accomplish these objectives. In the Guidance, these subobjectives are organized into three areas: • Protect human health by improving the quality of drinking water, making fish and shellfish safer to eat, and assuring that recreational waters are safe for swimming; • Protect and restore the quality of the Nation's fresh waters, coastal waters, and wetlands; and • Protect and restore the health of large aquatic ecosystems across the country. Appendix A includes a comprehensive list of performance measures that support the subobjective strategies and are used to manage water programs. Three types of performance measures include: • "Outcome" Strategic Target Measures: Measures of environmental or public health impacts (i.e. outcomes) are described in the EPA Strategic Plan with long-range targets and in this Guidance. • National Program Activity Measures (PAMs): Core water PAMs (i.e., output measures) address activities to be implemented by EPA and by states/tribes that administer national programs. They are the basis for monitoring progress in implementing programs to accomplish the environmental goals in the Agency Strategic Plan. Some of these measures have national and regional "targets" for FY 2014 that serve as a point of reference as EPA regions work with states/tribes to define more formal regional "commitments" in the Spring/Summer of 2013. • Ecosystem Measures: These measures address activities to restore and protect communities and large aquatic ecosystems and implement other water program priorities in EPA regional offices. The process for managing water program strategies includes a three part process: • Part 1 is the development of this Guidance, starting with a review of measures in the fall of 2012, a draft Guidance by April 2013, and the final Guidance by June 2013. 1 The Guidance also contains one additional section covering the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary. Office of Water Page 3 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Part 2 involves consultation and planning among EPA regions, states, and tribes, to be conducted during the Spring/Summer 2013, to convert the "targets" in this Guidance into regional "commitments" that are supported by Performance Partnership Agreements and other grant workplans with states and tribes. This process allocates available resources to those program activities that are likely to result in the best progress toward accomplishing water quality and public health goals given the circumstances and needs in the state/region. The tailored, regional "commitments" and state/tribal workplans that result from this process define, along with this Guidance, the "strategy" for the National Water Program for FY 2014. • Part 3 involves work to be done during FY 2014 to assess progress in program implementation and improve program performance. OW will continue to promote effective grants management to improve program performance. The Agency has issued directives, policies, and guidance to help improve grants management. It is the policy of OW that all grants are to comply with applicable grants requirements regardless of whether the program specific guidance document addresses the requirement. The grant guidances for the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 106 Water Pollution Control, Public Water System Supervision (PWSS), Underground Injection Control (UIC), and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) programs are incorporated into relevant subobjectives in this Guidance. The Office of Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Overview2 to the National Program Manager (NPM) Guidances communicates important agency-wide information and should be reviewed in conjunction with this Guidance as well as other applicable requirements. The Agency's Overview also includes important background information and the eleven cross-program areas that are critical to effective implementation of EPA's environmental programs in FY 2014. The key contacts for this Guidance are: • Mike Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water. • Tim Fontaine, Senior Budget Officer and Director of Resource Management Staff. • Vinh T. T. Nguyen, Program Planning Team Leader. Key contacts by subobjective are listed in Appendix B and posted with other related documents at http://water.epa.gov/resource performance/planning/. 2 Read the Agency's Overview at: http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/fV2014. Office of Water Page 4 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance II. National Water Program Areas of Focus Guidance A. Protecting Populations at Risk 1. Children's Health Protecting children's environmental health is a priority for the National Water Program. Schools and child care centers are a critical subset of small drinking water systems for which EPA is also continuing to provide special emphasis in FY 2014 to ensure that children receive water that is safe to drink. There are approximately 7,700 schools and child care centers that are also public water systems (PWS). Similar to other small systems, schools and child care centers often do not have the technical, managerial, or financial (IMF) capacity to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements, including maintaining a certified operator. Children's Health Activities for FY 2014 • States will assist in disseminating user-friendly materials developed by EPA to ensure that these systems understand their responsibilities to comply with the Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR).3 • States will work, including in partnership with EPA, to ensure that violations occurring at schools and child care centers are addressed quickly and these systems are returned to compliance. Children's Health Performance Measures • Indicator SDW-17 (page 1, Appendix A) tracks schools and child care centers meeting health-based drinking water standards. 2. Environmental Justice OW will work to create healthy and sustainable communities, for all people, by decreasing environmental burdens and increasing environmental benefits. To implement the Agency's environmental justice (EJ) priority, to expand the conversation on environmentalism and working for EJ, the EPA adopted Plan EJ 20144, as its overarching EJ strategy. OW supports this priority by working with NPMs and regions to mobilize resources to address the needs of disproportionately unserved and underserved communities through strategies and tools that include: (1) EJSCREEN, (2) EJ Legal Tools, (3) incorporating EJ in rules, (4) incorporating EJ in permits, and (5) intra- and interagency collaborations to support community-based work in overburdened communities. OW places emphasis on achieving results in areas with potential EJ concerns through Water Safe to Drink (Subobjective 2.1.1) and Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat (Subobjective 2.1.2). In addition, the National Water Program places emphasis on other EJ Water Related Elements: 1) Sustain and Restore the U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health (Subobjective 2.2.9); 2) Sustain and Restore Pacific Island Territories (Subobjective 2.2.10); and 3) Alaska Native Village (ANV) Program. This focus will result in improved environmental quality for all people, including the unserved and underserved subpopulations living in areas with potential disproportionately high and adverse impacts on human health. OW will integrate EJ principles into its programmatic and regional decision making through the use of rulemaking, policy, screening and legal tools. 3 Read more on RTCR at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/nilesregs/sdwa/tcr/regulation revisions.cfm. 4 Read more on Plan EJ 2014 at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/ej/plan-ej/index.html. Office of Water Page 5 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Environmental Justice Activities for FY 2014 • OW will explore ways to collaborate with OEJ and other EPA offices on how to best develop climate change adaptation policies and strategies that pay close attention to populations that are especially vulnerable to a changing climate. • OW will continue to consult with EJ communities to improve our understanding and analyses of the potential impacts of water regulations on those communities. • OW will work closely with other EPA offices to ensure that the Agency's broader EJ efforts are informed by the consideration of communities' drinking water and surface water quality. • OW, along with other EPA NPMs and regions, are working to transition their existing EJ screening efforts from existing tools and approaches toward EJSCREEN, EPA's nationally consistent EJ screening tool that is currently available for use by EPA staff. OW will continue to support the National Water Program's use of EJSCREEN to inform surface water and drinking water EJ screening, in coordination with other EPA offices, regions, and state and tribal partners. • OW will continue to develop Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities that will allow managers of the various components of the National Water Program to identify and target their specific program responsibilities toward communities of potential EJ concern. OW will leverage the existing EJSCREEN methodology and data for identifying potential EJ communities while adding OW- related program data. • OW will continue to develop and track measures that characterize actions taken, or that characterize environmental or health conditions of overburdened communities/children as outlined in the FY 2012 Annual Action for the Cross-cutting Strategy for EJ and Children's Health, using EJSCREEN and other EJ tools as appropriate. • The Urban Waters Program5 will advance EJ goals through activities such as providing technical support and funding for place-based projects through the Urban Waters Small Grants program and through grants funded by EPA; the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program funds managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; support provided by the Urban Waters Federal Partnership; and development of tools for local action at the community level. The National Water Program will share both barriers and effective practices for engaging overburdened communities that are identified through Urban Waters program activities. These lessons learned will be shared within the National Water Program and with OEJ. • OW will promote infrastructure improvements to small and disadvantaged communities through DWSRF that reduce public exposure to contaminants through compliance with regulations and support the reliable delivery of safe water by community water systems (CWSs). • OW will promote infrastructure improvements to small and disadvantaged communities through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) that protect and restore water quality. • The EPA National Tribal Drinking Water Program6 will continue to maintain its commitment to improve the provision of safe drinking water in Indian country by working with PWSs to maintain and improve compliance with the national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWRs) through use of infrastructure funding, technical assistance, and enforcement actions. EPA will also continue to work in partnership with the Indian Health Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Infrastructure Task Force (ITF)7 to increase access to safe water, basic sanitation, and solid waste management services. To support better management and maintenance of water systems in Indian country, EPA will continue 6 ' Read more on the Urban Waters Program at http ://www. epa. gov/urbanwaters/. Read more on tribal program funding at http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/ogwdw/tribal.cfm#funding. 7 Read more on ITF at http ://www. epa. gov/tp/trprograms/infra-water, htm. Office of Water Page 6 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance to implement the National Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification program to ensure that tribal water utility staff have the training and experience needed to provide safe drinking water. • OW will focus on activities encouraging states to assess fish and shellfish tissue for contaminants in waters used for fishing by minority and sensitive populations, particularly those that catch fish for subsistence. Such populations may include women of child bearing age, children, African Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, Native American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. • EPA will continue to prioritize funding to U.S.-Mexico border communities based on the most severe public health and environmental conditions. These communities are looking to EPA as a last-resort funding source when utilities, cities, or states are not able to fully finance needed infrastructure improvements. • The ANV8 program, through the State of Alaska, will provide grant funds to under-served Native Alaska communities to improve or to construct drinking water and wastewater facilities thereby improving local health and sanitation conditions. EPA will provide funding for ANV infrastructure needs through the clean water and drinking water tribal set-aside programs9. The ANV program is unique in that it is also authorized to support training and technical assistance programs related to the technical, managerial, and financial requirements of managing drinking water and sanitation systems in rural Alaska. • In the Pacific Island territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), EPA will continue the strategic use of grants, technical assistance, and enforcement to improve institutional capacity and infrastructure. Water and sewer service in the U.S. Pacific Islands has lagged that of the U.S. mainland for decades. More specifically, EPA will use grants, technical assistance, and enforcement to improve utility engineering and management, construct better infrastructure, and promote asset management to extend the life of infrastructure, all with the intent to provide Pacific Islanders with the same quality of water that most of the U.S. enjoys, and protect Pacific Islanders from undertreated sewage. • OW will work with Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE)10 communities to assess and address sources of local water pollution, including the use of water pollution reduction programs, particularly those communities suffering disproportionately from environmental burdens. • OW will work with states to identify ways to protect vulnerable populations through authorized state clean water and drinking water programs. Environmental Justice Performance Measures For Urban Waters program measures, the National Water Program will use EJSCREEN to assess how many of the projects initiated are in overburdened communities. Measure WQ-25a tracks the number of urban water projects initiated addressing water quality issues in the community. The challenges associated with the provision of safe drinking water in Indian country are similar to challenges facing other small communities: a lack of technical, managerial, and financial capacity to operate and maintain drinking water systems. The magnitude of these challenges in Indian country is demonstrated by tribal water system compliance with health-based regulations (measure SDW- SP3.N11). EPA recognizes that not all tribal communities are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards, and thus, do not present a universal need for EJ. However, the measure indicates that a greater proportion of the overall population in Indian country lacks access to safe 8 Read more on ANV at http://www.epa.gov/alaskanativevillages. 9 Read more on the Tribal Set-Asides Program at http://water.epa.gov/grants runding/dwsrf/allotments/tribes.cfm. 10 Read more on CARE at http://www.epa.gov/CARE/. Office of Water Page 7 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance drinking water and receives drinking water that is not in compliance with all applicable health-based drinking water standards compared to the U.S. population on the whole. In addition, measure SDW-18- N.ll tracks the number of American Indian and Alaska Native homes provided access to safe drinking water in coordination with other federal agencies. Through the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program, underserved communities build and improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Many households in the communities receive drinking water or wastewater service for the first time. These first time service connections are tracked by measures MB-SP24.N11 and MB-SP25.N11 - additional homes served by improvements in water services. ANVs are unique populations that often have extreme sanitation difficulties relative to people in the lower 48 states. Measure WQ-23 tracks the percentage of serviceable rural Alaska homes with access to safe drinking water supply and wastewater disposal. When compared to the national average, ANVs continue to stand out as under-served populations for both safe drinking water infrastructure and adequate wastewater treatment. Consequently, these villages experience disproportional exposure to untreated or under-treated wastewater. B. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality The Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR). The fundamental public health protection mission of the national drinking water program is to ensure that PWSs deliver drinking water that meets national primary drinking water standards to their customers. The development and implementation of health protection-based regulatory standards for drinking water quality to limit human exposure to contaminants of concern is the cornerstone of the program. Systems meet standards by employing "multiple barriers of protection" including source water protection to limit contaminant occurrence, various stages of treatment, proper operation and maintenance of the distribution and finished water storage system, operator certification and training, and customer awareness. Efforts continue to be made to bring non-complying systems into compliance and to help all systems be prepared to comply with the new regulations and be sustainable over the long run. EPA promulgated the revision to the 1989 Total Coliform Rule (TCR)11 in January 2013. The purpose of the 1989 TCR is to protect public health by ensuring the integrity of the drinking water distribution system and monitoring for the presence of microbial contamination. EPA anticipates greater public health protection under the revised requirements, which are based on recommendations by a federal advisory committee and the agency's consideration of public comments. The final RTCR12 requires PWSs that are vulnerable to microbial contamination to identify and correct problems, and establishes criteria for PWSs to qualify for and stay on reduced monitoring, which could reduce water system burden and provide incentives for better system operation. The 1989 TCR remains effective until March 31, 2016. PWSs and primacy agencies must comply with the requirements of the RTCR beginning April 1, 2016. During FY 2014, HQ and regional programs will provide outreach and training to states and drinking water systems to help prepare for successful implementation of RTCR. Integrated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) Program Reviews. Also discussed in Section III.C. the NPDES program is committed to closer coordination between EPA headquarters, regions, and states - as well as between EPA's water and enforcement/compliance programs - to 11 Read more on TCR at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/tcr/basicinformation.cfm. 12 Read more on RTCR at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/tcr/regulation revisions.cfm. Office of Water Page 8 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance integrate the oversight of NPDES permitting and enforcement activities and promote greater program efficiency, transparency, and integrity. Central to this goal are two processes that were launched in FY 2012 and are expected to be fully implemented in FY 2013: transitioning OW's Permit Quality Review (PQR) process from headquarters to regional offices and integrating the PQR process with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)'s State Review Framework (SRF) process. In FY 2012, OW assisted regions in leading PQRs for several states and collaborated with OECA to carry out several integrated PQR-SRF reviews. In FY 2013, EPA regions (with headquarters assistance as requested) will conduct a number of state program reviews and regions will integrate the PQR and SRF processes into a comprehensive single review. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality Activities for FY 2014 RTCR • In FY 2014, states should be revising state regulations in order to adopt the RTCR and be working to submit their primacy applications. States have two years under SDWA to submit primacy applications to EPA once a final rule has been promulgated. • States will partner with EPA in developing guidance, fact sheets, and monitoring placards to assist PWSs with implementing the RTCR. In addition, EPA will provide training to states on the RTCR and states will conduct training for PWSs. See also Section III.B.I. Integrated NPDES Program Reviews • In FY 2014, EPA will continue the process of conducting integrated PQR/SRF NPDES reviews. Given the Agency goal of completing NPDES reviews for all states (including states not yet authorized to implement the NPDES program) on a four-year cycle, EPA expects to conduct 10-12 reviews in FY 2014. • EPA will maintain and update its commitment and tracking system to reflect implementation of action items identified in PQR/SRF NPDES reviews. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality Program Measures • Subobiective 2.1.1 and measures SDW-211, SDW-SP1.N11, SDW-SP2, and SDW-SP3.Nllwill reflect compliance with the RTCR starting in FY 2016. • WQ-11 (page 4, Appendix A) tracks the cumulative number, and national percent, of follow-up actions that are completed by assessed NPDES programs. C. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure Protecting Drinking Water Supplies. The Source Water Protection Program is a voluntary program of federal agencies, states, associations, local governments, drinking water utilities and other organizations working to protect drinking water sources through collaboration and partnerships.13 Source water includes surface water and ground water, as well as the interchange between them14. Source water protection objectives include preventing contamination of source waters and reducing existing levels of contamination, leading to reduced risks to public health, and potential drinking water treatment cost savings. Source water availability is integral to drinking water protection. 13 Read more on SWP at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/sourcewater/protection/index.cfm. 14 Read more on ground water at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/groundwater/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 9 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 15 j Improving Small System Capacity. Many small PWSs face challenges in reliably providing safe drinking water and meeting the requirements of SDWA. As a result, some small systems may experience frequent or long-term compliance challenges. The 1996 SDWA Amendments recognized these challenges and established a strong emphasis on enhanced water system management to achieve public health protection. The Amendments also provided a framework for assisting PWSs in acquiring and maintaining TMF capacity that is necessary for systems to provide safe water over the long-term and promote sustainable water infrastructure. EPA continues to work with states and tribes, as well as with utility associations, third-party technical assistance providers and other federal partners, to promote the sustainability practices that are the foundation for building technical, managerial, and financial capacity, known as Capacity Development.16 This includes the implementation of system-wide planning practices such as asset management, water conservation and efficiency, energy efficiency, rate setting and effective pricing practices.17 Maintaining Healthy Waters. Implementing holistic approaches, including green infrastructure, help maintain healthy waters. The Nation has made significant progress in cleaning up polluted waters. Yet, while substantial resources are devoted to restoring impaired waters, the Nation continues to experience the loss of some of remaining healthy aquatic ecosystems.18 This is due to other significant causes including habitat loss and fragmentation, hydrologic alteration and loss of connectivity, invasive species, and climate change. The Healthy Watersheds Initiative19 (HWI) encourages a strategic, systems approach to protecting healthy watersheds by working with states and other partners to implement targeted and integrated protection approaches that recognize the dynamics and interconnectivity of aquatic ecosystems in the landscape.20 Supporting Green Infrastructure. In order to help communities finance wastewater treatment over the long-term, the 1987 Amendments to the CWA ushered in the innovative CWSRF program21. To date, approximately $95.4 billion has been provided to various communities to address wastewater infrastructure and other water quality needs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and subsequent appropriations have expanded project opportunities for soft path, green infrastructure projects in both rural and urban environments across the country. To build on this momentum, EPA has developed a website22 promoting ways in which CWSRF assistance can be used for green infrastructure and other green project reserve projects. This website provides an array of outreach materials, ranging from case studies and reports to links to useful materials developed by outside organizations. EPA also is pursuing a Sustainable Infrastructure Program, discussed later in Section III.C. to promote sustainable practices by drinking water and wastewater utilities. Also discussed in Section III.C. EPA is collaborating with partner organizations and communities to implement the Green Infrastructure Strategic Agenda23 released in April 2011. EPA has worked with Council on Environmental Quality and other federal agencies to identify ways that the federal government can make it easier for communities to implement green infrastructure. In the past year, EPA has provided more than $1 million in on-the-ground technical assistance to 19 communities to help 15 Read more on Small Systems at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/drink/pws/smallsvstems/basicinformation.cfm. 16 Read more on Capacity Development at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/drink/pws/smallsvstems/index.cfm. 17 Read more on water infrastructure sustainability at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/. 18 Heinz Center. State of the Nation's Ecosystems Report. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2008. 19 Read more on the HWI at http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm and in Section III.B. l.b. 20 U.S. EPA (2011). Healthy Watersheds Initiative: National Framework and Action Plan. Office of Water. EPA 841-R-l 1-005. Read more on HWI at http://water.epa. gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm. 21 Read more on the CWSRF program at visit http ://www. epa. gov/cleanwatersrf. 22 Read more on these resources at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/cwsrf/Green-Project-Reserve.cfm. 23 Read more at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/upload/gi agenda_protectwaters.pdf. Office of Water Page 10 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance them implement green infrastructure as part of our community partnership program. EPA is assisting communities with green designs, benefits assessments, and code reviews. EPA has provided more than $3 million for urban waters small grants, many of which support green initiatives. EPA also collaborates with Department of Transportation (DOT), HUD, and USDA through its Partnership for Sustainable Communities. More than $1 million of funding has been provided by EPA for its Greening America's Capitals and Sustainable Communities Building Blocks technical assistance programs. To date, the CWSRF has provided more than $400 million for green infrastructure practices. Integrating Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans. Also discussed in Subobjective III.C. EPA has formalized its commitment to integrated planning approaches to municipal wastewater and stormwater management. An integrated planning process has the potential to identify a prioritized critical path to achieving the water quality objectives of the CWA by identifying efficiencies in implementing competing requirements that arise from separate wastewater and stormwater projects, including capital investments and operation and maintenance requirements. This approach can also lead to use of more sustainable and comprehensive solutions, such as green infrastructure, that improve water quality as well as support other quality of life attributes that enhance the vitality of communities. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure Activities for FY 2014 Protecting Water Supplies. Source water protection can be undertaken on many scales, including watersheds and aquifers. Opportunities to collaborate and take action exist at the national, regional, state, and local levels. States are strongly encouraged to: • Engage State Conservationists and local conservation districts to protect source waters from nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, including through USDA funding opportunities and promotion of land conservation programs and best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality. • Take collaborative actions that integrate CWA and SDWA source water protection activities to advance public health and environmental protection objectives at the state, interstate and local levels. • Consider source water protection as part of storm water management in conjunction with green infrastructure activities. • Work with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to maintain healthy land cover on federal lands to protect water quality. • Promote consideration of source water, including water availability, in efforts related to the effects of climate change and other future pressures on fresh water resources. To support Capacity Development for drinking water systems, states are expected to work together with EPA, including through the State-EPA Asset Management Workgroup, and with other partners, on a variety of activities: • Sharing of tools, approaches, best practices, and innovations to promote sustainable practices, including asset management24 and energy and water efficiency,25 at drinking water systems. • Promoting the use of the Check Up Program for Small Systems (CUPSS) asset management software.26 • Promoting EPA's Energy Use Assessment Tool27 for drinking water systems. Energy represents the largest controllable cost of providing water or wastewater services to the public. 4 Read more on Asset Management at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/asset management.cfm. Read more on Water and Energy Efficiency at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/waterefficiencv.cfm. 6 Read more on CUPSS at http://www.epa.gov/cupss. 27 Read more on the Energy Use Assessment Tool at see http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/energy use.cfm. Office of Water Page 11 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Promoting water efficiency and strategies to reduce water loss. Given growing constraints on water resources, cost of treatment, and aging infrastructure, it is increasingly important to focus on water efficiency from a resource management and economic perspective.28 • Disseminating best practices and maintaining focus to assist non-CWSs, including campgrounds, restaurants, and hospitals, in reliably providing safe drinking water.29 • Working with utilities and other partners (e.g., Department of Veterans Affairs) to address water sector workforce recruitment and retention in support of a well-trained, knowledgeable workforce to ensure safe drinking water and wastewater management.30 • Identifying opportunities to coordinate with other funding agencies (e.g., USDA Rural Development) to more effectively assist small systems. • Working with EPA and other partners to promote various forms of system partnerships, including restructuring and shared treatment, that can provide opportunities for water systems to collaborate on compliance solutions and operations and maintenance activities and share costs with nearby systems, thereby enabling them to become sustainable and provide safe and affordable water to their communities.31 Green infrastructure activities include: • EPA will continue work with other federal agencies to align programs and leverage available resources to identify ways to make it easier for communities to implement green infrastructure. • EPA will explore and develop opportunities for raising awareness of the CWSRF as a viable funding source for green infrastructure projects. • EPA will continue to implement its Green Infrastructure Strategic Agenda focused on providing information and technical resources to communities. • EPA intends to provide assistance to communities with green designs, benefits assessments, and code reviews. • EPA will continue its work with its federal and external partners through its Urban Waters Program. • EPA will use the CWSRF to provide resources to the states for funding green projects. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure Program Measures • SDW-SP4a and SDW-SP4b reflect, respectively, progress as defined by states in minimizing risks to public health through source water protection for CWSs and for the percent of population served by those systems. • To support implementation of small system efforts, EPA tracks indicators for state DWSRF projects targeting small systems (SDW-11) and small system noncompliance and their capacity to quickly return to compliance with health-based standards (SDW-15). • To reinforce the critical need of improving the protection of public health for people served by small systems, EPA established a two-year Agency Priority Goal in FY 2012 aimed at engaging with twenty states to improve small drinking water system capability through increased participation in EPA's Optimization and Capacity Development Programs.32 EPA will report overall results after the two years end in September 2013. • WQ-17 tracks the fund utilization rate (cumulative loan agreement dollars to the cumulative funds available for projects) for the CWSRF. 28 Read more on water efficiency at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/main wpnew.cfm. 29 Read about Non-Community Water Systems at water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/pws/factoids.cfm. 30 Read more on Water Sector Workforce at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/ws workforce.cfm. 31 Read more on Water System Partnerships at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/partnerships.cfm. 32 Read more on EPA's Small Systems Agency Priority Goal at http://goals.performance.gov/goal detail/EPA/366. Office of Water Page 12 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • WQ-22a (page 4, Appendix A) tracks the development of HWI Strategies implementation of watershed protection plans. D. Controlling Nutrient Pollution As stated in the March 2011 memorandum, "Working in Partnership with States to Address Phosphorus and Nitrogen Pollution through Use of a Framework for State Nutrient Reductions"33, EPA believes that nitrogen and phosphorus pollution is one of the most serious and pervasive water quality problems. Sources of nutrients present in water bodies are both natural and anthropogenic (human-influenced). Human-induced nutrient pollution comes from a number of point and non-point sources including urban stormwater runoff, municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, row crop agriculture, animal feeding operations (AFOs) and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and atmospheric deposition. Controlling nutrient pollution from these sources requires holistic, integrated solutions that emphasize accountability. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to collaborate with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI). The NWQI aligns well with the NPS pollution challenges and priorities in many states. The overall goal of the NWQI is for NRCS to assist agricultural producers to address water resource concerns in small HUC-12 watersheds. The NRCS will apply 5% of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) financial assistance funds to address agriculture- related nutrient, sediment, and pathogen impairments waters that are 303(d)-listed or otherwise impaired. Starting in FY 2013 additional consideration was given to impaired waters that are also sources of drinking water. Through the CWA Section 319 Program, states will provide resources to monitor water quality progress in selected NWQI watersheds. Under the NPDES permitting program, state and federal permitting authorities are required to issue permits with effluent limits to protect state water quality standards (WQS) to all point sources discharging pollutants to any water of the U.S. This includes limits for nutrient pollution where reasonable potential exists to cause or contribute to an excursion above WQS. EPA continues to work with state partners to ensure effluent limits for nutrient pollution are included in permits where necessary. Controlling Nutrient Pollution Activities for FY2014 • EPA water program managers should place a high priority on working with interested state governments and other federal agencies, in collaboration with partners and stakeholders, to accelerate near-term efforts to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. To this end, when developing FY 2014 Section 106 grant work plans, EPA regions and state partners should specifically discuss what actions will be taken in FY 2014 toward reducing nutrient pollution. • EPA managers should continue working with states to help develop numeric criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus, so that states have clearly measurable, objective metrics to guide long-term pollution reduction efforts and adaptively manage towards achieving long-term goals. • EPA encourages states to begin work immediately setting priorities on a watershed or statewide basis, establishing nutrient reduction targets, and adopting numeric nutrient criteria for at least one class of waterbodies by no later than 2016. • EPA will focus on continuing to work with states to implement the Section 319 program reforms including updating state NPS Management Plans. 33 http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/upload/memo nitrogen framework.pdf Office of Water Page 13 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • EPA managers should continue working with states to ensure effective permitting of nutrient pollution to protect state WQS. Controlling Nutrient Pollution Performance Measures • One of the EPA's Agency Priority Goals for FY 2012-2013 calls for EPA to release new CWA Section 319 grant guidelines by November 2012 and for 50% of the states to revise their NPS programs according to new Section 319 grant guidelines by September 30, 2013. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to work with states to revise their NPS programs. • WQ-Ola (page 3, Appendix A) tracks the number of numeric WQS for total nitrogen and total phosphorus adopted by states and territories and approved by EPA, or promulgated by EPA. • WQ-26 (page 3, Appendix A) tracks the number of states and territories implementing nutrient reduction strategies. • WQ-09a, b, and c (page 3, Appendix A) tracks the reduction in runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. Because WQ-09 deals with sediments as well as nutrients, it is further discussed under the section entitled, "Implement Practices to Reduce Pollution from all Nonpoint Sources". • WQ-10 (page 3, Appendix A) tracks progress in restoring waters identified on states' 303(d) impaired waters lists as primarily impaired by NPSs. Because WQ-10 deals with pollutants in addition to nutrients, it is further discussed under the section entitled, "Implement Practices to Reduce Pollution from all Nonpoint Sources". • WQ-13d (page 4, Appendix A) tracks the number of CAFOs permitted by an individual or general permit. E. Assuring High Quality and Accessible Water Information Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS). Accurate, complete, and transparent system performance data is essential in understanding how the nation's PWSs are faring in meeting the expectation of delivering high quality safe drinking water to consumers. SDWIS34 serves as the primary source of national information on system compliance with all health-based regulatory requirements of SDWA and is used by most primacy agencies to assist in their management of the PWSS program. Developing E-Enterprise Solutions for Water Programs, SDWIS. EPA is replacing the existing SDWIS State software35, with SDWIS NextGen. EPA will leverage E-Enterprise solutions in developing the next generation of SDWIS in partnership with states in order to enhance and improve state program management and enable better targeting of resources to systems in need; reduce the total cost of ownership; enable faster implementation of drinking water rules and provide tools to ensure consistent determinations for compliance with drinking water rules; and support efficient sharing of drinking water compliance monitoring data between EPA, states, and the public. Enhancing Access to Drinking Water System Compliance Information. In March 2010, EPA announced the Drinking Water Strategy (Strategy)36, which envisions a comprehensive new approach to public health protection under the SDWA and other federal statutes, including a call for EPA to partner with states to share monitoring data collected and reported by PWSs to primacy agencies. Making these data publicly available is intended to result in greater transparency into drinking water quality from the national to the individual water system level, thereby increasing public awareness of status and trends in drinking water quality and its importance to public health. EPA acknowledges the growing demand from environmental agencies, public health agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the 34 Read more on SDWIS at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/databases/drink/sdwisfed/index.cfm. 35 Read more on SDWIS State at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/databases/drink/sdwisstate/aboutstate.cfm. 36 Read more on the Drinking Water Strategy at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/dwstrategv/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 14 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance public for access to a broader range of information about drinking water quality than is currently available from EPA. The Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) has been working with states to identify data for sharing between EPA and states and data for posting on EPA's website to understand reporting formats and approaches currently used by PWSs and laboratories to report data and information to primacy agencies and to understand state data systems and the workload needed to maintain them. Providing Accessible and Understandable Clean Water Data. EPA will continue to increase public accessibility and understandability of water quality data and the effects of water quality on public health and local economies. The Agency's goal is to simplify and automate reporting to raise awareness, reduce burden, and increase transparency. EPA will support states' and tribes' management and use of water quality data by improving automation of screening, analysis, visualization, and reporting of water quality data to support priority setting, resource allocation for protection and restoration activities, and public accountability. E-Enterprise solutions for clean water programs include tools to screen and analyze water quality data available through the Storage and Retrieval Data Warehouse (STORET)37 and the Water Quality data portal and expanded display of water quality information via How's My Waterway website/app38. As EPA moves toward the development of an e-Enterprise solution for federal and state agencies and the regulated community, the Agency has identified projects under the NPDES program in support of the Executive Order 13610, Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens, that will eliminate paperwork burdens. Specifically, projects have been identified for piloting the electronic reporting of CWA NPDES program data (e.g., Notice of Intent for general permits, Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Data) and potential Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data using e-Enterprise solutions (e.g., internal and external shared services, fillable forms). The goal is to provide significant burden reduction for states, EPA, and the regulated community while giving the public more complete and improved information about sources of water pollution in their communities. Additionally, as part of the CWA Action Plan, EPA launched the NPDES Non-Stormwater General Permit Web Inventory in FY 2012 to provide the public with better access to information about general permits and in FY 2013 worked to add stormwater general permit information to the inventory. In FY 2014, OW will continue to work with OECA to make NPDES data more readily accessible to the public. Assuring High Quality and Accessible Water Information Activities for FY2014 Drinking Water Information 1. States will participate in EPA-led development sessions to complete SDWIS NextGen. During FY 2014, states will also prepare to migrate data from SDWIS State and state-developed data systems to SDWIS NextGen during FY 2015. 2. States will partner with EPA in identifying cost-effective ways to leverage web technologies to support laboratories, water systems, states and EPA as they manage, report, and utilize drinking water data and to improve data quality. Clean Water Information • EPA will increase amount of water quality data state programs transmit to EPA via the Water Quality Exchange (WQX). 37 Read more on STORET at http://www.epa.gov/storet/ 38 Access "How's My Waterway?" at http://watersgeo.epa.gov/mywaterwav/. Office of Water Page 15 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • EPA will improve user access in the Water Quality data Portal to available analytical tools and models. • EPA will deliver National Aquatic Resource Survey results and data to the public and science community. • EPA will continue to work with states to incorporate electronic reporting approaches into implementation of the NPDES Program, as discussed in more detail in the OECA draft NPM guidance. Assuring High Quality and Accessible Water Information Program Measures Existing program measures do not track these activities. Implementation of the Drinking Water Strategy and SDWIS NextGen will, however, significantly affect how the data that underlie the PWSS program's compliance measures are shared among EPA and state partners and the transparency with which information about drinking water quality is made available to the public. Office of Water Page 16 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance III. National Water Program (Subobjective) Specific Guidance A. Cross-Cutting Themes 1. National Water Program and Tribes EPA is committed to protecting and restoring waters in Indian country and ANVs to ensure that drinking water is safe and aquatic ecosystem sustain fish; plants and wildlife; and economic, recreational, and subsistence activities. As outlined in the EPA FY 2011-2015 Strategic Plan, the Agency will continue to engage with tribes to build effective and results-oriented environmental programs. Consistent with the Strategic Plan's Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy: Strengthening State, Tribal and International Partnerships, OW will emphasize improving relationships with tribes through partnerships, outreach, and consultation. In particular for 2014, OW will implement tribal program strategies and evaluate progress on actions in Indian country that support goals described in the EPA Strategic Plan. EPA will evaluate progress using a set of National Water Program measures directly supporting tribes. These measures are highlighted below and further described in Appendix A. EPA will also work with tribes to improve environmental conditions and public health in communities overburdened by environmental pollution in support of the Strategic Plan's Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategy: Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health39. EPA continues to work with tribes toward full implementation of water programs in Indian country (i.e., programs implemented by tribes or by EPA). EPA, in consultation with tribes, also works with states to protect water resources outside of Indian country where tribes have rights, such as treaty guarantees of resource protection. EPA's National Water Program recognizes that as sovereign entities and environmental co-regulators, Indian tribes play a major role in protecting the water resources vital to their existence, and many are seeking to develop comprehensive and effective water quality programs to improve and protect water quality on tribal lands. Tribal Activities for FY 2014 To support and enhance tribal efforts in FY 2014, OW is taking many actions that include tribes to protect water resources. These actions are described throughout this guidance, along with other important information that may be of interest to tribes. Selected tribal activities are highlighted here, and include: • The National Water Program will continue to implement the EPA Policy on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribes40 by using best practices developed over the last year to coordinate and optimize tribal consultation efforts. • Provide appropriate tools, including training and guidance documents, for implementing needed tribal water programs. • Continue to communicate CWA tribal training opportunities through a tribal listserv and improve OW's website with training information relevant to tribes. • Continue National Water Program management support and involvement at the highest levels. • Support the National Tribal Water Council (NTWC) to promote information exchange and technical assistance among tribes to protect and restore water resources, and identify and analyze high- priority water topics from a tribal perspective. The NTWC serves as a national forum for tribal water managers to interact with each other, with tribes, and directly with EPA to promote actions that improve ground, surface, and drinking water quality. 39 Please see Protecting Populations at Risk, Section II. A. in this Guidance. 40 Read more on the EPA Policy at http://www.epa.gov/tribal/consultation/index.htm. Office of Water Page 17 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Pursue new tribal strategic actions in the National Water Program's Strategy: Response to Climate Change to support tribes' ability to preserve, adapt and maintain the viability of their culture, traditions, natural resources, and economies in the face of a changing climate. • Identify and focus available resources and provide technical assistance and guidance appropriately to help tribes: o Develop and implement water quality programs under the Final Guidance on Awards of Grants to Indian tribes under CWA Section 106: • Assist tribes in developing monitoring strategies appropriate to their water quality programs through training and technical assistance and work with tribes to provide data in a format accessible for storage in EPA data systems (measures WQ-06a & b). • Work with tribes to track improvements or where water quality is meeting benchmark criteria and showing no degradation on tribal lands (measures WQ- SP14a.Nll and WQ-SP14b.Nll). • Implement any of the three approaches for protecting water quality contained in the Final Guidance on Awards of Grants to Indian tribes under CWA Section 106, regarding water quality standards. See Section III.C.I.a.i. o Restore and improve water quality on a watershed basis. See Section III.C.I.b on HWI. o Develop and manage NPS pollution programs (e.g. through watershed-based plans, BMPs, and restoration activities). See Section III.C.I.a.v. o Implement core elements of a wetlands program or a wetlands monitoring strategy. o Adopt the fish tissue criterion for mercury that EPA issued in 2001 and apply it based on implementation guidance. See Section III.B.2. • Maintain OW's commitment to improve the provision of safe drinking water in Indian country by working with PWSs to maintain and improve compliance with the NPDWRs through use of infrastructure funding, technical assistance, and enforcement actions. See Section III.B.I.a. • Continue to work in partnership with the Indian Health Service, USDA, and HUD through the Infrastructure Task Force (ITF) to increase access to safe water. • To support better management and maintenance of water systems on tribal lands, EPA will continue to implement the National Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification program to ensure that tribal water utility staff have the training and experience needed to provide safe drinking water. • The ANV Program, through the State of Alaska, will provide grant funds to under-served communities to improve or to construct drinking water and wastewater facilities to improve local health and sanitation conditions. The ANV Program will also support training and technical assistance programs related to the TMF requirements of managing sanitation systems in rural Alaska. See Section II.A.2. • Support tribal projects in the Puget Sound and other large aquatic ecosystems. See Section III.D.5. Tribal Supporting Performance Measures Throughout 2006 - 2013, EPA worked with states and tribes to align and streamline performance measures. The National Water Program will continue to actively engage states and tribes in the Agency's performance measurement improvement efforts. Water Safe to Drink: SDW-SP3.N11; SDW-18.N11; SDW-Olb. Improved Water Quality on a Watershed Basis: WQ-SP14a.Nll; WQ-SP14b.Nll; WQ-02; WQ-03b; WQ- 06a; WQ-06b; WQ-12b; WQ-19b; WQ-23; WQ-24.N11. Increase Wetlands: WT-SP22; WT-02a. Office of Water Page 18 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 2. Protecting Urban Waters The goal of the Urban Waters Program41 is to help communities - particularly underserved communities - access, restore, and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land. By promoting public access to urban waters, EPA will help communities become active participants in the enjoyment, restoration, and protection of these urban waters. By linking water to other community priorities, EPA will help make the condition of these waters more relevant to nearby communities and help to sustain their involvement over the time horizon needed for water quality improvement. Urban Water Activities for FY 2014 State, tribal, and local government agencies are encouraged to build on their existing partnerships and develop new partnerships among appropriate state programs and with non-profits, private sector, academia and community groups, especially those addressing EJ concerns. The Urban Waters Program anticipates the following activities in FY 2014: • Continue to play an active role as a member of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership42 and facilitate the meetings of the national Partnership Workgroup. Support existing Urban Waters Federal Partnership pilot locations and work with member agencies to add new partnership locations. In addition to supporting new locations, the Partnership expects to add new federal partner agencies in FY 2014. Working together, the Partner agencies will continue to break down federal program silos, promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources, and build new partnerships with states, local entities and the private sector. • Expects to announce its third funding opportunity through its very popular Urban Waters Small Grants program43, which supports local urban waters projects that include eligible activities under CWA Section 104(b)(3), the statutory authority for the grant program. Support to existing grantees will continue through the Urban Waters Learning Network which receives support from the Urban Waters Program. The Learning Network provides Urban Waters grantees a virtual forum for peer-to- peer learning, exchanging ideas and best practices, and sharing technical expertise. • Continue to support the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program, a public/private grant program managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, by encouraging broad participation among the Urban Waters Federal Partnership to launch a second round of grant opportunities. Modest funding from several agencies can leverage private funds and expanded commitment to improving urban water quality goals. • Continue to collaborate with OW program experts and across Agency programs leveraging authorities and technical resources to maximize the effectiveness of all programs. Areas of activity may include green infrastructure, source water protection, water sector workforce development, watershed planning, land revitalization, water quality monitoring and assessment, fish advisories, and beach monitoring and notification. EPA's current work in the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, NEP, and Large Aquatic Ecosystem programs may offer additional place-based opportunities to engage urban communities. Urban Water Performance Measures WQ-25a (page 4, Appendix A) tracks the number of urban water projects initiated addressing water quality issues in the community. 41 Read more on the Urban Waters Program at http://www2.epa.gov/urbanwaters. 42 Read more on the Urban Waters Federal Partnership at http://www.urbanwaters.gov/. 43 Read more on the Urban Waters Small Grants at http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/funding/. Office of Water Page 19 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 3. Climate Change A changing climate will have significant impacts on water resources and pose difficult challenges for water program managers at federal, state, and local levels. Sustaining improvements in water quality and improving water quality conditions will be possible only if the National Water Program is successful in implementing a comprehensive and effective response to climate change. In December 2012, the National Water Program published the National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change44 which builds on an earlier strategy released in 2008. The 2012 Strategy documents the diversity and seriousness of climate change impacts on water resources, describes long- term goals for protecting water resources for future generations, and provides the framework for the water elements of the EPA Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan that is now under development and expected to be released in the summer of 2013. Climate Change Activities for FY2014 FY 2014 will be a critical year for the response to the water resources impacts of a changing climate. The new National Climate Assessment will be published early in 2014, describing in detail, climate change impacts on water at the national and regional levels. Additionally, water program managers will have made some progress in initial implementation of both the 2012 Strategy and the broader EPA Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan. The program subobjective sections of this Guidance provide for the implementation of the specific "strategic actions" actions that advance climate change adaptation in each of the five key areas45 in FY 2014. In substantive terms, these actions include efforts focused directly on the challenges posed by a changing climate (e.g., the Climate Ready Utilities Program and the Climate Ready Estuaries Program) as well as programs that more generally improve the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to climate change impacts (e.g., wetlands protection and assessment efforts, HWI, and development of the stormwater permit program to include new "green infrastructure practices". The release of the EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan in the summer of 2013 will include program specific details and refined approaches not included in this Guidance. In addition, a more detailed blueprint for implementation of climate change response actions by the National Water Program in FY 2014 will be developed at the end of FY 2013. Effective implementation of these individual actions and projects in FY 2014 will significantly advance the National Water Program response to climate change. By FY 2014, however, it is also important that EPA national programs, EPA regions, states, and tribes are working as a team to make policy decisions and oversee and implement climate change response actions. National Water Program Offices. National water program offices in EPA headquarters will need to identify and advance top priority climate adaptation implementation actions and continue to translate growing understanding of adaptation needs into specific adjustments that regions, states, and tribes need to make to clean water and drinking water programs. The Office of the Assistant Administrator for Water will need to take a lead role in representing climate change and water issues to other EPA program offices, the Office of Research and Development (ORD), and regions. EPA Regions. Water programs in EPA regions will need to have gained a clear understanding of the climate and water risks that are most important in each region and established working relationships with states, tribes, and water utilities to define actions that each state can implement in order to adapt 44 Read more at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/2012-National-Water-Program-Strategv.cfm. 45 Read about these five key areas on the View EPA Actions tab at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/. Office of Water Page 20 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance clean water and drinking water programs that they administer to a changing climate. Regions will need to provide a bridge for states, tribes, and utilities to draw on the resources of other federal agencies. States and Tribes. In FY 2014, state and tribal water programs will need to define some initial, high priority, climate change adaptation actions for clean water and drinking water programs and begin implementing appropriate changes to their programs. Collectively, states and tribes will need to have moved from initial assessment of the threats posed by a changing climate to advocacy for needed support from EPA and other federal agencies for affirmative and well-resourced programs and outreach to water utilities, local governments, and other stakeholders seeking coordinated response actions. OW will work with these key players throughout FY 2013 and 2014 to identify options to support a collaborative, team approach to policy development and program implementation in response to climate change. A goal of this effort will be to develop the capacity for EPA, states, and tribes to speak to climate change and water issues with a single voice. Approaches to build strong linkages to water utility managers, other federal agency water programs, and interested stakeholders will also be considered. 4. Implementing Innovative Technology in Water Innovative technology can play a significant role in solving many of the water-related problems facing the U.S. and also providing opportunities for economic development. The preponderance of evidence demonstrates that environmental protection and economic progress go hand-in-hand. President Obama said that the U.S. will win the future by out educating, out innovating, and out building competitors46. OW is committed to fostering and institutionalizing consideration, adoption and use of innovative technology to advance EPA's goal of clean and safe water across the entire spectrum of the water program. This will be done in close cooperation with EPA regions, states, tribes, and other partners. An innovative technology priority list was created, in no particular order, that presents opportunities to achieve significant reductions in cost and energy consumption enhance the attainment of clean and safe water, substantially faster and cheaper, and foster job creation for the economy: • Increased focus on advancing sustainability. • Develop innovative techniques and tools to maintain healthy watersheds and improve watershed health. • Advance technologies and techniques to restore water bodies that do not meet WQSs. • Develop innovative methods to address nutrient pollution. • Continue development of innovation (next generation) municipal, industrial, and drinking water treatment technologies and system designs. • Focus on development testing and implementation of wet weather quantity and quality controls. • Develop alternative test methods for effective and less expensive monitoring. • Continue development of more efficient and cost-effective information technology systems to promote sustainable system operation, maintenance, and planning. • Develop more efficient and cost-effective methods for assessing and rehabilitating and retrofitting wastewater, drinking water, and storm water infrastructure. • Identify opportunities and approaches for institutionalizing innovation throughout OW programs. • Evaluate financing innovations to support investments that improve water infrastructure. • Develop methods to ensure that innovative approaches focus on protection and preservation of natural ecosystems. • Develop methods related to technology assessment and verification performance. 46 Read more on the vision for technology innovation at http://www2.epa.gov/envirofinance/innovation. Office of Water Page 21 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 4.47 The Acting Administrator for OW, Nancy Stoner, released a Technology Innovation Blueprint , which identifies the actions, challenges, and the path forward to employ the above priority list in assisting with current water resource issues. Innovative Technology Activities for FY 2014 • EPA water program will assemble a technology innovation work group to help foster technology innovation throughout OW, as well as lead efforts to identify specific opportunities within programs. • EPA water program will assess all programs and initiatives to identify where opportunities exist to leverage technology innovation. • EPA water program will address potential barriers that must be addressed to ensure successful implementation. • EPA water program will ensure the use of innovative technology as a means to address current program priorities. 5. Grants Management OW places a high priority on effective grants management. The key areas to be emphasized as grant programs are implemented are: • Promoting competition to the maximum extent practicable; • Monitoring assistance agreements and ensuring compliance with post-award management standards; • Assuring that project officers and their supervisors adequately address grants management responsibilities; and • Linking grants performance to the achievement of environmental results as laid out in the Agency's Strategic Plan and this Guidance. a. Policy for Competition of Assistance Agreements OW strongly supports the Agency policy to promote competition to the maximum extent practicable in the award of assistance agreements. Project officers must comply with Agency policy concerning competition in the award of grants and cooperative agreements and ensure that the competitive process is fair and impartial, that all applicants are evaluated only on the criteria stated in the announcement, and that no applicant receives an unfair advantage. The Policy for Competition of Assistance Agreements, EPA Order 5700.5A148, effective January 15, 2005, applies to: (1) competitive announcements issued, released, or posted after January 14, 2005; (2) assistance agreement competitions, awards, and disputes based on competitive announcements issued, released, or posted after January 14, 2005; (3) non-competitive awards resulting from non-competitive funding recommendations submitted to a Grants Management Office after January 14, 2005; and (4) assistance agreement amendments issued after January 14, 2005. If program offices and regional offices choose to conduct competitions for awards under programs that are exempt from the Competition Order, they must comply with the Order and any applicable guidance issued by the Grants Competition Advocate (GCA). This includes complying with OMB standard formatting requirements for federal agency announcements of funding opportunities and OMB 47 Read more on OW's blueprint for technology innovation at http://water.epa.gov/blueprint.cfm. 48 Read more at http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/5700 5 a 1 comp_policv revised.pdf. Office of Water Page 22 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 49 requirements related to Grants.gov , which is the official federal government website where applicants can find and apply to funding opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies. On October 12, 2011, Office of Grants and Debarment (OGD) issued a memorandum approving a competition exemption for awards to non-profit co-regulator/co-implementor organizations (collectively referred to as "co-regulator organizations") for core co-regulator organization type activities funded with State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) categorical appropriations under the associated program support cost authority. The competition exemption only applies to certain STAG funded awards and is subject to several conditions. For EPA to use STAG funding under the associated program support cost authority, the activities funded must support the environmental protection programs of non-federal governmental partners and the services the co-regulator organizations provide must be for the direct use and of primary benefit of these entities and not EPA. For the funds that would otherwise be allotted to state governmental entities, EPA policy requires that EPA obtain the prior approval of the affected state agency or department before such funding is used for awards to co-regulator organizations for associated program support on their behalf. On June 2, 2011, the Administrator issued the "U.S. EPA Policy Statement on Climate Change Adaptation" which affirmed the Agency's commitment to anticipate and plan for future changes in climate and incorporate them into our programs, policies and operations. Subsequently, OGD and OP issued a memorandum on October 18, 2011, requesting EPA headquarters and regional program offices to work to incorporate climate change considerations into applicable competitive funding opportunities where the outcomes of the project are sensitive to climate or where the project could be more effective if climate change were addressed. b. Policy on Compliance Review and Monitoring OW is required to develop and carry out a post-award monitoring plan and conduct baseline monitoring for every award. EPA Order 5700.6A2, Policy on Compliance, Review and Monitoring, effective January 1, 2008, helps to ensure effective post-award oversight of recipient performance and management. The Order encompasses both the administrative and programmatic aspects of the Agency's financial assistance programs. From the programmatic standpoint, this monitoring should ensure satisfaction of five core areas: • Compliance with all programmatic terms and conditions; • Correlation of the recipient's work plan/application and actual progress under the award; • Availability of funds to complete the project; • Proper management of and accounting for equipment purchased under the award; and • Compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements of the program. If during monitoring it is determined that there is reason to believe that the grantee has committed or commits fraud, waste and/or abuse, then the project officer must contact the DIG. Baseline monitoring activities must be documented in the Post-Award Database in the Integrated Grants Management System (IGMS). Advanced monitoring activities must be documented in the official grant file and the Grantee Compliance Database. c. Performance Standards for Grants Management Project officers of assistance agreements participate in a wide range of pre-and post-award activities. OGD issued Guidance for Assessing Grants Management and the Management of Interagency Agreements under the Performance Appraisal and Recognition System (PARS) on October 12, 2012 to be 49 Access Grants.gov at http://www.grants.gov. Office of Water Page 23 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance used for 2012 PARS appraisals of project officers who are managing at least one active grant during the rating period, and their supervisors/managers. The memo also provides guidance for the development of 2013 performance agreements. OW supports the requirement that project officers and their supervisors/managers assess grants management responsibilities through the Agency's PARS process. d. Environmental Results Under EPA Assistance Agreements EPA Order 5700.7, which went into effect in 2005, states that it is EPA policy to: • Link proposed assistance agreements to the Agency's Strategic Plan; • Ensure that outputs and outcomes are appropriately addressed in assistance agreement competitive funding announcements, work plans, and performance reports; and • Consider how the results from completed assistance agreement projects contribute to the Agency's programmatic goals and responsibilities. The Order applies to all non-competitive funding packages/funding recommendations submitted to Grants Management Offices after January 1, 2005, all competitive assistance agreements resulting from competitive funding announcements issued after January 1, 2005, and competitive funding announcements issued after January 1, 2005. Project officers must include in the Funding Recommendation a description of how the project fits within the Agency's Strategic Plan. The description must identify all applicable EPA strategic goal(s), objectives, and where available, subobjective(s), consistent with the appropriate Program Results Code(s). In addition, project officers must: • Consider how the results from completed assistance agreement projects contribute to the Agency's programmatic goals and objectives; • Ensure that well-defined outputs and outcomes are appropriately addressed in assistance agreement work plans, solicitations, and performance reports; and • Certify/assure that they have reviewed the assistance agreement work plan and that the work plan contains outputs and outcomes. e. Policy on Streamlining State Grants The Agency's long-term goal is for EPA and states to achieve greater consistency in workplan formats. To achieve that goal, on January 24, 2011, OGD issued Grants Policy Issuance (GPI) 11-03 State Grant Workplans and Progress Reports50. The GPI requires that workplans and associated progress reports for 14 identified state categorical grant programs prominently display three Essential Elements (the Strategic Plan Goal; the Strategic Plan Objective; and the Workplan Commitments plus time frame) to further accountability, strategic plan alignment, and consistent performance reporting. A database (i.e., State Grant IT Application) to electronically store workplans and progress reports for the 14 identified state categorical grant programs was made available December 3, 2012. On September 21, 2012, OGD issued GPI 12-06 Timely Obligation, Award and Expenditure of EPA Grant Funds51. The GPI establishes policies to streamline grant processes and improve grant outlay rates. Section 7.0 of the GPI establishes streamlining principles for 16 identified state categorical grant programs. The streamlining principles apply to the workplan negotiation phase, the application phase, and the award phase. 50 Read more at http://intranet.epa.gov/ogd/policv/final grants_policv issuance 11 03 state grant_workplans.pdf. 51 Read more at http ://intranet. epa. gov/ogd/policv/gpi 12 06 timely obligation.pdf. Office of Water Page 24 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance B. Strategies to Protect Public Health For each of the key subobjectives related to water addressed in the EPA Strategic Plan and this Guidance, EPA has worked with states, tribes, and other stakeholders to define strategies for accomplishing the improvements in the environment or public health identified for the subobjective. This Guidance draws from the Strategic Plan, but describes plans and strategies at a more operational level and focuses on FY 2014. 1. Water Safe to Drink The fundamental public health protection mission of the national drinking water program52 is to ensure that PWSs deliver drinking water that meets national primary drinking water standards to their customers. The protection of the Nation's public health through safe drinking water has been the shared responsibility of EPA, states, and tribes for more than 35 years. Currently, 51,877 CWSs53 nationwide supply drinking water to more than 300 million Americans (approximately 95% of the U.S. population). The development and implementation of health protection-based regulatory standards for drinking water quality to limit human exposure to contaminants of concern is the cornerstone of the program. a. Implement Core National Drinking Water Program Areas that are Critical to Providing Safe Drinking Water. Collectively, these six core areas of the national safe drinking water program comprise a comprehensive approach to protecting public health. i. Development/Revision of Drinking Water Standards/Regulations. SDWA requires the Agency to develop a list of unregulated contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in PWSs and may require regulation. This list is known as the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL)54 and the Agency is required to publish this list every five years. SDWA also requires the Agency to determine whether to regulate at least five CCL contaminants with a NPDWR55 using three statutory criteria. Like CCL, the regulatory determinations process is also on a five year cycle. Development or Revision of Drinking Water Standards Activities for FY 2014 The Agency, headquarters and regions, will continue to address the development or revision of drinking water standards to protect human health in 2014 and will work with states and tribes to: • Provide technical and scientific support for the development of drinking water regulations. State representatives (co-regulators) often participate with EPA personnel in the regulatory development work groups that develop drinking water regulations. • Between January 2013 and December 2015, continue to implement the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3)56; reporting of monitoring results will continue into mid- 2016. States that volunteered to support UCMR3 by signing Partnership Agreements (PAs) in 52 Read more on drinking water at http://water, epa. gov/drink/. 53 Although SDWA applies to 156,539 public water systems nationwide (as of October 2012), which include schools, hospitals, factories, campgrounds, motels, gas stations, etc. that have their own water system, this measure focuses only on CWSs. A CWS is a public water system that provides water to the same population year-round. As of October 2012, there were 51,877 CWSs. EPA also continues to focus attention on addressing compliance and sustainability challenges faced by non-CWSs. 54 Read more on CCLs at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/drinkingwater/dws/ccl/. 55 Read more on NPDWRs at http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm. 56 Read more on UCMR3 at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/ucmr/ucmr3/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 25 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 2011will be assisting with the collection of samples from small systems and supporting compliance follow-up. • Provide technical and scientific support that includes the development and validation of analytical methods for updating rules and implementing the UCMR, training states and supporting them in their oversight of Cryptosporidium laboratories, and responding to technical implementation questions regarding the entire range of NPDWRs. • Continue to develop technical guidance and perform other follow-up activities related to the implementation of RTCR57. • Continue to conduct the retrospective review of drinking water regulations in response to President Obama's recent call in Executive Order 13563 for each federal agency to "develop ... a preliminary plan, consistent with law and its resources and regulatory priorities, under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations to determine whether any such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives." The retrospective review includes the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) requirements, the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2)58, the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)59, and the requirements related to carcinogenic volatile organic compounds (cVOCs). • In 2014, propose Revisions to LCR after receiving, reviewing, and evaluating comments and information submitted as part of enhanced stakeholder engagement process in 2013. In the development of the proposed revisions to the LCR, input will be sought through expert panels, public workshops, and a work group, and other stakeholder meetings, as well as from peer reviewed scientific literature. State representatives participated on the work group and updates on LCR progress are being provided by EPA at Association of State Drinking Water Administrator's meetings. Included with the revisions to the LCR will be requirements for compliance with the Reduction in Lead in Drinking Water Act (2011). • In FY 2014, EPA will publish the final fourth CCL (CCL4) after receiving, reviewing, and evaluating comments and information submitted in response to publication of the draft fourth CCL in FY 2013. The CCL identifies drinking water contaminants which may require regulation and are known or anticipated to occur in public drinking water supplies. • Continue to evaluate new information on health effects, occurrence, treatment technologies, and other information for regulated contaminants to identify, prioritize, and target candidates for regulatory revision that are most likely to result in meaningful opportunities for health risk reduction and/or cost savings to PWSs and their customers while maintaining or providing for greater levels of public health protection. This SDWA required effort is conducted every six years (Six-Year Review 3) with the current goal to have final results by 2016. • In FY 2014, EPA will publish the Final Regulatory Determinations for the third CCL (CCL3) after receiving, reviewing, and evaluating comments and information submitted in response to publication of the Preliminary Regulatory Determinations in FY 2013. These determinations will determine which, if any, CCL 3 contaminants are appropriate for regulation. • In 2011, EPA decided to regulate perchlorate under SDWA. EPA intends to publish the proposed regulation and analyses for public review and comment by December 2013. • Continue to review and evaluate comments submitted in response to publication of the proposed cVOCs Group Regulation in 2014. The group includes trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and other regulated and unregulated carcinogenic volatile contaminants in the group. OW has 57 Read more on RTCR at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/tcr/regulation revisions.cfm. 58 Read more on LT2 at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/lt2/index.cfm. 59 Read more on the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/lcr/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 26 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance made significant progress in addressing contaminants in groups (rather than one at a time) by holding a national conversation with the public and stakeholders including utilities, rural communities, and states. EPA expects to publish the Final cVOCs Group Regulation in 2015. • Continue to collaborate with stakeholders, scientists, and the public to undertake the highest priority research and information collection activities to better understand water quality issues. • Continue to explore how best to address concerns raised about the cleanliness, health protection, and safety of finished drinking water storage facilities (e.g. tanks) based on public comments received on the Proposed RTCR in July of 2010. • Address the second Drinking Water Strategy principle, which is fostering the development of new drinking water technologies to address health risks posed by a broad array of contaminants. ii. Implementation of Drinking Water Standards/Regulations and Technical Assistance. The implementation of programs designed to assist PWSs in complying with drinking water regulations is essential to EPA's core mission of protecting public health in the U.S. Development/Revision of Drinking Water Standards/Regulations Activities for 2014 EPA will work in concert with states and tribes to facilitate PWS compliance with drinking water regulations through a variety of activities: • Conduct Sanitary Surveys60: States, tribes, and EPA direct implementation programs will conduct sanitary surveys at PWSs according to the schedules set forth in the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule and in the Ground Water Rule, which in FY 2014 will be included for the first time in measures SDW-Ola and SDWA-Olb. Primacy agencies should work with water systems to resolve significant deficiencies identified during sanitary surveys. • Conduct Technical Assistance and Training61: States, tribes, and EPA direct implementation programs should focus their assistance to water systems to address their implementation challenges, particularly with the Ground Water Rule62 and the Stage 2 Disinfection/Disinfection By- Products Rule63. By October 2013, Schedule 3 (serving 10,000 - 49,999) and Schedule 4 (serving <10,000) systems that did not perform Cryptosporidium monitoring must begin Stage 2 compliance monitoring. By October 2014, Schedule 4 (serving <10,000) systems that performed Cryptosporidium monitoring must begin Stage 2 compliance monitoring. Primacy agencies will need to assist small water systems transitioning to locational running annual average compliance and provide education on the new requirements and assistance to consecutive systems that may be monitoring for the first time. Primacy agencies should also monitor systems to follow up with any identified steps to minimize exceedances in the future. • Participate in Area-wide Optimization Program (AWOP) Activities: EPA's AWOP64, which provides compliance assistance to drinking water systems, continues to work with systems and states to develop and implement a variety of approaches to improve water system performance. Optimization tools include comprehensive performance evaluations (CPEs) to assess the performance of filtration technology and distribution system optimization (DSO) techniques. • Participate in the Drinking Water Laboratory Certification Program: EPA will continue the program that sets standards and establishes methods for EPA, state, tribal, and privately-owned laboratories that analyze drinking water samples. Through this program, EPA headquarters conducts EPA 60 Read more on sanitary surveys at http://water.epa.gov/learn/training/dwatraining/sanitarvsurvev/index.cfm. 61 Read more on EPA's training on the National Primary Drinking Water Rules at http ://water. epa. gov/learn/training/dwatraining/index.cfm. 62 Read more on the Groundwater Rule (GWR) at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/gwr/index.cfm. 63 Read more on the Stage 2 DBF rule at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/stage2/index.cfm. 64 Read more on AWOP at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/pws/optimization/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 27 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance regional program reviews, visiting each EPA regional office on a triennial basis, and evaluates oversight of state laboratories and the state laboratory certification programs within regional purview. In addition, EPA annually delivers a minimum of three (1. Chemistry, 2. Microbiology, and 3. Cryptosporidium) Certification Officer Training courses for state and regional representatives. • Submit data to the federal SDWIS to support effective PWSS program implementation: States are required to provide accurate and complete inventory, violations, and enforcement data to SDWIS. States may do this through the SDWIS State software developed by EPA to provide support for state implementation of the PWSS program65 or through submission of files through the State-EPA Exchange Network. • Coordinate with Enforcement: States and EPA regions with direct implementation for PWSS programs will work with their enforcement counterparts and with EPA to identify instances of actual or expected non-compliance that pose risks to public health and will take appropriate actions as necessary. EPA regional offices and OW will continue to work with OECA. Collaboration across the drinking water program is critical to ensuring that PWSs with compliance issues are addressed through the most effective means, including targeted funding, compliance assistance and enforcement. iii. DWSRF66 and Sustainable Water Infrastructure. EPA's drinking water program is emphasizing several national SRF priorities to strengthen the program for the long-term. These include increasing the speed with which appropriated funds move to projects; ensuring that the highest priority projects are ready to proceed to funding; reducing unliquidated obligations within state DWSRF programs, ensuring the financial integrity of the program through strong auditing, consistent with overarching federal law and guidance; and enhancing coordination between the DWSRF and PWSS programs. DWSRF and Sustainable Water Infrastructure Activities for 2014 States are expected to: • Apply for their capitalization grant in the first year of availability to facilitate earlier use of funds for project financing. • Provide plans for financing projects not yet started under open grants from years prior to 2013. • Report fund utilization67 for projects (see Program Activity Measure SDW-04) and the number of projects that have initiated operations (see Program Activity Measure SDW-05). • Receive DWSRF monies based on the 2011 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey68 of approximately 53,000 CWSs and 21,400 not-for-profit non-CWSs. • Use the program's new model Intended Use Plan (IUP)69 reflecting required elements to prepare the state grant application. • Give adequate consideration to funding preliminary design for projects to be ready for construction financing. • Continue implementation of the SRF Sustainability Policy70 to promote water system TFM capacity as a critical means to meet infrastructure needs and further enhance program performance and Read more on SDWIS State at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/databases/drink/sdwisstate/aboutstate.cfm. 65 66 Read more on DWSRF at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/dwsrf/index.cfm. 67 Read more on the fund utilization rate at http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/dwsrf/pdfs/memos/memo dwsrf_policv 2003-02-25.pdf. 68 Read more on the Needs Survey at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/dwns/index.cfm. 69 Read more on intended use plans at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsvs/pkg/FR-2000-08-07/html/00-19783.htm. 70 Read more on the SRF Sustainability Policy at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/Clean-Water-and- Drinking-Water-Infrastructure-Sustainabilitv-Policv.cfm. Office of Water Page 28 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance efficiency and to ensure compliance. State programs can utilize DWSRF set-asides to promote asset management, system-wide planning, and other sustainable management practices at PWSs aimed at reducing water loss and better understanding linkages between water production/distribution and energy use.71 • Coordinate across drinking water programs, including the PWSS, capacity development and operator certification, in order to identify systems in noncompliance with SDWA requirements or challenged to be sustainable, and then provide loans and/or technical assistance to improve their capacity to provide safe drinking water. iv. Water System Security72. Since the events of 9/11, EPA has been designated as the sector-specific Agency responsible for infrastructure protection activities for the Nation's drinking water and wastewater systems. EPA is utilizing its position within the water sector and working with its stakeholders to provide information to help protect the Nation's drinking water supply from terrorist threats and all hazard events. Water System Security Activities for FY 2014 In FY 2014, EPA will move to the next phase of the Water Security Initiative (WSI)73 pilot program and the Water Laboratory Alliance (WLA). EPA will, in collaboration with our regional counterparts, states, and utilities: • Issue the Water Quality Surveillance and Response System Deployment Tool, which will assist drinking water utilities with assessing and enhancing their capabilities for early detection of and response to water contamination and other water quality problems. • Initiate a national outreach strategy under WSI to encourage water utilities to adopt effective, implementable, and sustainable contamination warning system practices. This strategy will include deploying computer based decision support tools and guidance materials for water utilities on designing, deploying, and testing contamination warning systems based on lessons learned from the pilots. • Plan exercises designed to further implement the WLA Response Plan which provides processes and procedures for a coordinated laboratory response to water contamination incidents. • Expand membership in the WLA to include water utilities that need access to laboratory analytical services during an unintentional or intentional contamination event, but that are ineligible under the current WLA membership criteria due to their limited in-house laboratory capabilities. In FY 2014, EPA will continue collaboration with our regional counterparts, states, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and water sector officials to: • Improve the use of intrastate and interstate mutual aid to restore utility operations more quickly by supporting tabletop exercises and improvement planning. • Provide training and tools for water utilities to better understand their emergency response roles and responsibilities and integrate preparedness activities into their daily operations with user- friendly templates and free and easily accessible online training. • Provide technical assistance to state/local governments on coordinating the recovery of and integrating resiliency into drinking water and wastewater infrastructure systems. 71 Read more on set-aside use to promote capacity development at http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/dwsrf/pdfs/techas.pdf. http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/dwsrf/pdfs/capdev.pdf. http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/dwsrf/pdfs/opcert.pdf. 72 Read more on water system security at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecuritv/index.cfm. 73 Read more on WSI at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/watersecuritv/lawsregs/initiative.cfm. Office of Water Page 29 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Plan and conduct series of extreme weather event workshops with Atlantic coastal communities. These workshops would address both short term emergency preparedness and long term planning. • Promote awareness and adoption of drinking water and wastewater preparedness and resiliency programs throughout the Nation to further Agency priorities and the interests, needs, and priorities of stakeholders through outreach efforts at water sector, and other interdependent sectors conferences and exhibits. • Develop and conduct webcasts and exercises to prepare utilities, emergency responders, and decision-makers to evaluate and respond to physical, cyber, and contamination threats and events; • Create, update, and disseminate tools and provide technical assistance to ensure that water and wastewater utilities and emergency responders react rapidly and effectively to intentional contamination and natural disasters. • Sustain and improve the operation of the Water Desk in the Agency's Emergency Operations Center by updating roles/responsibilities, improving internal communications, training staff in the incident command structure, ensuring adequate staffing during activation of the desk, and coordinating with EPA regional field personnel and response partners. • Refine and provide outreach and training on a risk assessment tool that will enable utilities to address the risks from all hazards, including climate change impacts. • Under the Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative, continue to update practical tools and training that enable drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities, particularly in hurricane prone regions, to integrate resiliency to climate change into short and long term planning. v. Source Water Protection Programs74. See National Water Program Area of Focus in Section II.C, Protecting Drinking Water Supplies. vi. Underground Injection Control75. SDWA requires EPA to develop minimum federal requirements for UIC programs that address well construction, permitting, operation, and closure in order to protect public health by preventing injection wells from contaminating underground sources of drinking water (USDW). UIC Activities for FY 2014 States and EPA regions with primacy enforcement authority for UIC programs are expected to: • Implement their UIC programs for well classes I - V to ensure that injection wells are permitted and operated in a manner that protects USDW from endangerment. (See measures SDW-07 and SDW- 08.) • Submit well-specific data for well classes 1 - V to the UIC National Database. • Develop complete primacy applications for the Class VI well program and work with EPA to refine and revise their Class VI primacy applications as needed after submission. States will work permit applicants upon obtaining primacy. (See measures SDW-19a and SDW-19b.) • Conduct rigorous analyses of aquifer exemption requests to ensure that proposed exempted areas are not current or reasonably expected future sources of drinking water. • Ensure that hydraulic fracturing using diesel fuel is authorized under the applicable UIC program. b. Improvement of small drinking water system technical, managerial, and financial capacity. See National Water Program Area of Focus in Section II.C. Improving Small System Capacity. 74 Read more on SWP at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/drinkingwater/sourcewater/protection/index.cfm. 75 Read more on UIC at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/groundwater/uic/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 30 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance c. Grant Guidances EPA manages the following three grant programs to the states and tribes, authorized under SDWA, to support the implementation of the drinking water core program and achieve EPA's strategic goals related to drinking water. Below are the grant guidances for FY 2014. Public Water System Supervision Grant Guidance to states, tribes, and EPA regions with primacy enforcement authority The PWSS program is fundamental to the implementation of SDWA and EPA and state's role in the protection of public health. The memo entitled Guidance and Tentative Grant Allotments to Support Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Programs on Tribal Lands, provided in 2008, continues to apply in FY 2014 to EPA regions that receive tribal PWSS funding to support the Tribal Drinking Water Program. This Guidance for FY 2014 includes guidance for state and tribal recipients of PWSS program grants, as well as for EPA regions with primacy enforcement authority. Grant recipients are expected to conduct their programs to help achieve the goals, objectives, subobjectives, strategic targets, and PAMs specified in Safe Drinking Water Section of this Guidance. In addition, grant recipients should be focused on ensuring that the gains of the previous years' efforts are preserved and built upon. The overall objective of the PWSS grant program76 is to protect public health by ensuring that: • PWSs, of all types and sizes, that are currently in compliance, remain in compliance; • PWSs, of all types and sizes, that are not currently in compliance, achieve compliance; • PWSs, of all types and sizes, are preparing to comply with new drinking water regulations that will be taking effect in FY 2014. Assisting PWSs in meeting this objective and achieving long-term sustainability requires grantees to adopt a variety of approaches and coordinate efforts across the drinking water program. PWSS Grant Activities for FY 2014 Building on the ongoing efforts of grantees to implement the PWSS program, FY 2014 priority activities for the PWSS grantees should include the following: • Timely submission of primacy program revisions for the purpose of adopting new or revised federal regulations; • Completion of sanitary surveys; • Microbial and Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts rules implementation, including the Ground Water Rule, the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule, and the Long- term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule; and • Technical and compliance assistance to PWSs. A proportion of each PWSS grant should be devoted to ensuring that data are effectively managed and that required data are submitted to EPA. Specifically that: • Water system compliance determinations are consistent with federal and state regulations; • Corrective actions associated with data reviews are implemented; and • PWSS grantees submit to EPA the required inventory, compliance, and enforcement data. This data should be timely, accurate, and complete. 76 Read more on the PWSS Grant Program at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/pws/index.cfm and the Tribal PWSS Grant Program at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/pws/allotments tribal fs.cfm. Office of Water Page 31 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance The PWSS grant allotments are based on factors such as population, geographic area, and PWSs inventory. State-by-state allotments and the total amount available to each region for its tribal support program will be available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pws/grants/allotments state-terr.html. Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Grant Guidance to states This Guidance for FY 2014 includes guidance for state recipients of DWSRF program grants77. Grant recipients are expected to conduct their programs to help achieve the goals, objectives, sub-objectives, strategic targets, and PAMs specified in this Guidance. In addition, grant recipients should be focused on ensuring that the gains of the previous years' efforts are preserved and built upon. The DWSRF Program is governed by 40 CFR Part 35 Subpart L, which implements SDWA Section 1452. Additional guidance has been, and continues to be, issued as necessary to address program implementation needs. The ARRA supplemental appropriation for the DWSRF contained a number of new requirements unique to that appropriation. ARRA was implemented through guidance. Federal appropriations bills for FY 2010-2012 contained specific requirements (similar to certain requirements of ARRA) on the amounts appropriated in each of those years and those specific requirements have been implemented through annual "Procedures", issued jointly by OGWDW and the Office of Wastewater Management (OWM). The SDWA Amendments of 1996 establish the DWSRF Program with the central purpose of providing financial assistance to water systems and to state programs to help achieve the public health protection objectives of the Act. SDWA requires that priority for funding be given to those projects that address the most serious risk to human health; are necessary to ensure compliance with SDWA; and assist systems most in need on a per household basis. States, at their discretion, may reserve up to a total of 31% of any DWSRF capitalization grant for "set- asides" to fund DWSRF program administration, small system technical assistance, state program management, and local assistance. This includes: Support for the state PWSS program. State wide operation certification programs. State wide capacity development planning. System source water protection. System level capacity development actions. To ensure the appropriate balance between financing capital projects to improve the delivery of safe water and funding non-capital set-aside assistance for water systems, the PWSS program in each state has the lead responsibility for determining the priority for providing these two forms of assistance to water systems. This balance of funding priorities is to be reflected in the state's IUP. SDWA requires that states submit an annual IUP that details how the state will use DWSRF program funds, including new capitalization grants, as well as other grant funds, repayments, and other resources. A Project Priority List is a required element of the IUP. The Project Priority List is a cornerstone of the IUP and presents all the capital projects awaiting DWSRF assistance in priority funding order. States must also include a "Fundable List" showing the specific projects that the state actually anticipates being ready to proceed to receiving assistance in the year ahead. Additionally, states are required to submit set-aside work plans that detail how set-aside funds will be used. Finally, states must submit, biennially, a report that explains how DWSRF funds were actually used. States are also required to submit annual data on program performance. Auditing is required to the extent laid out in the Single Audit Act. 77 Read more on DWSRF grant programs at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/dwsrf/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 32 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance EPA regions perform annual on-site reviews of state programs, including project file reviews and transaction testing. For ARRA, an ARRA specific review was added as well as ARRA specific project file reviews and transaction testing. These reviews serve as EPA's baseline monitoring for the DWSRF. The DWSRF grant allotments are based on the Drinking Water Needs Survey. State-by-state allotments, territorial funds, and the total amount available to each region for tribes will be available at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/dwsrf/index.cfm. In FY 2014, EPA and the states should take all appropriate and timely steps to ensure that all SRF funds move as expeditiously as possible from EPA through states and into high priority projects, consistent with sound program oversight, achieving the public health protection objectives of SDWA. This includes emphasis on expediting/streamlining project outlay and billing to reduce ULOs. Underground Injection Control Grants Grant Guidance to states and tribes The DIG Program is vital to the protection of USDW. EPA works with states and tribes to regulate and monitor the injection of fluids, both hazardous and non-hazardous, into wells, to prevent contamination. This Guidance for FY 2014 includes guidance for state and tribal recipients of DIG grant program funds. Each year, grant funds are distributed by the national DIG Program to help DIG programs enforce the minimum federal DIG requirements78. These funds are authorized by Congress under SDWA Section 1443. Grant recipients are expected to conduct their programs to help achieve the goals, objectives, sub-objectives, strategic targets, and PAMs specified in this Guidance. In addition, grant resources should be focused on ensuring that the gains of the previous years' efforts are preserved and built upon. The overall objective of the DIG grant program is to protect public health by enforcing minimum requirements to ensure that: • All injection is authorized under either general rules or specific permits; • Injection well owners and operators do not site, construct, operate, maintain, convert, plug, abandon, or conduct any other injection activity that endangers USDW; • Injected fluids stay within the well and the intended injection zone; and • No injection occurs which allows for the introduction of any contaminant into an USDW if the presence of that contaminant may cause a violation of any primary drinking water standard or otherwise adversely affect public health. Assisting owners and operators of UIC facilities in meeting these objectives require grantees to adopt a variety of approaches and to coordinate efforts with other groundwater protection programs. FY 2013 priority activities for the UIC grant fund recipients should include the following: • Timely submission of primacy program revisions for the purpose of adopting new or revised federal regulations; • Maintaining program capacity to implement UIC program requirements for all classes of wells; • Ensuring that Class I, II and III (salt solution) wells that lose mechanical integrity are returned to compliance; • Addressing high priority Class V wells; and • Populating the UIC National Database by sharing well specific data. The grant allotments are determined by the UIC Grant Allocation Model and follow the criteria identified in SDWA Section 1443 which requires UIC allocations to be based on such factors as "population, geographic area, extent of underground injection practices, and other relevant factors." UIC Grant 78 Read more on UIC grants at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/groundwater/uic/Grants.cfm. Office of Water Page 33 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 79 Guidance #42 provides more detail about the DIG Grant Allocation Model , including how the model works and examples of how the DIG funds may be used. 2. Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat Elevated blood mercury levels pose a significant health risk, especially to pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children. And the consumption of mercury-contaminated fish is the primary source of mercury in blood. Across the country as of 2010, states and tribes have issued fish consumption advisories for a range of contaminants covering 1.3 million river miles and almost 18 million lake acres. In addition, a significant portion of the valuable shellfishing acres managed by states and tribes is not open for use. EPA's national approach to meeting safe fish goals and improving the quality of fishing waters is described in this section. EPA's approach to making fish and shellfish safer to eat includes several key elements: • Encourage development of statewide mercury reduction strategies; • Reduce air deposition of mercury; and • Improve the quality of fishing waters. EPA will also improve public information and notification offish consumption recommendations and risks in order to help people make more informed choices about selecting fish to eat. Fish and Shellfish Activities for FY2014 Reduce Air Deposition of Mercury. Most fish advisories are for mercury80, and a critical element of the strategy to reduce mercury in fish is reducing emissions of mercury from combustion sources in the U.S. On a nationwide basis, by 2010, federal regulatory programs were expected to reduce electric- generating unit emissions of mercury from their 2000 level (see EPA Strategic Plan; Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality). Comprehensive Statewide Mercury Reduction Programs. EPA recognizes that restoration of waterbodies impaired by mercury may require coordinated efforts to address widely dispersed sources of contamination and that restoration may require a long-term commitment. EPA will continue to support state efforts to identify specific waters with high mercury levels and then address these problems using core CWA program authorities, including total maximum daily load (TMDL) and permitting programs. Improve the Quality of Fishing Waters. Success in achieving improved quality in shellfishing waters relies on implementation of CWA programs that are focused on sources causing shellfish acres to be closed. Important new technologies include pathogen source tracking, new indicators of pathogen contamination and predictive correlations between environmental stressors and their effects. Once critical areas and sources are identified, expanded monitoring and development of TMDLs may support revision of discharge permit limits to ensure compliance with applicable CWA requirements. Another key element of the strategy is to expand and improve information and notification of the risks of fish consumption. As part of this work, EPA is also encouraging and supporting states and tribes to adopt the fish tissue criterion for mercury that EPA issued in 2001 and apply it based on implementation guidance. In addition, a wide range of clean water programs that applies throughout the country will generally reduce pathogen indicator levels in key waters. For example, improved implementation of NPDES permit 79 Read more on the UIC Grant Allocation Model at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/guidance.html. 80 Read more on fish consumption advisories at http://www.epa.gov/hg/advisories.htm. Office of Water Page 34 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance requirements for Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), CAFOs, and storm water runoff, as well as improved IMPS control efforts, may contribute to restoration of shellfish uses. Fish and Shellfish Performance Measures Measure FS-SP6.N11 tracks the percent of women of childbearing age having mercury levels in blood above the level of concern. EPA is actively monitoring the development of fish consumption advisories and working with states to improve monitoring to support this effort. Forty-two percent of lake acres and 36 percent of river miles have been assessed as of 2010 to support waterbody-specific or regional consumption advisories or a determination that no consumption advice is necessary (see measures FS-la and b). EPA also encourages states and tribes to monitor fish tissue based on national guidance and most states are now using EPA guidance recommendations in their fish advisory programs. 3. Water Safe for Swimming The Nation's waters, especially beaches in coastal areas and the Great Lakes, provide recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. Swimming in some recreational waters, however, can pose a risk of illness as a result of exposure to microbial pathogens. By "recreational waters" EPA means waters officially designated by states, authorized tribes, and territories for primary contact recreation use. For FY 2014, EPA's national strategy for improving the safety of recreational waters will include four key elements: • Work to implement 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria for pathogen indicators; • Identify unsafe recreational waters; • Reduce pathogen indicator levels in all recreational waters; and • Provide technical and program support to states for their beach monitoring and notification activities. Safe Swimming Activities for FY2014 Focusing on the Implementation of the 2012 Recommended Water Quality Criteria (RWQC). The BEACH Act requires EPA to develop new or revised recreational water quality criteria81. EPA published final revised criteria in December 2012. The science-based criteria provide information to help states improve public health protection by addressing a broader range of illness symptoms, better accounting for pollution after heavy rainfall, providing similarly protective levels for both marine and Great Lakes coastal waters, encouraging early alerts to beachgoers, and promoting rapid water testing. The BEACH Act directs states with BEACH Act waters to adopt new or revised RWQC into state WQSs by December 2015. EPA encourages states with non-BEACH Act waters to consider the 2012 RWQC in their next triennial review. OW will provide guidance and tools to the states in the implementation of the criteria. Identify Unsafe Recreational Waters and Begin Restoration. A key component of the strategy to restore waters unsafe for swimming is to identify the specific waters that are unsafe and develop plans to accomplish the needed restoration. A key part of this work is to maintain strong progress toward implementation of TMDLs. In a related effort, OW will work in partnership with OECA to better focus compliance and enforcement resources to unsafe recreational waters. In addition, wet weather discharges, which are a major source of pathogens, are one of OECA's national priorities. 81 For more info, please see http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/health/recreation/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 35 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Reduce Pathogen Indicator Densities in Recreational Waters Generally. In addition to focusing on waters that are unsafe for swimming today, EPA will continue working with states, local governments, and tribes in FY 2014 to reduce the overall level of pathogens and other harmful pollutants discharged to recreational waters using three key approaches: • Reduce pollution from CSOs that are not in compliance with the CWA and 1994 CSO Control Policy; • Address other sources discharging sewage-contaminated water under the NPDES permit program; and • Encourage improved management of septic systems. Overflows from Combined Sewer Systems (CSSs) and Sanitary Sewer Systems (SSSs) most often contain high levels of suspended solids, pathogenic microorganisms, toxic pollutions, floatables, nutrients, oxygen-demanding organic compounds, oil and grease, and other pollutants and can cause exceedances of WQS. Such exceedances may pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use and enjoyment of the Nation's waterways. EPA is working with states and local governments to fully implement the CSO Policy providing for the development and implementation of long-term CSO control plans. EPA expects that 790 (92%) out of the 853 CSO communities will have enforceable schedules in place to implement approved long-term CSO control plans, including sewer separation, in FY 2014 (see measure SS-1). EPA will also work with states to resolve longstanding issues associated with sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and bypasses at treatment plants. Other key sources of fecal contamination to the Nation's waters are discharges from CAFOs, municipal storm sewer systems, and industrial facilities. EPA expects to work with states to assure that these facilities are covered by permits where necessary. In addition, EPA expects to work with the states to develop approaches for monitoring wet weather discharges and impacts to surface waters, developing water quality-based effluent limits, and identifying effective control measures and BMPs. For CAFOs, NPDES regulations currently require facilities with discharges to seek permit coverage. Full implementation of the NPDES permitting requirement for CAFOs may result in reduced discharges of contamination due to permitting requirements that place controls on discharges of manure and process wastewater. Finally, there is growing evidence that ineffective septic systems are adversely impacting water resources. EPA will work with state, tribal, and local governments to develop voluntary approaches to improving management of these systems. Improve Beach Monitoring and Public Notification. Another important element of the strategy for improving the safety of recreational waters is improving monitoring of public beaches and notifying the public of unsafe conditions. Following the RWQC, OW will issue updated National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria (Beach Guidance) in 2013. The Beach Guidance will describe improved approaches to notifying the public of exceedances of WQSs or Beach Action Value (BAV) thresholds included in the RWQC. The guidance incorporates new media and describes proven best practices and innovative approaches to communicating advisories to the public. C. Strategies to Protect and Restore Fresh Waters, Coastal Waters, and Wetlands 1. Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis In FY 2014, EPA will work with states, tribes, and others to implement programs to protect and restore water resources with four key goals in mind: Office of Water Page 36 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Core Water Programs: EPA, states, and tribes need to continue maintaining and improving the integration and implementation of the core national clean water programs throughout the country to most effectively protect and restore water quality. • Use of the Watershed Approach: EPA will continue to support the implementation of "watershed approaches" to restoring and protecting waters. This work will be coordinated with the efforts to restore and protect large aquatic ecosystems discussed in Part IV of this Guidance. • Water Restoration Goals and Strategies: EPA will continue to work with states and tribes to strengthen capacities to identify and address impaired waters, including the development of integrated protection and restoration strategies, and to use adaptive management approaches to implement cost-effective restoration solutions, giving priority to watershed approaches where appropriate. • Water Protection Goals and Strategies: EPA will work with states and tribes to strengthen capacities to identify and protect high quality waters and watersheds, and to integrate protection and restoration as part of a comprehensive approach to achieve environmental results. a. Implement Core Clean Water Programs to Protect All Waters Nationwide In FY 2014, EPA, states, and tribes need to continue to effectively implement and better integrate programs established under CWAto protect, improve, and restore water quality. To achieve this, EPA will apply adaptive management principles to our core programs and initiatives. Key tasks for FY 2014 include: • Strengthen the WQS program; • Improve water quality monitoring and assessment; • Implement TMDLs and other watershed plans; • Strengthen the NPDES permit program; • Implement practices to reduce pollution from all NPSs; and • Support sustainable wastewater infrastructure. As part of this process, EPA will continue efforts to integrate across programs, media and federal agencies to more effectively support efforts to protect and restore waters. In the event that OW finds that existing programs, initiatives, or processes are not resulting in a significant contribution to national goals, we will work with regions, states, tribes, and other partners to rethink and redesign the delivery of clean water programs to more effectively protect and restore waterbodies and watersheds. Similarly, EPA regional offices have the flexibility to emphasize various parts of core national programs and modify targets to meet EPA regional and state needs and conditions. Section 106 Grant Guidance to States and Interstate Agencies: General Information This National Water Program Guidance for FY 2014 includes guidance for state and interstate recipients of Section 106 grants for Water Pollution Control Programs. As a general matter, grant recipients are expected to conduct their programs to help achieve the goals, objectives, subobjectives, strategic targets, and measures specified in Section III.C.I of this Guidance. In addition, this section includes specific guidance for state and interstate grant recipients in these Section 106 Grant Guidance areas. Together, section III.C.I, the grant guidance sections, and Appendix D replace the biannual Section 106 Grant Guidance. The Guidance for FY 2014 continues this practice of incorporating Section 106 grants guidance. Starting in FY 2014, the Section 106 Program will begin providing associated program support, to states and tribes participating in the National Aquatics Resource Survey (NARS) by directly funding work Office of Water Page 37 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance related to the survey. EPA is currently developing guidance for the use of associated program support costs authority by the Section 106 Program. In addition, the use of associated program support authority costs to fund the national survey will be discussed in detail in the next national survey guidance. Please see the Section 106 grant guidance on monitoring and Appendix D for more information. This grant guidance covers only the core water pollution control activities listed above. EPA continues to provide separate guidance for the following water pollution control activities: • Tribal water pollution control programs.82 • State and Interstate use of Monitoring Initiative funds.83 • Water pollution enforcement activities.84 /'. Strengthen Water Quality Standards Program WQS85 are the regulatory and scientific foundation of water quality protection programs (WQPP) under the CWA. Under the Act, states and authorized tribes establish WQS that define the goals and limits for waters within their jurisdictions. These standards are then used to determine which waters must be cleaned up, how much may be discharged, and what is needed for protection. Water Quality Standards Activities for FY 2014 To help achieve strategic targets, EPA will continue to review and approve or disapprove state and tribal WQS and promulgate replacement standards where needed; develop water quality criteria, information, methods, models, and policies to ensure that each waterbody in the U.S. has a clear, comprehensive suite of standards consistent with CWA, and as needed, provide technical and scientific support to states, territories, and authorized tribes in the development of their standards. EPA continues to place a high priority on state and territories adoption of numeric water quality criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to help address water quality issues of eutrophication and human health (see measure WQ-Ola). Please also see discussion on Controlling Nutrient Pollution in Section II.D. Continuing degradation of previously high quality waters is of increasing concern. EPA's antidegradation policy calls for states and authorized tribes to conduct a public review of proposed activities that are likely to lower water quality in high quality waters to determine whether the proposed degradation is necessary to accommodate important economic or social development in the area in which the waters are located. EPA strongly encourages states and authorized tribes without antidegradation implementation procedures to establish them as soon as possible to ensure that antidegradation policies are implemented. EPA continues to encourage and support tribes in implementing one of the three approaches for protecting water quality contained in EPA's Final Guidance on Awards of Grants to Indian Tribes under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act86. The three approaches are: the non-regulatory approach; the tribal law water quality protection approach; and the EPA-approved water quality protection approach. EPA tracks the progress of tribes adopting EPA-approved WQS under the third approach (see measure WQ- 02). Please see http://epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/106tgg07.htm. Tribes with EPA-approved WQS should also see the Section 106 guidance on WQS for states, interstate agencies, and authorized tribes below. 83 Please see http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/cwf/106-guidelines-monitor.cfm. 84 Please see http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/npmguidance/index.htm. 85 Please see http ://water. epa. gov/scitech/swguidance/. 86 Read the Final Section 106 Tribal Grant Guidance at http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/cwf/106tgg07.cfm. Office of Water Page 38 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance EPA will also work with states, territories, and authorized tribes to ensure the effective operation of the standards program, including working with them to keep their WQS up to date with the latest scientific information (see measures WQ-03a and 03b) and to facilitate adoption of standards that EPA can approve (see measure WQ-04a). Section 106 Grant Guidance to States, Interstate Agencies, and Authorized Tribes: Water Quality Standards. It is EPA's objective for states and authorized tribes87 to administer the water quality program consistent with the requirements of the CWA and the WQS regulation. EPA expects states and tribes will enhance the quality and timeliness of their WQS triennial reviews so that these standards reflect EPA guidance and updated scientific information. EPA encourages states and tribes to reach early agreement with EPA on triennial review priorities and schedules and coordinate at critical points to facilitate timely EPA reviews of state WQS submissions. It is particularly important for states and tribes to keep their water quality criteria up to date, including considering all the scientific information EPA has issued for specific pollutants since the state or tribe last updated those criteria, and adding or revising criteria as necessary (see measures WQ-03a and 03b). States with disapproved standards provisions should work with EPA to resolve the disapprovals promptly. States having waters with federally promulgated standards should consider adopting their own EPA-approved standards to enable EPA to remove the federal standards. EPA's March 2011 memorandum concerning a framework for nutrient reductions reaffirms EPA's commitment to partnering with states and collaborating with stakeholders to make greater progress in accelerating the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to our Nation's waters. EPA continues to encourage states to set priorities on a watershed or statewide basis, establish nutrient reduction targets, and adopt numeric nutrient criteria for at least one class of waterbodies by no later than 2016. As part of the framework, EPA continues to place a high priority on states adopting numeric WQS for total nitrogen and total phosphorus that apply to all waters in each of three waterbody types - lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams, and estuaries -to help reduce or prevent eutrophication and other problems in those waters. To help EPA track state progress, states should provide EPA a full set of performance milestone information concerning total nitrogen and total phosphorus numeric criteria development, proposal, and adoption (see measures WQ-Ola and WQ-26). When developing FY 2014 grant workplans, EPA regions and state partners should specifically discuss what progress will be made in FY 2014 towards reducing nutrient pollution. EPA strongly encourages states and authorized tribes without antidegradation implementation methods to establish them as soon as possible, consistent with EPA's regulation. States and tribes should make their WQS accessible to the public on the Internet in a systematic format. Users should be able to identify the current EPA-approved standards that apply to each waterbody in the state or reservation, for example by providing tables and maps of designated uses and related criteria. EPA has developed the Water Quality Standards Database (WQSDB) for this purpose. EPA will provide a copy of WQSDB88 for a state or tribe to populate, operate, and maintain locally if it does not have its own database. 87 Tribes that EPA has found eligible under CWA section 518(e) to be treated in a similar manner as a state (TAS) to administer WQS programs. 88 Request a copy of the WQSDB and guidance for installation and use at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/wqshome index.cfm. Office of Water Page 39 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance /'/'. Improve Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment EPA's goal is to achieve greater integration of federal, regional, state, tribal, and local level monitoring efforts to connect monitoring and assessment activities across geographic scales, in a cost-efficient and effective manner, so that scientifically defensible monitoring data is available to address issues and problems at each of these scales. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, territories, and other partners to provide the monitoring89 data and information needed to make good water quality protection and restoration decisions and to track changes in the Nation's water quality over time. In addition, EPA will work with states and other partners to address research and technical gaps related to sampling methods, analytical approaches, and data management. State and EPA cooperation on statistically-valid assessments of water condition nationwide remains a top priority. The rivers-and-streams survey will be conducted in FY 2013 and FY 2014. The report will be completed in FY 2016. As part of the national surveys, EPA, states, and tribes will collaborate to plan the FY 2015 field sampling for the National Coastal Condition Assessment. A report for the National Wetland Condition Assessment will be issued in 2014 (the field work for this report occurred in 2011). EPA and states will complete data analysis and peer review of the second National Lakes Assessment to meet the FY 2015 report target. EPA also stresses the importance of using statistical surveys to generate statewide assessments and track broad-scale trends; enhancing and implementing designs to address water information needs at local scales (e.g., watersheds) including monitoring waters where restoration actions have been implemented, and integrating both statistical surveys and targeted monitoring to assess the condition of all water resources over time. EPA developed a Statewide Statistical Survey Web Data Entry Tool to facilitate reporting of these results with the state Integrated Report (IR). EPA will assist tribes in developing monitoring strategies appropriate to their water quality programs through training and technical assistance and work with tribes to provide data in a format accessible for storage in EPA data systems (see measures WQ-06a and WQ-06b). As tribal strategies are developed, EPA will work with tribes to implement them over time. EPA is also working with tribes to track improvements where water quality is meeting benchmark criteria and showing no degradation on tribal lands (see measures WQ-SP14a.Nll and WQ-SP14b.Nll). EPA will also continue to work with state and other partners to strengthen capacities to identify and protect high quality waters and watersheds. In an effort to promote and encourage the progress made and still needed for statewide assessments that identify healthy watersheds, EPA developed a technical document90 that provides a systems-based approach, examples of healthy watershed components, integrated assessment approaches, examples of management approaches, sources of national data, and key assessment tools. The data and information gathered from both individual and integrated assessments of landscape condition, habitat, hydrology, geomorphology, water quality and biological condition can help inform management approaches, including implementing water quality and other protection programs. Regions are currently developing and/or implementing healthy watersheds strategies (see measure WQ-22a). Activities underway include working with states to: (1) develop state watershed protection strategies that include integrating healthy watersheds protection into existing programs; and (2) conduct integrated assessments to identify healthy watersheds across the state and assess hydrologic regimes needed for aquatic ecosystems and green infrastructure at the local level. 89 Read more on monitoring data at http://water.epa. gov/tvpe/watersheds/monitoring/monintr.cfm. 90Read more at U.S. EPA (2012). Identifying and Protecting Healthy Watersheds Concepts, Assessments, and Management Approaches. EPA 841-B-11-002. http ://water. epa. gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/hwtechdocument cfm. http ://water. epa. gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 40 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Section 106 Grant Guidance to States and Interstate Agencies: Monitoring CWA Section 106(e)(l) and 40 CFR Part 35.168(a) provide that EPA award Section 106 funds to a state only if the state has provided for or is carrying out as part of its program, the establishment and operation of appropriate devices, methods, systems, and procedures necessary to monitor and to compile and analyze data on the quality of navigable waters in the state, and provision for annually updating the data and including it in the Section 305(b) report. EPA issued the 2003 guidance, "Elements of a State Water Monitoring and Assessment Program"91 (Elements Guidance) as a recommended set of basic components of a state water monitoring program to aid in improving monitoring and assessment programs. EPA encourages states, territories, and interstate commissions to use a combination of Section 106 monitoring funds, base 106 funds, and other resources available to enhance their monitoring activities, and meet the objectives of the Elements Guidance92, which calls for states to implement their monitoring strategies by 2014. During FY 2014, these efforts include: • Implementing monitoring strategies; • Undertaking statistical surveys; • Improving management of water quality data, including annual transmission to EPA via WQX; and • Submitting integrated assessment reports under CWA Section 305(b), and listing of impaired waters under CWA Section 303(d) by April 1, 2014. In FY 2014, EPA will include a term and condition in 106 grants that states will transmit their water quality data to the national STORE! Warehouse using the WQX framework to satisfy the general obligation to report water quality data annually.93 EPA will support states' use of WQX and WQX Web to submit data to the STORE! Data Warehouse and use of OWIRA-ATT and ADB to submit IR results to EPA through technical assistance and Exchange Network grants. Water quality assessment data are critical to measuring progress towards the Agency's and states' goals of restoring and improving water quality. EPA has requested an increase in Section 106 funds to support states' management and use of water quality data by improving automation of screening, analysis, visualization, and reporting of water quality data to support priority setting, resource allocation for protection and restoration activities, and public accountability. Beginning in FY 2014, EPA is offering to fund field and laboratory services for states and tribes through its authority to use Section 106 funds to provide associated program support. Generally, the associated program support costs authority is used to fund activities that promote the common goals of the requesting state(s) and/or promote administrative efficiency and cost savings to the recipients. EPA can provide associated program support through a grant, contract, or Interagency Agreement (IA). In the case of Monitoring Initiative funds, EPA is offering the associated program support vehicle as another option to assist in implementing national surveys. EPA anticipates that use of this vehicle in support of the national surveys will decrease administrative burdens and provide other cost savings for participating states and tribes. EPA will work with states and tribes to determine the level of funds that each recipient wants to allocate for national contracts through the associated program support costs authority. The services funded through this vehicle will include laboratory analysis for the National Coastal Condition Assessment as well as field sampling for the entire site or for fish only. States and tribes may work with their EPA 91 Read more on the Elements Guidance at http://www.epa. gov/owow/monitoring/elements/elements03 14 03 .pdf. 92Read more on the Elements Guidance at http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/elements/elements03 14 03.pdf. 93Read more on STORET and WQX at http ://www. epa. gov/storet/wqx/. Office of Water Page 41 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance regional office to opt out of this associated program support vehicle. Regions will obtain written confirmation from each Section 106 agency receiving a share of the National Survey funds of their approval of the specific amount identified as associated program support. For states and tribes that opt- out of this associated program support vehicle, in-kind services will still be available. Although EPA is expanding the options for obtaining support for implementing field and lab work, EPA encourages states and tribes with the capacity to conduct independent field and/or lab work to do so themselves. Additional information can be found in Appendix D and will be included in the Monitoring Initiative Guidance. /'/'/'. Implement TMDLs and Other Watershed Related Plans Development and implementation of TMDLs for 303(d) listed waterbodies is a critical tool for meeting water quality restoration goals94. TMDLs focus on clearly defined environmental goals and establish a pollutant budget, which is then implemented via permit requirements and through local, state, and federal watershed plans/programs. Strong networks foster efficient strategies to address water quality impairments.95 Through partnerships with the states, as well as with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), USFS96, and others, EPA has established networks that are uniquely positioned to improve water quality through development and implementation of TMDLs, TMDL alternatives, and other restoration actions. EPA will track the degree to which states develop TMDLs or take other appropriate actions (TMDL alternatives) on approved schedules, based on a goal of at least 80% on pace each year to meet state schedules or straight-line rates that ensure that the national policy of TMDL development within 8-13 years of listing is met (see measure WQ-08). In 2014, the CWA 303(d) Listing and TMDL Program will engage with states on the implementation of the new 10-year vision for the program. As part of this effort, EPA will continue to work with states to identify a new measure to better measure the success of the program. It is anticipated that any new measure would be ready for public comment in the FY 2015 Guidance. For waters impaired by problems for which TMDLs are not appropriate, EPA will work with partners to develop and implement activities and watershed plans to restore these waters (e.g., TMDL alternatives). Additionally, EPA will work with partners to improve our ability to identify and protect healthy waters/watersheds, and to emphasize integration of and application of core program tools, the watershed approach, and innovative ideas for protecting these waters. Moreover, EPA has been working with states on training and other assistance on how to more effectively address stormwater impairments under two key programs of the CWA: the Section 303(d) TMDL Program and the NPDES Stormwater Program. EPA will assist states with the translation of TMDL Waste Load Allocations into NPDES stormwater permits, as well as support innovative approaches, such as impervious cover surrogate TMDLs, to address the considerable number of waterbodies affected by stormwater discharges. Section 106 Grant Guidance to States and Interstate Agencies: Identifying Impairments and Developing TMDLs EPA encourages states to effectively assess their waters and make all necessary efforts to ensure the timely submittal of required CWA Section 303(d) lists of impaired waters. For 2014, EPA will continue to work with states, interstate agencies, and tribes to foster a watershed approach as the guiding principle 94Read more on TMDLs at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/tmdl/index.cfm. 95Read more on working with partners at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/tmdl/partners index.cfm. 96Read more on the partnership with U.S. Forest Service at http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/usfsepamoa/. Office of Water Page 42 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance of clean water programs. In watersheds where WQS are not attained, states will develop TMDLs, critical tools for meeting water restoration goals. See information above and measure WQ-08 for information on EPA's expectations. States have started to address more difficult TMDLs, such as broad-scale mercury and nutrient TMDLs, which require involvement at the state and federal level across multiple programs. EPA will also continue to work with states to facilitate accurate, comprehensive, and georeferenced data made available to the public via the Assessment, TMDL Tracking, and Implementation System (ATTAINS). iv. Strengthen the NPDES Permit Program The NPDES Program97 requires point source dischargers to be permitted and requires pretreatment programs to control discharges from industrial and other facilities to the Nation's publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). EPA is working with states to structure the permit program to better support comprehensive protection of water quality on a watershed basis and recent increases in the scope of the program arising from court orders and environmental issues. In addition, the NPDES Program has been working closely with OECA to implement the CWA Action Plan98. Some key NPDES program efforts include: NPDES Program Work Planning and Oversight: OWM and OECA are jointly implementing an effort to strengthen performance in the NPDES program by integrating and streamlining approaches for oversight of NPDES permitting and enforcement, including a rule replacing existing paper reporting with electronic reporting, in order to automate compliance evaluations and improve transparency. This current initiative builds upon recent efforts by OECA and OW to strengthen implementation of the NPDES permit and enforcement programs under the CWA Action Plan. Permit Quality Reviews (PQR), and Action Items, and Integrated PQR and State Review Framework (PQR-SRF) Reviews": As discussed in Section II.B. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality, OW manages the PQR process to assess the health and integrity of the NPDES program in authorized states, tribes, territories, and EPA regions. EPA maintains a commitment and tracking system to ensure that NPDES Action Items identified in these assessments are implemented. Implementation is measured through measure WQ-11. Additional NPDES Action Items will continue to be identified and addressed through this process in FY 2014. Under CWA Action Plan, OW conducted several Transitional PQRs in the first half of FY 2012 while OW collaborated with OECA to carry out several Integrated PQR-SRF Reviews in the second half of FY 2012. Based on lessons learned from these FY 2012 reviews, region-led PQR-SRF integrated reviews began in FY 2013 and will continue in FY 2014. Program Integrity: In FY 2012, EPA increased emphasis in working with states to ensure the integrity of the NPDES program. Consistent with the CWA Action Plan, EPA worked to integrate program and enforcement oversight to ensure the most significant actions affecting water quality are included in an accountability system and are addressed. In FY 2013, regional permitting programs coordinated with the regional enforcement programs to schedule and conduct CWA oversight reviews using the integrated permitting and enforcement oversight process, and draft IRs using HQguidance. Regions use NPDES program performance reports to inform regular discussions with states and to track performance. Regions will also review Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) as part of the integrated review process using the OW/OECA criteria and checklist. In FY 2014, EPA will continue conducting region-led, coordinated reviews of states NPDES permitting and enforcement programs. EPA will also continue the process to make streamlining revisions to various parts of the existing NPDES application and permit 97Read more on the NPDES Program at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/. 98Read more on the CWA Action Plan at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/cwa/cwaenfplan.html. "Read more on PQRs at http://cfpub 1 .epa.gov/npdes/pqr.cfm. Office of Water Page 43 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance regulations to improve program clarity, protection of water quality, program transparency, and efficiency. High Priority Permits: EPA works with states and EPA regions to select high priority permits based on programmatic and environmental significance and commit to issuing a specific number of those permits during the fiscal year. Targets for measures WQ-19a and b are based on a universe of priority permit candidates that shifts each year, and those fluctuations in the measure's universe make trend analysis difficult. In FY 2013, EPA revised the selection, commitment, and results calculation method to allow EPA to set a better baseline and improve the overall effectiveness of the measure. While the universe still shifts year to year, it is now consistently selected each year with approximately 20% of permits expired greater than two years being selected as priority and states and EPA regions committing to issue a percentage of that universe. Starting in FY 2013, results were calculated as a percentage of total priority permits issued instead of a percentage of the commitment achieved. This revised method will continue for FY2014. Watershed Permits/Water Quality Trading: Organizing permits on a watershed basis can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the program. Permits can also be used as an effective mechanism to facilitate cost-effective pollution reduction through water quality trading. EPA will continue to coordinate with EPA regional offices, states, USDA, and other federal agencies to implement watershed programs. Green Infrastructure100: As discussed in Section II.C, Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure, EPA is collaborating with partner organizations and communities to implement the Green Infrastructure Strategic Agenda101 released in April 2011. In FY 2014, EPA will provide technical assistance to community partners, deliver webinars, and prepare guidance to address technical, regulatory, and economic barriers to green infrastructure and to encourage the use of green infrastructure in permitting and enforcement activities. EPA supports use of CWA Section 106 funds to provide programmatic support for green infrastructure efforts, which promote prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. Pesticides102: On January 7, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that NPDES permits are required for discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the U.S. In response to the Court's decision, EPA issued a final NPDES pesticides general permit (PGP) on October 31, 2011 for areas of the country where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. EPA has been and will continue to assist NPDES-authorized states to oversee implementation of those permits, and assist in a national effort to educate the pesticides application industry regarding the new permit requirements. Vessels: In December 2008, EPA issued the Vessel General Permit (VGP)103 to provide coverage for commercial vessels in U.S. waters. EPA intends to finalize the next VGP in FY 2013 with an effective date of December 19, 2013. The draft VGP, proposed in late 2011, contains numeric ballast water discharge limits for most vessels which will reduce the threat posed by the transport of invasive species to U.S. waters. Ballast water discharges have resulted in the introduction of numerous aquatic invasive species, resulting in severe degradation of many ecosystems and billions of dollars of economic damages. Among other things, the draft VGP also contains more stringent effluent limits for oil to sea interfaces and exhaust gas scrubber washwater, which would help prevent adverse environmental impacts due to the discharge of oils and grease into U.S. waters. EPA has also improved the efficiency of several of the 100Read more on green infrastructure at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/index.cfm. 101 Read the Agenda at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/upload/gi agenda_protectwaters.pdf. 102 For more information, please see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm7program id=410. 103 For more information, please see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/vessels/vgpermit.cfm. Office of Water Page 44 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance VGP's administrative requirements, which are expected to reduce confusion in and burden for the regulated industry. In FY 2014, EPA intends to engage industry, U.S. states, and international partners in outreach activities, develop implementation strategies, and begin developing the scientific and technical information needed to promulgate the third generation VGP. EPA also plans to finalize the Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) to provide NPDES permit coverage for commercial vessels less than 79 feet in the event that the P.L.110-299 (extended by subsequent legislation) moratorium on NPDES permitting of incidental discharges (except ballast water) from fishing vessels (regardless of size) and commercial vessels less than 79 feet expires on December 18, 2014. Stormwater104: In October 2008, the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NRC) made several recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the EPA's stormwater program and the quality of urban streams. EPA has evaluated the NRC findings and identified key action items to respond to these recommendations. A key action item that EPA is undertaking is to revise the national stormwater program via a rulemaking to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the program. CAFOs: In July 2012, EPA amended the CAFO regulations to remove the requirement that CAFOs that "propose to discharge" must seek NPDES permit coverage. EPA made these revisions in response to the court decision in National Pork Producers Council v. EPA. EPA is working to assure that all states have up- to-date CAFO NPDES programs and that all CAFOs that discharge seek and obtain NPDES permit coverage. In addition, EPA will continue to track the number of CAFOs covered by NPDES permits (see measure WQ-13). Chesapeake Bay: On December 29, 2010, EPA established the Chesapeake BayTMDL105, a historic and comprehensive "pollution diet" with appropriate accountability measures to initiate sweeping actions to restore clean water in the Chesapeake Bay and the region's streams, creeks, and rivers. The TMDL is designed to ensure that all nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution control efforts needed to fully restore the Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025, with controls, practices and actions in place by 2017 that would achieve 60% of the necessary reductions. As the TMDL has moved into the implementation phase, NPDES permits for discharges contributing to nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution are being written to incorporate the TMDL where applicable. These efforts will continue in FY 2014. Sanitary Sewer Overflows and Bypasses: EPA will continue to work with states to resolve longstanding issues related to overflows in separate sanitary sewer systems and bypasses at the treatment plant. Integrated Wastewater and Stormwater Planning: Also discussed in Section II.C. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure. In recent years, EPA has begun to embrace integrated planning approaches to municipal wastewater and stormwater management. OW and OECA further committed to work with states and communities to implement and use integrated planning in their October 27, 2011, memorandum "Achieving Water Quality Through Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Plans." On June 5, 2012, the Integrated Planning Approach framework^06 was released. EPA will work with states to determine the appropriate roles of permit and enforcement authorities in addressing the regulatory requirements identified in municipal integrated plans. Current Permits: EPA will continue to work with states to set targets for the percentage of permits that are considered current, with the goal of assuring that not less than 90% of all permits are current (see measure WQ-12). 104 For more information, please see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm7program id=6. 105 Read more on the Chesapeake Bay TMDL at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl/. 106 Read the October 27, 2011 and June 5, 2012 memorandums at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.cfm. Office of Water Page 45 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance ..107. Pretreatment : EPA and states will monitor the number and national percentage of significant industrial users that have control mechanisms in place to implement applicable pretreatment requirements prior to discharging to POTWs. EPA will also monitor the number and national percentage of categorical industrial users in non-approved pretreatment POTWs that have control mechanisms in place to implement applicable pretreatment requirements (see measures WQ-14a & b). Compliance and Enforcement: EPA will track and report on key measures of compliance with discharge permits including the percent of major dischargers in significant noncompliance (SNC), and the percent of major POTWs that comply with their permitted wastewater discharge standards (see measures WQ- 15 and WQ-16). As part of the CWA Action Plan, in FY 2011, OECA began leading an effort to develop and implement an improved framework to identify and prioritize the most serious NPDES violations and align it with appropriate enforcement response recommendations and program performance expectations. In addition, this effort will identify necessary tools to support the improved framework. This work will continue in FY 2014. Section 106 Grant Guidance to States and Interstate Agencies: Permits, Enforcement, and Compliance States should continue to implement significant actions identified during regional reviews and PQRs to assure effective management of the permit program and to adopt efficiencies to improve environmental results. Where EPA regions review of state-EPA MOAs determines that MOAs might require revision, updating, or supplementation, states should work cooperatively with EPA regions to identify and complete appropriate actions. States should also implement recommended significant actions identified under the EPA/Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) enforcement and compliance "State Review Framework" process. States should place emphasis on implementing criteria to ensure that priority permits selected are those offering the greatest benefit to improve water quality. EPA will track the implementation of the significant action items described above (see measure WQ-11). EPA will work with each state to evaluate and set programmatic and performance goals to maximize water quality improvement and achieve state and EPA regional priorities across CWA programs to maintain the integrity of the NPDES programs. EPA and states should work together to optimally balance competing priorities, schedules for action items based on the significance of the action, and program revisions. States are encouraged to seek opportunities to incorporate efficiency tools, such as trading and linking development of WQS, TMDLs, and permits. States are expected to ensure that stormwater permits are reissued on a timely basis and to strengthen the provisions of municipal separate storm sewer (MS4) permits as they are reissued to ensure clarity on what is required and so that they are enforceable. States should place emphasis on incorporating green infrastructure in all stormwater permits. States need to update their programs to implement the CAFO rule, including regulations, permits and technical standards, and work closely with their inspection and enforcement programs to ensure full implementation of the NPDES CAFO regulations. States were required to modify their programs to regulate pesticide discharges by October 31, 2011 and continue implementation through 2014. In general, states should ensure that permittees submit data that accurately characterizes the pollutant loadings in their discharge for reasonable potential determinations and other reporting. Whether through direct input or batch upload, states are expected to ensure data availability by fully populating the Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS)-NPDES with the data elements that are comparable to Water Enforcement National Data Base (WENDB) (December 28, 2007 memo from Michael Stahl and James Hanlon, "ICIS Addendum to the Appendix of the 1985 Permit Compliance System Policy Statement") for the appropriate regulated universes of facilities. After the effective date 107 Read more on the Pretreatment Program at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm7program id=3. Office of Water Page 46 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance of the NPDES electronic reporting rule, all states are required to fully comply with that regulation, including the reporting to EPA of required NPDES data as identified in that regulation or its appendices for the regulated universes specified in that regulation and by the deadlines identified in that regulation. OECA has a separate NPM Guidance. States and regions should continue to conduct joint permitting and enforcement planning as outlined in the OECA NPM Guidance [OECA CWA-09]. In 2014, OECA's NPM Guidance continues to identify activities for improving enforcement efforts aimed at addressing water quality impairment through the CWA Action Plan. OW and states will be working closely with OECA as the CWA Action Plan is implemented. v. Implement Practices to Reduce Pollution from all Nonpoint Sources As highlighted briefly in the Controlling Nutrient Pollution, Section II.D, NPS pollution108 from sources, such as agricultural lands, forestry sites, and urban areas, is the largest single remaining cause of water pollution. EPA provides grant funds to states and tribes under CWA Section 319 to implement comprehensive programs to control nonpoint pollution, including reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loadings. EPA will continue to monitor progress in reducing loadings of these key pollutants in the EPA's Section 319 Grants Reporting and Tracking System under measure WQ-09. In addition, EPA estimates that more than half of the waters identified on states' Section 303(d) impaired waters list are primarily impaired by NPS pollutants and EPA will continue to track progress in restoring these waters nationwide through measure WQ-10. To better understand the effectiveness of various state NPS programs in reducing or eliminating NPS pollution, EPA coordinated with state partners in FY 2011 to complete a detailed study (A National Evaluation of the Clean Water Act Section 319 Program, November 2011109) of how states are implementing their CWA Section 319 NPS programs to protect and restore NPS-impaired waters. As a result of this study and in combination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) interest, EPA launched several state-EPA workgroups in 2012 to discuss potential changes to the Section 319 Program. These workgroups informed EPA's deliberation and drafting of revised Section 319 grant guidelines. EPA plans to finalize the grant guidelines in the spring of 2013. These revised grant guidelines add emphasis on states identifying their NPS program priorities via updated NPS Management Programs and provide continued focus on watershed projects to restore impaired waters with additional consideration of protecting unimpaired waters. In addition to developing new grant guidelines, EPA continues to encourage states to use the CWA Section 319 program to support a more comprehensive, watershed approach to protecting and restoring water quality. EPA continues to support states, territories, and tribes in developing comprehensive watershed-based plans geared towards restoring impaired waters on a watershed basis while still protecting high quality and threatened waters as necessary. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to work closely with and support the many efforts of states, interstate agencies, tribes, local governments and communities, watershed groups, and others to develop and implement their local watershed-based plans. State CWSRF funds are also available to support efforts to control pollution from NPSs. During FY 2014, states, territories, and tribes will continue to implement their NPS management programs and should update their NPS management programs if necessary. States and territories will adhere to the revised "Nonpoint Source Program and Grants Guidelines for States and Territories" (http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/cwact.cfin). Tribes will continue to follow the separate tribal Section 319 guidelines available at: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/tribal/index.cfm. 108 Read more on nonpoint source pollution at http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/index.cfm. 109 Read the study at http://www.epa.gov/owow/NPS/pdf/319evaluation.pdf. Office of Water Page 47 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance vi. Support Sustainable Water Infrastructure In addition to the efforts described in Section II.C. EPA is pursuing a Sustainable Infrastructure Program110, designed to institutionalize practices by water and wastewater utilities that will help ensure the sustainability of the communities these systems serve, and maximize the value of each infrastructure dollar spent. The suite of activities which comprises the program is based on two basic tenets: • To be sustainable as a community, you need sustainable infrastructure. • To achieve sustainable water infrastructure, you need sustainable utilities. To those ends, EPA is working to ensure that water infrastructure decisions also support other community sustainability priorities. This will help provide more livable communities and reduce long- term infrastructure needs and costs. EPA is also working to promote effective and sustainable utility management. Those efforts center around upfront planning that incorporates the assessment of life cycle costs, innovative and green alternatives, and collateral environmental benefits into infrastructure investment strategies, as well as the adoption of sustainable practices across a full range of utility operations. States are an important partner in EPA's efforts. EPA will continue to provide information to states, including but not limited to the SRF programs, and encourage states to work with utilities to adopt sustainable management practices in close collaboration with their communities. Sustainable Water Infrastructure is an integral part of the Sustainable Communities Partnership between HUD, DOT, and EPA. EPA is working with the partners to integrate infrastructure planning across water, housing, and transportation sectors to achieve the partnership goals. b. Accelerate Watershed Protection Today's water quality problems are often caused by many significant factors that are not adequately addressed by these core programs, including loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation, hydrologic alteration, invasive species, and climate change. Addressing complex water quality problems demands a watershed systems approach to protection that considers both aquatic habitats and the critical watershed processes that drive the condition of aquatic ecosystems. This approach is implemented by states and at the local level through a comprehensive approach that leverages and integrates protection activities of multiple stakeholder programs to protect the entire watershed system. As described under Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure in Section II.C. to increase focus on protecting and maintaining our Nation's remaining healthy waters, EPA is implementing a proactive approach called HWI111. For FY 2014, EPA will continue to implement the HWI Action Plan112, including providing support for: • Statewide integrated assessments that identify healthy watersheds and individual assessments that build state capacity to improve protection of healthy watershed aquatic ecosystems; • Implementation of coordinated state programs that track and protect healthy watersheds; • Implementation of strategies at the local level that protect watershed resilience; • Integration of healthy watersheds protection into core water programs; • Development of EPA Regional Healthy Watersheds Strategies; 110 Read more on the Sustainable Infrastructure Program at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/. 111 For more information, please see http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/index.cfm. 112 U. S. EPA (2011). Healthy Watersheds Initiative: National Framework and Action Plan. Office of Water. EPA 841-R-l 1-005. Office of Water Page 48 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Continued collaboration with partners including other federal agencies, national state associations, NGOs, and others; and • Continued communication on the need to protect healthy watersheds, tools to assist healthy watersheds efforts, and progress to date. c. Define Waterbody/Watershed Standards Attainment Goals and Strategies In 2002, states identified some 39,503 specific waterbodies as impaired (i.e. not attaining state WQS) on CWA Section 303(d) impaired waters lists. Although core programs, as described above, provide key tools for improving these impaired waters, success in restoring the health of impaired waterbodies often requires a waterbody-specific focus to define the problem and implement specific steps needed to reduce pollution. Since then, the measures that track progress towards restoring impaired waters (see measures WQ- SP10.N11, WQ-SP11, and WQ-SP12.N11) have continued to use that 2002 baseline. While states have taken significant steps to improve impaired waters using the fixed 2002 baseline year, EPA recognizes that there are concerns with continuing to measure progress regarding these measures against the 2002 baseline (e.g., does not account for water quality improvements when measured against waters/pollutants identified as impaired and listed after establishment of the 2002 baseline, and continues to be a highly manual process). Several years ago, in an effort to move to an automated process to report on these measures, EPA did explore options to update the 2002 baseline in ATTAINS; however, EPA concluded that this option wasn't feasible based on the required level of effort. To reduce state burden and better utilize ATTAINS to track and serve as the repository for these measures, EPA will evaluate in FY 2013 the baseline and measure of water quality improvement issues, identifying what information states will need to report to EPA as part of their IRs in order for ATTAINS to be used to track their progress, as well as evaluate the pros and cons of establishing a fixed versus rolling baseline. If adopted, EPA will pilot the new baseline in FY 2014 and implement these changes in FY 2015 for the 2016 Integrated Report. As these discussions move forward, EPA will continue to track these measures using the current 2002 baseline. For some impaired waters, the best path to restoration is the prompt implementation of a waterbody- specific TMDL or TMDLs. For many waters, however, the best path to restoration will be as part of a larger, watershed approach that results in completion of TMDLs for multiple waterbodies within a watershed and the development of a single implementation plan for restoring all the impaired waters in that watershed. EPA has identified some 4,800 small watersheds where one or more waterbodies are impaired and the watershed approach is being applied. The goal is to demonstrate how the Watershed Approach is working by showing a measurable improvement in 330 such watersheds by 2015 (see measure WQ-SP12.N11). EPA exceeded this target in 2012. Regions are encouraged to use some or all of the following strategies in marshalling resources to support waterbody and watershed restoration: • Realign water programs and resources as needed, including proposal of reductions in allocations among core water program implementation as reflected in commitments to annual measure targets; • Coordinate waterbody restoration efforts with CWA Section 319 funds reserved for development of watershed-based plans; • Make effective use of SRFs provided under CWA Title VI; • Make effective use of water quality planning funds provided under CWA Section 604(b); • Leverage resources available from other federal agencies, including the USDA; and • Apply funds appropriated by Congress for watershed or related projects. Office of Water Page 49 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance EPA also recognizes that additional impaired waters are not included on state 303(d) lists because the impairments may not require or be most effectively addressed through development and implementation of a TMDL. Many of these waters are identified in Categories 4b and 4c of state IRs - that is, where the impairment is being addressed through other pollution control requirements (4b), or where the impairment is not caused by a pollutant, per se, but rather by habitat degradation or other factors (4c). EPA and its partners should continue to work together to ensure that restoration efforts are focused on these waters as well as those on the 303(d) list, facilitate integration of activities to incorporate these waters into watershed plans, and identify mechanisms for tracking progress in restoring them. Development of Measures for Improving Water Quality on a Watershed Basis Incremental Progress in Restoring Water Quality EPA has been working with state partners to address concerns that these existing measures do not fully capture investments in water quality restoration that do not result in achievement of full WQS attainment. Most waters take years to recover fully, and although incremental improvements represent progress these are currently not well represented. After working with states on development of an indicator measure to capture incremental water quality improvements, the Agency proposes to pilot a measure based on state reporting of statewide survey results. While a number of states have already begun reporting statewide scale survey results in the IR, the Agency is aiming to have states establish a baseline for this indicator measure in 2014 by asking states to provide data in the ATTAINS Statewide Statistical Survey Web Data Entry Tool as part of their FY 2014 IRs. The proposed Statewide Statistical Survey Pilot Measure is: Number of states protecting or improving water quality conditions, as demonstrated by • On average, water quality is improving or at least not degrading (there is no statistically significant decrease in mean water quality); • The percentage of waters in good condition is increasing or remaining constant; • The percentage of waters in poor condition is decreasing or remaining constant. Based on the pilot results, the Agency will decide whether to include this measure in future Guidances. 2. Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters Estuaries, coastal waters, and oceans are among the most productive ecosystems on earth113. For FY 2014, EPA's national strategy for improving the condition of coastal and ocean waters will include the key elements identified below: • Maintain coastal monitoring and assessment; • Support state coastal protection programs; • Implement the National Estuary Program (NEP); and • Protect ocean resources. Coastal and Ocean Waters Activities for FY2014 1) Coastal Monitoring and Assessment. EPA has made improved monitoring of water quality conditions114 a top priority for oceans, coasts, as well as inland waters. The National Coastal Condition Reports (NCCRs) describe the ecological and environmental conditions in U.S. coastal waters115. In FY 113 For more information, please see http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/oceb/index.cfm. 114 For more information, please see http://water.epa.gov/rvpe/oceb/assessmonitor/nccr/index.cfm. 115 For more information, please see http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/assessmonitor/nccr/index.cfm Office of Water Page 50 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 2014, EPA will publish the NCCR V. Building on coastal condition assessment reports issued in 2001, 2004, and 2008, the NCCR \Xwill describe the health of major marine eco-regions along the coasts of the U.S. and will depict assessment trends for the Nation and for individual marine eco-regions. The coastal condition assessments are the basis for the measures of progress in estuarine and coastal water quality used in the current EPA Strategic Plan. 2) State Coastal Programs. States play a critical role in protection of coastal waters through the implementation of core CWA programs, ranging from permit programs to financing of wastewater treatment plants. States also lead the implementation of efforts to assure the high quality of the Nation's swimming beaches; including implementation of the BEACH Act (see the Water Safe for Swimming Subobjective). In FY 2014, EPA will continue to coordinate with states interested in establishing "no discharge zones" (NDZ) to control vessel sewage. Under the CWA, where a "state determines that the protection and enhancement of the quality of some or all of the waters within such State require greater environmental protection, such State may completely prohibit the discharge from all vessels of any sewage"; however, no such prohibition shall apply until EPA determines that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for such water to which such prohibition would apply. If a state applies and EPA determines that adequate facilities exist, a NDZ may be established. EPA has worked with states to establish NDZs in the past and will continue to coordinate with states to control vessel sewage in FY 2014. This process will include answering any questions or concerns regarding establishment of an NDZ, and providing states with guidance on NDZ applications to allow for adequate EPA review. 3) Implement NEP116. The overall health of the Nation's estuarine ecosystems depends on the protection and restoration of high-quality habitat. NEP is a local, stakeholder-driven, and collaborative program that protects and restores the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance. The goals and objectives of each of the NEPs are identified in their Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans (CCMPs). The NEP is comprised of 28 estuaries along the east, west, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts. During FY 2014, EPA will continue supporting the NEPs' implementation of their individual CCMPs. 4) Ocean Protection Programs. The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA), also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, prohibits the ocean dumping of material that would unreasonably degrade or endanger human health or the marine environment. EPA is responsible for issuing ocean dumping permits (special, general, research or emergency) for all materials other than dredged material. In the case of dredged material, the decision to issue an MPRSA permit is made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), using EPA's environmental criteria and subject to EPA's concurrence. EPA is also responsible for designating and managing recommended ocean dumping sites for all types of materials. All ocean dumping sites are required to have a site management and monitoring plan. EPA entered into an IA in September 2012 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support EPA's ocean dumping monitoring program. The IA will help support EPA's implementation of the MPRSA by enabling EPA scientists to conduct ocean dump site monitoring using NOAA vessels. In addition, EPA is using other contract vessels and through an IA, USAGE vessels to conduct ocean dump site monitoring. EPA is also exploring use of University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) vessels for FY 2014 surveys. 116 Read more on NEPs at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/oceb/nep/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 51 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance EPA and USAGE will focus on improving how disposal of dredged material is managed, including designating and monitoring disposal sites, involving local stakeholders in planning to reduce the need for dredging, and increasing the beneficial use of dredged material. One of the greatest threats to U.S. ocean waters and ecosystems is the uncontrolled spread of invasive species. A principal way invasive species are introduced or spread in U.S. waters is through the discharge of ballast water from ships. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to work with other agencies on ballast water discharge standards or controls (both through the EPA's VGP and coordination with U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) regulatory efforts under the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act as amended), and participate in activities with other nations for effective international management of ballast water. In July of 2008, Congress passed the Clean Boating Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-228) amending the CWA to provide that no NPDES permits shall be required under the CWA for discharges incidental to the normal operation of recreational vessels. Instead, the Clean Boating Act directs EPA to establish management practices and associated standards of performance for such discharges (except for vessel sewage, which is already regulated by the CWA). EPA is developing those regulations. Support Evaluation of Sub-seabed and Ocean Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide: EPA will work with other agencies and the international community to provide technical assistance on sub-seabed carbon sequestration and coordinate with federal partners in addressing proposals for carbon sequestration in the sub-seabed or other proposals, such as potential fertilization of the ocean, including any applicable permitting that may be required under the MPRSA or the UIC program. "Climate Ready Estuaries"117: EPA will continue to build capacity within NEP to adapt to the changes from climate change on the coasts. EPA will provide additional assistance to individual NEPs to support their work to develop adaptation plans for their study areas or technical assistance to support implementation of those plans. Climate Ready Estuaries will continue to improve resources for NEPs and other coastal communities working to adapt to climate change. Coastal and Ocean Waters Program Measures • CO-222.N11 tracks the national coastal condition score from the national baseline score of 3.0 in the FY 2012 NCCR IV. • CO-432.N11 tracks the number of habitat acres protected or restored within NEP study areas. • CO-SP20.N11 tracks the percent of active ocean dredged material disposal sites that have achieved environmentally acceptable conditions (as reflected in each site's management plan and measured through on-site monitoring programs). • CO-02 tracks total coastal and noncoastal statutory square miles protected by NDZs. • CO-04 tracks the cash and in-kind resources that NEP directors and staff obtain to fund the implementation of their CCMP. • CO-06 tracks monitoring activities at active ocean dredged material sites. 3. Increase Wetlands EPA's Wetlands Program118 combines technical and financial assistance to state, tribal, and local partners with outreach and education, in addition to wetlands regulation under CWA Section 404 for the purpose of restoring, improving, and protecting wetlands in the U.S. objectives of EPA's strategy include helping states and tribes build wetlands protection program capacity and integrating wetlands and 117 Read on Climate Ready Estuaries at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/oceb/cre/index.cfm. 118 Read more on wetlands at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/wetlands/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 52 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance watershed protection. Through a collaborative effort with our many partners culminating in a May 2008 report, EPA's Wetlands Program articulated a set of national strategies in the areas of monitoring, state and tribal capacity, regulatory programs, jurisdictional determinations, and restoration partnerships. Wetlands Activities for FY2014 No Net Loss. EPA contributes to achieving no overall net loss of wetlands through the wetlands regulatory program established under CWA Section 404119. USAGE is the principal permitting agency for the CWA Section 404 permits, but EPA has a statutory role to provide input to USAGE as it reviews proposed discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S., including wetlands. EPA also has a statutory role to oversee states that assume the CWA Section 404 permitting program. EPA will also support states that decide to explore assumption of the CWA Section 404 permitting program from the USAGE. In 2014, additional states are anticipated to start pre-assumption activities and others may formally apply for 404 assumption based on an increased interest by states in streamlining regulatory programs and other reasons. EPA will continue to work with USAGE to ensure application of the CWA Section 404(b)(l) guidelines which require that discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. be avoided and minimized to the extent practicable and unavoidable impacts are compensated for. EPA regions should identify whether USAGE issuing a CWA Section 404 permit would result in adverse human health or environmental effects on low-income and minority populations, including impacts to water supplies and fisheries. Where such effects are likely, EPA regions should suggest ways and measures to avoid and/or mitigate such impacts through comments to USAGE. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to track the effectiveness of EPA's environmental review of CWA Section 404 permits (see measure WT-03). Each EPA region will also identify opportunities to partner with USAGE in meeting performance measures for compliance with 404(b)(l) guidelines. At a minimum, these include: • Environmental review of CWA Section 404 permits to ensure wetland impacts are avoided and minimized; • Ensure when wetland impacts cannot be avoided under CWA Section 404 permits, that the unavoidable impacts are compensated for; • Participation in joint impact and mitigation site inspections, and Interagency Review Team activities; • Assistance on development of mitigation site performance standards and monitoring protocols; and • Enhanced coordination on resolution of enforcement cases. Net Gain Goal. Meeting the "net gain" element of the wetland goal is primarily accomplished by other federal programs (Farm Bill agriculture incentive programs and wetlands acquisition and restoration programs, including those administered by USFWS and non-federal programs). EPA will work to improve levels of wetland protection by states and via EPA and other federal programs through actions that include: • Working with and integrating wetlands protection into other EPA programs, such as CWA Section 319, SRF, NEP, and Brownfields; • Providing grants and technical assistance to state, tribal, or local organizations; • Developing technical assistance and informational tools for wetlands protection; and • Expanding collaboration with USDA, Department of the Interior, NOAA, and other federal agencies with wetlands restoration programs to ensure the greatest environmental outcomes and non- governmental organizations whose mission and activities include protection and restoration of 119 Read more on CWA Section 404 at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/dredgdis/. Office of Water Page 53 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance wetland resources. Opportunities to leverage and complement such activities will take on greater priority in EPA, making possible greater gains in wetland protection and restoration as these programs are better coordinated. Emphasis will be placed on restoration of wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico states and in states affected by Superstorm Sandy, as well as on projects increasing the resiliency of wetlands to climate change and enhancing the ecologic services associated with wetland systems. For FY 2014, EPA expects to track the following key activities for accomplishing its wetland goals: Wetlands Restored and Enhanced Through Partnerships: EPA will track this commitment as a sub-set of the overall net gain goal and will track and report the results separately under measure WT-01. These acres may include those supported by Wetland Five-Star Restoration Grants, NEP, CWA Section 319 NPS grants, Brownfield grants, EPA's Great Waterbody Programs, and other EPA programs. This does not include enforcement or mitigation acres. State/Tribal Programs120: EPA is enhancing its support for state and tribal wetland programs by providing more directed technical assistance and making refinements to the Wetland Program Development Grants. In reporting progress under measure WT-02a, EPA will assess the number of states and tribes that have substantially increased their capacity in one or more core elements. This is an indicator measure. Regulatory Program Performance: Data on Aquatic Resources Tracking for Effective Regulation (DARTER) is EPA's system to manage its workflow in CWA Section 404 permit program. CWA Section 404 requires a permit from USAGE, or an EPA-approved state, for the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. DARTER allows EPA staff to track agency involvement in pre-application coordination, review of public notices for proposed permits, and access shared data from USACE's national regulatory program data management system, known as OMBIL121 Regulatory Module (ORM2). Using ORM 2.0 and DARTER as a data source, measure WT-03 documents the annual percentage of 404 standard permits where EPA coordinated with the permitting authority and that coordination resulted in an environmental improvement in the final permit decision. Wetland Monitoring122: In 2006, EPA issued "The Elements of a State Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Program" to assist EPA and state program managers in planning and implementing a wetland monitoring and assessment program within their broader water quality monitoring efforts. Since that time, EPA has worked with states and tribes to advance wetlands monitoring and the use of assessment data to better manage wetland resources. EPA chairs the National Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Work Group, comprised of more than 35 states and tribes along with other federal agencies, to provide national leadership in implementing state and tribal wetlands monitoring strategies. The Work Group played a prominent role in informing the design of the NWCA. The NWCA will provide the first statistically valid assessment of the ecological condition of the Nation's wetlands, providing a baseline data layer that could be used in subsequent years to gauge changes in wetland condition and potentially the impacts of climate change on wetland ecological integrity. Field work was concluded in 2011, and data review is underway and the final NWCA report is expected in 2014. EPA will continue to work with states and tribes to build the capability to monitor trends in wetland condition as defined through biological metrics and assessments. States should also have plans to eventually document trends in wetland condition over time. Progress by states in developing their 120 For more information, please see http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/wetlands/estp.cfm, 121 Operations and Maintenance Business Information Link (OMBIL) 122 Read more on wetland monitoring at http://water.epa.gov/tvpe/wetlands/assessment/index.cfm. Office of Water Page 54 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 123 monitoring capacity is tracked in measure WT-02a . Examples of activities indicating the state is "on track" include, but are not limited to: • Building technical and financial capacity to conduct state scale studies of wetland condition apart from or in conjunction with EPA's NWCAs; • Developing or adapting wetland assessment tools for use in the state; • Monitoring activity that are underway for wetland type(s)/watershed(s) stated in strategy or goals; and • Developing a monitoring strategy with a goal of evaluating baseline wetland condition. Baseline condition may be established using landscape assessment (Tier 1), rapid assessment (Tier 2), or intensive site assessment (Tier 3). Wetlands Performance Measures • WT-SP22 tracks the overall net loss of wetlands resulting from regulatory actions. • WT-01 tracks acres restored and improved through partnerships. • WT-02a124 reflects EPA's goal of increasing state and tribal capacity in these core wetland management areas. • WT-03 tracks the effectiveness of EPA's environmental review of CWA Section 404 permits. D. Strategies to Protect and Restore the Health of Communities and Large Aquatic Ecosystems 1. The Great Lakes The goal of EPA's Great Lakes program125 is to restore and maintain the environmental integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem, as mandated by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)126, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and CWA. As the primary means of accomplishing this goal, EPA leads the Interagency Task Force in implementation of the FY 2010 to FY 2014 GLRI Action Plan127. This interagency collaboration accelerates progress, avoids potential duplication of effort, and saves money. Through a coordinated interagency process led by EPA, implementation of GLRI is helping to restore the Great Lakes ecosystem, enhance the economic health of the region, and ultimately improve the public health of the area's 30 million Americans. Great Lakes Activities for FY2014 EPA works with its GLRI partners to select the best combination of programs and projects for Great Lakes restoration and protection based on criteria, such as feasibility of prompt implementation and timely achievement of measurable outcomes. Special priority will continue to be placed on: 1) cleaning up and de-listing Areas of Concern; 2) reducing phosphorus contributions from agricultural and urban lands that contribute to harmful algal blooms and other water quality impairments; and 3) invasive species prevention. Key expected activities for FY 2014 are described below. 123 In December 2011, the Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) decided to suspend use of measure WT-04 inFY 2013 because measure WT-02a essentially reports the same activity. 124 In December 2011, OWOW decided to suspend use of measure WT -2b in FY 2013. Measure WT-02b will be deferred to the future after a good number of state programs have adopted the full program. At that point, OWOW will replace WT-02a with WT-02b, or will develop a new replacement measure. 125 For more information, please see http://epa.gov/greatlakes/. 126 For more information, please see http://epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/index.html. 127 For more information, please see http://glri.us/pdfs/glri actionplan.pdf. Office of Water Page 55 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Prevention and Reduction of Toxics. EPA, in conjunction with federal, state, tribal, and local government partners (as well as non-governmental organizations and academia) will take steps to mitigate the use and release of toxic substances into the Great Lakes. EPA will issue grants to address chemicals of emerging concern and other pollutants (such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or mercury). Areas of Concern (AOC) Restoration. EPA and the USFWS will issue grants to states, tribes, and other stakeholders to remove Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) in AOCs. EPA, USFWS, USAGE, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and NOAA are working together to accelerate action at several AOCs where delisting is within reach. Through the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA), sediment remediation projects will begin and will be supplemented with navigational channel dredging by USAGE and habitat enhancements by USFWS. Invasive Species. GLRI has supported priority Asian carp work including the installation of structures by USAGE at the electric barrier site to reduce the risk of bypass by Asian carp and USFWS and Illinois Department of Natural Resource efforts to detect and remove Asian Carp from the system. As needed, GLRI will invest in additional efforts to keep Asian carp from becoming established in the Great Lakes. DOT's Maritime Administration, the USCG, and EPA will fund development of ballast water treatment systems for use in freshwater ecosystems. Further, USFS and USFWS will deploy portable boat washing units to limit the spread of invasive species by recreational boaters. EPA and USFWS will continue to conduct monitoring surveys that will detect new invaders in Great Lakes locations. USFWS and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will support on-the-ground implementation of Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plans for Great Lake states and tribes, which includes conducting rapid response exercises to demonstrate and refine multi-agency response capabilities. NRCS, USFS, and National Park Service (NPS) will work with agricultural producers and other landowners to implement practices that reduce terrestrial invasive species. Activities of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and USAGE will advance sea lamprey control and reduction. EPA will issue competitive grants to communities and organizations to reduce or control terrestrial invasive species. Identification and Remediation of Sources of Impairments. NRCS, USFS, USAGE, NPS, USGS, NOAA, and EPA will collaborate to: enhance or implement practices to reduce nearshore impairments and their causal agents, including the export of nutrients and soils to the nearshore waters; and establish and implement TMDL and Watershed Action Plans for phosphorus and other non-toxic pollutants. The agencies will focus primarily on priority sub-watersheds of three geographic watersheds highlighted in the GLRI Action Plan: Maumee River, Lower Fox River/Green Bay, and Saginaw River. Enhanced Public Health Protection at Beaches. To assist local health officials in better protecting beach- goers, EPA and partner agencies will implement actions to reduce, manage, or eliminate sources of bacterial, algal, or chemical contamination that have been identified through, or are consistent with, sanitary surveys at Great Lakes beaches. Protection and Restoration of Native Species and Habitats. Agencies will implement protection and restoration actions to improve habitat and restore wildlife. Federal agencies, including USAGE, BIA, EPA, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), USFWS, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, NOAA, NPS, NRCS, USFS, USGS, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will continue to implement projects to reduce sedimentation and nutrient inputs, restore natural hydrological regimes, improve water quality, and protect and restore habitat including islands, beaches, sand dunes, and upland areas. Improvement of Aquatic Ecosystem Resiliency. USFS, USFWS, USGS, USAGE, FHWA, BIA, and NPS will begin implementation of projects to remove large woody debris in floodplains and streams, replace Office of Water Page 56 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance barrier culverts to restore fish passage and stream/river connectivity, and restore forested edges in riparian areas. Evaluation of Program Effectiveness and the Health of the Great Lakes Ecosystem Using the Best Available Science. EPA will work with all GLRI agencies to continue implementation of the Great Lakes Accountability System to incorporate transparency and accountability throughout GLRI. Federal agencies will improve existing programs that assess the physical, biological, and chemical integrity of the Great Lakes. EPA will continue to implement the Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative with other federal agencies, state agencies, and Environment Canada to address lake-specific science and monitoring needs in Lake Erie in 2014 (to be followed by Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Ontario in consecutive years). EPA and USGS will continue to develop the necessary infrastructure for uniform data quality management and timely access to information. Enhanced Communication, Partnerships, and Outreach. EPA and NOAA will work to improve Great Lakes literacy and increase environmental stewardship. EPA will lead and support coordination and collaboration among Great Lakes partners to ensure that GLRI actions, projects, and programs are efficient, effective, and consistent with the US-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Through the newly created Great Lakes Advisory Board, EPA and other federal agencies will seek advice on annual priorities of the GLRI. The Department of State will support the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement through cooperative efforts with Canadian partners on issues of binational importance. Partnerships will be advanced and resources and capabilities leveraged through existing collaborative efforts such as the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and its Regional Working Group, the US-Canada Binational Executive Committee, the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference, Lakewide Action and Management Plans, the Coordinated Science Monitoring Initiative and Great Lakes Fisheries management. Based on Lakewide Action and Management Plans, partner agencies will implement programs and projects, using public fora to assist with the transfer and dissemination of information. Great Lakes Performance Measures The Great Lakes Program has a suite of 13 measures. Please see pages 5 and 6 of Appendix A. 2. The Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP)12S is a unique regional partnership that has coordinated and conducted the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983. EPA is the lead federal agency on the Chesapeake Executive Council (EC). In addition to the EPA Administrator, the EC consists of the governors of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the mayor of the District of Columbia, the chair of CBC, and for the past few years, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Governors of New York, West Virginia, and Delaware have been invited to participate. Chesapeake Bay Activities for FY 2014 EPA's focus in FY 2014 will be to continue progress to restore the Bay's water quality by reducing loadings of phosphorous, nitrogen, and sediment to achieve the President's expectations as described in Executive Order 13508. The focus will be to continue implementing the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, considering necessary regulations, providing states with the tools necessary for effective regulatory implementation, creating better tools for scientific analysis and accountability, and supporting regulatory compliance and enforcement. EPA strongly believes that local governments are critical partners in implementing the TMDL and is working to ensure that the states provide necessary support to local governments as they take the on- 128 Read more on the CBP at http://www.epa.gov/region3/chesapeake/ and http://www.chesapeakebav.net/. Office of Water Page 57 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance the-ground actions necessary to achieve the goals of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. EPA will continue to implement key initiatives under Executive Order 13508, including: implementing the TMDL; assisting states in implementing their Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans and conducting evaluations of them for reasonable assurance; maintaining enhanced oversight of state permitting and compliance actions for the various sectors; developing new nationally applicable regulations for AFOs and stormwater discharges; expanding and improving a publicly accessible TMDL tracking and accountability system; deploying technology to integrate discrete Bay data systems and to present the data in an accessible accountability system called ChesapeakeStat; implementing a Bay-specific enforcement and compliance initiative; and moving forward on the Bay's challenges related to toxic contaminants. To ensure the most effective and cost-efficient achievement of environmental results in the Bay, the CBP partnership is using independent program performance evaluation to critically review components of the CBP and support enhanced adaptive management efforts. EPA also established two-year milestones for the outcomes outlined in the Executive Order strategy. The first set of two-year milestones was released in January 2012 and covers calendar years 2012 and 2013129. In FY 2014, EPA will continue its close work with the states and thousands of local governments that will be instrumental in meeting the TMDL allocations by providing implementation support and guidance to achieve the most efficient implementation of the TMDL. EPA will assist the jurisdictions in making scientifically informed determinations of the most effective ways to meet their TMDL obligations that will provide individually tailored solutions. Also, EPA will continue to work with the Bay jurisdictions to refine and implement state-developed nutrient offset and trading programs to aid in identifying cost- effective solutions for meeting the TMDL waste load and load allocations throughout the watershed. In FY 2014, EPA also will continue the development and potential implementation of new national regulations that include provisions and actions that will help protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to many other impacts, these potential national rulemakings under CWA will reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution from CAFOs and other pollutant discharges. EPA will use its resources to develop the scientific underpinnings of any new national regulations, which could include enhanced understanding of the loads contributed by various pollution sources in specific geographic areas. EPA will continue to support implementation of innovative environmental market mechanisms as a means of effectively achieving the goals of the TMDL. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL establishes the expectation that the Bay jurisdictions will expand or establish nutrient credit trading and offset programs to allow development while continuing to reduce pollutant loads to the Bay and its tributaries. EPA also is participating in the federal Environmental Markets Team, which includes more than 12 agencies working together to foster the expansion of water quality trading and other environmental markets. To ensure that the states are able to meet EPA's expectations under the TMDL and any new rulemakings, EPA will continue its broad range of grant programs and will prioritize funding to jurisdictions which are demonstrating progress. EPA will direct investments toward local governments and watershed organizations based on their ability to reduce nutrient and sediment loads via key sectors such as development and agriculture in urban and rural areas. EPA has continued to improve its guidance for accountability and implementation grants that ensures a high level of accountability for the 129 The milestones related to water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are available at http://www.chesapeakebav.net/documents/ecbrief/18163/chesbav 2012-13 milestones fact sheets.pdf and at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebav.net/EO 13508 Water Quality Milestones-2012-01-06.pdf. Office of Water Page 58 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance use of these resources. These grants are an essential part of achieving the goals established for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. EPA's CBP is committed to a high level of accountability and transparency with the public and other key stakeholders. ChesapeakeStat is a key element in the next generation of tools that EPA is developing to significantly enhance the accountability of program partners. ChesapeakeStat is a web based, geo- enabled tool for performance-based interactive decision-making for all Bay partners. The system allows the public to track progress and become informed and engaged in restoring the Bay. In FY 2014, the Agency will continue refining and improving ChesapeakeStat by better integrating monitoring and modeling data to track implementation of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL at multiple geographic scales. The CBP's Goal Implementation Teams are responsible for providing and updating content, and the Management Board uses ChesapeakeStatfor decision-making. To ensure that the Bay jurisdictions are effectively implementing the TMDL, EPA will improve and expand the Bay Tracking and Accountability System. EPA will support an expansion of sampling sites in the CBP's water quality monitoring network to better track TMDL progress. The sampling sites will provide better measurements of nutrient and sediment load changes for major sources of pollution in more localities. EPA will invest in bringing more non-traditional monitoring partners, including watershed organizations, permittees, and local governments into the monitoring network, increasing the data available to assess stream and Bay health and responses to management actions. Ensuring that the regulated community complies with the appropriate regulations is an essential responsibility for achieving the goals established for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. In FY 2014, the continued implementation of the Compliance and Enforcement Strategy for the Bay Watershed will target sources of pollution impairing the Bay in the watershed and airshed. EPA's multi-year, multi-state strategy combines the Agency's water, air and waste enforcement authorities to address violations of federal environmental laws resulting in nutrient, sediment, and other pollution in the Bay. Enforcement resources will support restoration of the Chesapeake Bay by providing information about wet weather sources of pollution. This will result in an increase in knowledge, use, transparency, and public access to data about wet weather sources through building and deploying targeted tools to help identify the sources of noncompliance and discharges of pollutants most responsible for the impairment of this important water body and making all non-confidential enforcement data available, with easy-to- use tools to aid in the public's ability to use and understand the data. In addition, enforcement resources will provide more information to the public and regulators about wet weather sources of pollution. EPA will begin use of a new electronic reporting tool for obtaining non-major permit data from wet weather sources in the Chesapeake Bay. EPA will use the new data to 1) deploy targeting tools to help identify the most significant sources of noncompliance and discharges of pollutants most responsible for the impairment of this important water body and 2) make the new data publicly available, with easy-to-use tools to aid in the public's ability to use and understand the data Chesapeake Bay Performance Measures • CB-SP33.N11 is a long term measure tracking submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Bay. • CB-SP34 tracks dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Bay. • CB-SP35, CB-SP36, and CB-SP37 track nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction in the Bay. Office of Water Page 59 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance 3. The Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico basin130 has been called "America's Watershed". Its U.S. coastline is 1,630 miles; it is fed by 33 major rivers, and it receives drainage from 31 states in addition to a similar drainage area from Mexico. One sixth of the U.S. population now lives in Gulf Coast states, and the region is experiencing remarkably rapid population growth. In addition, the Gulf yields approximately 40% of the Nation's commercial fishery landings, and Gulf Coast wetlands comprise about half the national total and provide critical habitat for 75% of the migratory waterfowl traversing the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Activities for FY 2014 Conserve and Restore Habitat. For decades, the Gulf Coast has endured extensive damage to key habitats, such as coastal wetlands, estuaries, barrier islands, upland habitats, seagrass beds, oyster reefs, corals, and offshore habitats. The overall wetland loss in the Gulf area is on the order of 50%, and protection of the critical habitat that remains is essential to the health of the Gulf aquatic system. EPA has a goal of restoring 30,600 cumulative acres of habitat by FY 2014 and is working with the NOAA, environmental organizations, the Gulf of Mexico Foundation, and area universities to identify and restore critical habitat. EPA will enhance cooperative planning and programs across the Gulf states and federal agencies to protect wetland and estuarine habitat. EPA and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Habitat Conservation and Restoration Team, have worked extensively with the five Gulf states to develop and implement a Gulf Regional Sediment Management Master Plan that endorses best practices for sediment management, outlines technical considerations, and recommends solutions for the most beneficial use of this resource (i.e. dredged material). The "Technical Framework" document has been developed and is posted for review.131 Over the next several years, the Gulf states will establish criteria for nutrients in coastal ecosystems that will guide regulatory, land use, and water quality protection decisions. In FY 2014, EPA will support coastal nutrient criteria and standards development with Gulf state pilots and will develop science and management tools for the characterization of nutrients in coastal ecosystems. EPA, in cooperation with states and other federal agencies, supports the long-term target to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone from approximately 17,350 square kilometers to less than 5,000 square kilometers, measured as a five-year running average. In working to accomplish this goal, EPA, states, and other federal agencies, such as USDA, will continue implementation of core clean water programs and partnerships and efforts to coordinate allocation of technical assistance and funding to priority areas around the Gulf. Specifically in FY 2014, EPA will address excessive nutrient loadings that contribute to water quality impairments in the basin and, ultimately, to hypoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Working with the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force, Gulf of Mexico Alliance and other states within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basins, other federal agencies, and the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, EPA will help develop and implement nutrient reduction strategies that include an accountability framework for point and NPSs contributing nitrogen and phosphorus loading to the Gulf, as well as watershed plans that provide a road map for addressing NPSs. EPA will continue to coordinate with USDA and with federal and state partners to support monitoring BMPs and water quality improvement through work with the partner organizations and states and to leverage resources to focus wetland restoration and development and habitat restoration efforts towards projects within the Mississippi River Basin that will sequester nutrients as appropriate from targeted watersheds and tributaries. 130 Read more on the Gulf of Mexico Program at http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/. http://www.gulfofmexicoalliance.org/pdfs/GRSMMP_Technical_Framework_Dec_09.pdf Office of Water Page 60 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance EPA's long-term goal is to increase awareness and stewardship of Gulf coastal resources and promote action among Gulf citizens. In 2014, the Gulf of Mexico Program will foster regional stewardship and awareness of Gulf coastal resources through annual Gulf Guardian Awards; and will support initiatives that include direct involvement from underserved and underrepresented populations and enhance local capacity to reach these populations. Restore Water Quality. EPA regional offices and the Gulf of Mexico Program Office will work with states to continue to maximize the efficiency and utility of water quality monitoring efforts for local managers by coordinating and standardizing state and federal water quality data collection activities in the Gulf region. These efforts will assure the continued effective implementation of core clean water programs, ranging from discharge permits, to nonpoint pollution controls, to wastewater treatment, to protection of wetlands. The Gulf of Mexico Program is working with NOAA, USAGE, and USGS in support of this goal. A central pillar of the strategy to restore the health of the Gulf is restoration of water quality and habitat in priority coastal watersheds. These watersheds, which include impaired segments identified by states around the Gulf, will receive targeted technical and financial assistance to restore impaired waters. The FY 2014 goal is to fully attain WQSs in at least 360 of these segments. Enhance Community Resilience. In FY 2014, EPA will assist with the development of information, tools, technologies, products, policies, or public decision processes that can be used by coastal communities to increase resilience to coastal natural hazards and sea level rise. EPA is working collaboratively with multiple agencies that share responsibility in this area, including NOAA Sea Grant Programs and USGS in support of this goal. Gulf of Mexico Performance Measures • GM-SP38 tracks restored segments in 13 priority areas in the Gulf. • GM-SP39 tracks cumulative acres restored, enhanced, or protected in the Gulf. • GM-SP40.N11 is a long term measure tracking the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf. 4. Long Island Sound The Long Island Sound Study (LISS)132 supports, and is supported, by the EPA core environmental management and regulatory control programs, as well as one of the Administrator's key priorities - urban waters. Long Island Sound (LIS) itself is known as the "Urban Sea,"133 because of its proximity in the Northeast population corridor and its vulnerability to the impacts of human usage. All of Connecticut's 24 coastal towns are urbanized, as are Westchester, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York that border the Sound. The CCMP, established under CWA Section 320, envisioned a partnership of federal, state and local governments, private industry, academia and the public, to support and fund the cleanup and restoration of the Sound. This cooperative environmental partnership relies on existing federal, state and local regulatory frameworks, programs, and funding to achieve restoration and protection goals. Long Island Sound Activities for FY 2014 EPA will continue to work with the LISS Management Conference partners - the states of New York and Connecticut and other federal, state, and local government agencies, academia, industry, and the private sector - to implement the 1994 CCMP to restore and protect the Sound. Because levels of DO 132 Read more on LISS at http://longislandsoundstudv.net/. 133 L.Koppelman, The Urban Sea: Long Island Sound, 1976; ISBN 0-275-28863-8 Office of Water Page 61 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance are critical to the health of aquatic life and viable public use of the Sound, a CCMP priority is controlling anthropogenic nitrogen discharges to meet these WQS. Activities for FY 2014 include: • LISS partners are revising the CCMP and will sign a new document in 2014 based on an Action Agenda134 that identifies priority actions from 2011 to 2013. • The EPA Long Island Sound Office will work with the States of New York and Connecticut to revise and implement the nitrogen TMDL first approved by EPA in April 2001; EPA will continue its efforts to include the upland states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in this regulatory framework to address their nitrogen contributions from Sound tributaries. Long Island Sound Performance Measures • LI-SP41 tracks the progress in reducing trade-equalized point source nitrogen discharges to LIS. • LI-SP42.N11 tracks the size of the observed maximum area of hypoxia in LIS. • LI-SP43 tracks acres of coastal habitat restored, protected, or enhanced. • LI-SP44 tracks the miles of river and stream corridors reopened to diadromous fish passage. 5. The Puget Sound The Puget Sound in Washington State, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Georgia Basin to the north in Canada, together make up the Salish Sea; The Salish Sea ecosystem is the homeland of the Coast Salish people, comprising 19 tribes in the U.S. and 55 First Nations in Canada. Residents and governments on both sides of the international border share a commitment to steward the ecosystem's resources. The pressures from the Salish Sea basin's seven million inhabitants (expected to increase to over nine million by 2025) on the ecosystem are substantial. The EPA's Puget Sound Program135 works to ensure that the natural, cultural, and economic benefits of the Puget Sound ecosystem are protected and sustained, today and into the future. The Puget Sound basin represents the largest population and commercial center in the Pacific Northwest and the waters of Puget Sound provide a vital system of international ports, transportation systems, and defense installations. Puget Sound Activities for FY2014 Activities in FY2014 are being carried out by stakeholders across Puget Sound including local governments, counties and municipalities, tribes, and state agencies. The EPA Puget Sound Program is emphasizing implementation of near term actions that support the three Strategic Initiatives described in the 2012 revision of the Puget Sound Action Agenda136: prevention of pollution from urban stormwater runoff; protection and restoration of habitat; and recovery of shellfish beds. Specific actions include: Pollution prevention from urban stormwater • Expand stormwater facility retrofits and effective stormwater source control programs in areas of existing development. • Accelerate the shift in stormwater management from traditional approaches to low impact development (LID) approaches by funding additional LID demonstration projects, particularly in urban areas with good public visibility and high return-on-investment potential. The Action Agenda is available at http://longislandsoundstudy.net/about/our-mission/sound-agreements/action-agenda- 2011-2013A 135 Read more on the Puget Sound Program at http://www.epa.gov/pugetsound/index.html. 136 The Puget Sound Action Agenda is at: http://www.psp.wa.gov/action agenda 2011 update home.php. Office of Water Page 62 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Initiate programs to prevent toxics from entering Puget Sound with a focus on persistent bioaccumulative toxics (e.g., PCBs and PAHs) and chemicals of emerging concern (e.g., Pharmaceuticals and personal care products). Protection and restoration of habitat • Protect habitat and watershed ecosystem functions by providing grant support to local governments (counties, cities, special use districts, etc) to improve their land use plans, policies, and regulations. These efforts will help conserve ecologically significant undeveloped rural and resource lands and concentrate development within existing urban growth areas. • Invest in restoration projects that remove marine shoreline modifications in order to improve habitat and ecosystem processes that sustain Puget Sound. • Develop a marketing and outreach strategy aimed at homeowners and landowners along the shores of Puget Sound, to reduce shoreline hard armoring and determine what will help change the way landowners manage their shorelines. Recovery of shellfish beds • Sustain funding to help local health jurisdictions build capacity to inventory and inspect Onsite Sewage Systems (OSS) and fix failures to eliminate pathogen pollution from these sources, especially in areas adjacent to shellfish growing beds. • Support for the 10 counties with Puget Sound Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) programs. These PIC programs have proven success for counties tracking pollution from a variety of sources and working with landowners to correct problems through technical assistance and incentives backed by enforcement. • Provide direct grants and technical assistance (targeting small non-regulated agricultural operations) to help landowners implement agricultural BMPs to reduce pathogen and nutrient pollution from livestock, especially in areas adjacent to shellfish growing beds. Completion of the petition to establish a NDZ to prohibit recreational and commercial vessels from discharging sewage in Puget Sound and improves pump out capacity and use. • Provide funding and technical resources to support the Washington State Department of Ecology's Pollution Control Action Team (PCAT) - who together with the Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Department of Agriculture, EPA, and tribes, are responding quickly when areas are identified where water quality problems threaten shellfish areas. Tribal projects In FY 2014, EPA is ensuring that appropriated funding is effectively used to address priority habitat restoration and protection, with particular emphasis on salmon and shellfish areas, so that the inherent tribal rights associated with these natural resources are protected. EPA Region 10 co-chairs the overall federal effort to address Treaty Rights at Risk,137 consistent with the roles assigned by the Council on Environmental Quality. EPA continues to build on its strong tribal partnerships through implementation of its commitments in the Federal Habitat Plan and through the Tribal-Federal Habitat Forum. The outcomes from many tribal projects funded by EPA's lead organization award to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission are in support of the Federal Habitat Plan goals; examples include: • monitoring species status and trend to determine habitat restoration and protection efficacy; • acquiring property to protect ecosystem processes and key habitat in perpetuity; and 137 http://nwifc.0rg/w/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/08/whitepaper628finalpdf.pdf Office of Water Page 63 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • engaging in design, planning, and coordination work to best advise what restoration practices will confer the greatest benefit considering limited financial resources. Tribal Habitat Strategic Initiative The Puget Sound tribes developed for inclusion in the 2012 Action Agenda, the Tribal Strategic Initiative that endorses priority action necessary to protect and restore salmon habitat in Puget Sound. The Tribal Strategic Initiative includes the following key priorities for action: • Protect the ecosystem processes required to support the habitat necessary to meet salmon recovery goals of viable, harvestable populations. • Implement and improve consistency, coordination of enforcement and alignment of federal, state and local regulations for the protection of priority nearshore, estuary and floodplain habitat. In FY 2014, new and ongoing actions identified in the initiative will be funded. The Puget Sound program's tribal funding and other lead organizations' funding also encourage projects that address the impacts of climate change. For example, the Tulalip Tribe received funding to continue and expand their monitoring of ecosystem response in the Snohomish River Estuary. The Partnership's Action Agenda recognizes that climate change exacerbates the existing threats to Puget Sound and it calls for actions that adapt to and mitigate potentially harmful effects. Utilizing a Washington State Department of Ecology report 138prepared by the Climate Action Group at the University of Washington, the updated Puget Sound Action Agenda integrates the impacts of climate change on work being done in Puget Sound with the considerations necessary for decision making now and in the future. Grant awards made under the Puget Sound program require that applicants consider climate change and highlight climate-related activities in workplans and performance reports. EPA tracks climate change activities and outputs in the Puget Sound in its Financial Ecosystem Accounting and Tracking System (FEATS). Puget Sound Performance Measures OW performance measures for the Puget Sound program reflect EPA's commitment to protect water quality and restore habitat to levels that reverse the trends threatening salmon and shellfish resources. PS-SP49.N11 tracks acres of shellfish beds growing areas with the lifting of harvest restrictions. PS-SP51 tracks acres of estuarine wetlands restored. 6. U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health The U.S. and Mexico have a long-standing commitment to protect the environment and public health for 139 I 140 communities in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region . The bi-national agreement that guides efforts to improve environmental conditions in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region is the Border 2020 framework1 Partnerships are critical to the success of efforts to improve the environment and public health in the U.S.-Mexico Border region. Since 1995, the NAFTA141-created institutions, the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADB), have worked closely with communities to develop and construct environmental infrastructure projects. BECC and NADB support efforts to evaluate, plan, and implement financially and operationally sustainable drinking water and wastewater projects. 138 The report is available at http://www.ecv.wa.gov/climatechange/ipa responsestrategv.htm. 139 Read more on the U.S.-Mexico Border Program at http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/ and http ://water. epa. gov/infrastructure/wastewater/mexican/index. cfm. 140 Read more on Border 2020 at http://www.epa.gov/border2020/framework/index.html. 141 North American Free Trade Agreement Office of Water Page 64 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance U.S.-Mexico Border Activities for FY 2014 Under the Border 2020 Plan, EPA expects to take the following key actions to improve water quality and protect public health. Core Program Implementation: EPA will continue to implement core programs under the CWA and related authorities, ranging from discharge permit issuance, to watershed restoration, to nonpoint pollution control. Specific activities to be accomplished in FY 2014 include: • Complete BECC/NADB Board project certifications. • Complete construction of Border Environment Infrastructure Fund (BEIF) projects. • Incorporate sustainable infrastructure elements into selected certified projects. • Conduct energy efficiency and water conservation audits at selected border drinking water and wastewater utilities to improve sustainability of the infrastructure Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Financing: In FY 2014, EPA plans to provide approximately $10 million for planning, design, and construction of drinking water and wastewater facilities. Build Partnerships: EPA will continue to support the BECC and NADB and work collaboratively with Mexico's National Water Commission (CONAGUA) and other federal, state, and local partners in the implementation of the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program. U.S.-Mexico Border Program Measures The FY 2014 targets will be achieved through the completion of prioritized BEIF drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects. • MB-SP23 tracks loading of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removed from the border area. • MB-SP24.N11 tracks the annual number of additional homes provided with safe drinking water. • MB-SP25.N11 tracks the annual number of additional homes provided with adequate sanitation. 7. Pacific Island Territories The U.S. Pacific Island territories of Guam, American Samoa, and CNMI struggle to provide adequate drinking water and sanitation service. EPA is targeting the use of existing grants, enforcement, and technical assistance to improve drinking water and wastewater quality in the Pacific Islands. In pursuing these actions, EPA will continue to use available resources and to work with partners at both the federal and local levels to seek improvements. These efforts are intended to move the Pacific Island systems toward compliance with U.S. standards.142 Pacific Island Territories Activities for FY2014 • In American Samoa, the local utility will use EPA funding to make its central water system safer, and to extend water from the central system to remote villages which currently use untreated wells or streams as their water source. The utility will also use EPA funding to improve its sewage collection and treatment system. • In CNMI and Guam, the local utilities will implement their master plans to make improvements to the island water and sewer systems, in compliance with federal court orders, and using EPA funding in CNMI, and a combination of EPA and local funding in Guam. • In Guam, an EPA-managed contractor will work closely with the water utility to improve institutional capacity, and to implement strategic preventative maintenance through asset management in order to extend the life of infrastructure. 142Read more on EPA's work in the Pacific Islands at http://www.epa.gov/region9/islands/. Office of Water Page 65 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Pacific Island Territories Performance Measures PI-SP26 tracks the percent of the population that has access to continuous safe drinking water. 8. The South Florida Ecosystem EPA is working in partnership with numerous local, regional, state, and federal agencies and tribes to ensure the long-term sustainability of the region's varied natural resources while providing for extensive agricultural operations and a continually expanding population. The EPA's South Florida Geographic Initiative (SFGI)143 is designed to protect and restore communities and ecosystems affected by environmental problems. SFGI efforts include activities related to the CWA Section 404 wetlands protection program; the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)144; WQPP for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS); the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI), directed by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force; the Brownfields Program; and a number of other waste management programs. South Florida Activities for FY2014 Support Everglades Water Quality Protection and Restoration • Continue to track implementation of the June 2012 EPA - Florida Water Quality (reduction of total phosphorus) Restoration Strategies Framework Agreement. This agreement requires Florida to commit an estimated $880 million to construct water quality improvement facilities in the Everglades with EPA oversight. EPA will be involved in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) development and review, NPDES permitting, construction oversight, enforcement, and participation in the science committee. • Support the Everglades Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to assess the health of the Everglades and the effectiveness of ongoing restoration and regulatory efforts. The Everglades EMAP initiated in 1993 by EPA is critical for understanding phosphorus, mercury, sulfur, and soil thickness conditions, including changes overtime. Program data have been used by over 20 state and federal agencies, Indian tribes, agricultural interests, environmental groups, and the National Academy of Sciences. Planning efforts are underway to resume field sampling in FY 2013 and FY 2014. • Continue to work with the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes, State of Florida, the South Florida Water Management District and federal agencies to implement appropriate phosphorus control programs that will attain WQS throughout the Everglades. The Seminole and the Miccosukee Tribes both have federally approved WQS. Implement FKNMS l/VQPP.145The FKNMS and Protection Act of 1990/1992 congressionally directed EPA and the State of Florida, in consultation with NOAA, to develop a WQPP to address water quality and protect corals, fish, shellfish and recreational opportunities within the Sanctuary. In FY 2014, EPA will continue to • Implement the WQPP for the FKNMS, including the comprehensive monitoring projects (coral reef, seagrass, and water quality), special studies, data management, and public education and outreach activities (see measures SFL-SP45, SFL-SP46, SFL-47a and SFL-47b). • Support implementation of wastewater and storm water master plans for the Florida Keys to upgrade inadequate wastewater and storm water infrastructure by 2015 (see measure SFL-1). 143Read more on SFGI at http://www.epa.gov/region4/water/southflorida/index.html. 144Read more on CERP at http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/about cerp brief.aspx 145- Read more on FKNMS at see http://ocean.floridamarine.org/fknms wqpp/pages/wqpp.html. Office of Water Page 66 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Assist with implementing the comprehensive plan for eliminating sewage discharges from boats and other vessels. Support the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) • Restoration of the Everglades is the largest ongoing large-scale ecosystem restoration project in the world that is projected to cost $13.5 billion in 2012 dollars. EPA will continue to work closely with the Jacksonville District USAGE and the State of Florida to facilitate expedited review of NEPA and regulatory permit actions associated with the ongoing implementation of CERP. Several large water storage impoundments will be under construction during the next few years. In addition, EPA will continue to work with partners to expedite the Central Everglades Pilot Project. Support the Actions of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force In March 2000, the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force146 approved "The National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs" that identified reef monitoring, reduction of pollution, Marine Protected Areas development, and other activities to protect corals reefs. In FY 2014, EPA and states will: • Continue support for the Coral Reef Environmental Monitoring Program within the FKNMS. • Support SEFCRI as funding becomes available. Other Priority Activities for FY 2014 • Continue to support Florida and the South Florida Water Management District TMDL and Reasonable Assurance restoration activities in the Everglades and Florida Keys. EPA proposed TMDLs for the South Florida coast in November 2012, expects finalization of TMDLs in March 2013, and anticipates completion of the TMDL consent decree in FY 2014. • Complete Mote Marine Laboratory special study "Assess the effects of mosquito control pesticides on non-targeted organisms in the FKNMS." Data will be used by resource management agencies to assess impacts of mosquito control pesticides on non-target organisms and water quality within the Sanctuary. • Completion of the Monroe County Keys-wide Canal Management Master Plan to assist Monroe County and water resource agencies with future canal management and restoration efforts. Implementation of the plan will help to protect and restore water quality and habitat in the canals, improve dissolved oxygen and reduce discharges of nutrients to offshore waters. • Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) has submitted an application to Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two new Westinghouse Advanced Passive Pressurized Water Reactors to be built in Homestead, FL, adjacent to the existing power plant. In FY 2014, Region 4 staff will participate in the EIS and CWA Section 404 review and the permitting process for this proposed $20 billion nuclear station, which sits on Biscayne Bay and is adjacent the Biscayne National Park. • Continue implementation of the South Florida Wetlands Conservation Strategy; including protecting and restoring critical wetland habitats currently be subjected to tremendous growth and development pressures. • Continue to work closely with the Jacksonville District USAGE and the State of Florida to facilitate expedited review of NEPA and regulatory permit actions associated with the ongoing implementation of CERP. Several large water storage impoundments will be under construction during the next few years. • Continue active review of large wetland permit applications in South Florida, and provide written comments to the USAGE under CWA Section 404. 146Read more on the Coral Reef Task Force at http://www.coralreef.gov/about/docs.html. Office of Water Page 67 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance South Florida Performance Measures • Measure SFL-SP45 tracks stony coral cover. • Measure SFL-SP46 tracks the overall health and functionality of sea grass beds in the FKNMS. • Measure SFL-47a tracks Chlorophyll a and light clarity levels. • Measure SFL-47b tracks dissolved inorganic nitrogen and total phosphorus levels. • Measure SFL-48 tracks phosphorus levels discharged into and within the Everglades. • Measure SFL-1 tracks wastewater and stormwater implementation activities in the Keys. 9. The Columbia River Basin The Columbia River Basin147 is one of the world's great river basins in terms of its land area and river volume, as well as its environmental and cultural significance. The river is economically vital to many Northwest industries, such as sport and commercial fishing, agriculture, hydropower, wind energy, recreation, and tourism. Tribal people have depended on the Basin for physical, spiritual, and cultural sustenance for centuries. Public and scientific concern about the health of the Basin ecosystem is increasing. Salmon runs have been reduced from a peak of almost 16 million fish annually to a fraction of their original returns. There is significant habitat and wetland loss throughout the Basin. There are several Superfund sites in the Basin (Portland Harbor, Hanford, Coeur d'Alene River Basin and Lake Roosevelt) and there are growing concerns about toxic contamination in fish, aquatic life, and wildlife. Columbia River Basin Activities for FY2014 A November 2012 Columbia River Toxics Reduction Executive Meeting which included executive leaders from tribal, state, and federal governments, and non-profits identified six priority areas of focus for implementation attention in 2013 and beyond. These implementation teams will be led by various entities and will provide leadership in accomplishing actions in these six areas: • Sustainable Purchasing: Develop guidance for governmental agencies in the basin to establish and implement low toxicity purchasing guidelines (chaired by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality), • Green Chemistry: Help establish a Regional Green Chemistry Center to develop chemicals and processes that provide less toxic materials (chaired by EPA). • Chemicals of Emerging Concern: Implement research to characterize the effects to aquatic biota from chemicals of emerging concern (chaired by USGS). • Pesticide Stewardship Partnership: Expand the Pesticide Stewardship Partnership type programs to other areas in the Columbia River Basin (chaired by Salmon Safe). • Stormwater: Expand stormwater technical assistance programs to small and medium businesses (chaired by Washington Department of Ecology). • Resource Needs and Policy Reform: Educate Columbia Basin stakeholders on the need for sustainable funding to develop a coordinated toxics monitoring and reduction program and the need to support EPA's principles for chemical management reform (chaired by Columbia River Inter- Tribal Fish Commission and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership) Columbia River Basin Performance Measures Working with partners, including the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and the States of Washington and Oregon, EPA has established several goals for improving environmental conditions in the Columbia River basin by 2014: 147 Read more on the Columbia River Basin at http://www.epa.gov/columbiariver/. Office of Water Page 68 of 69 ------- FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance • Measure CR-SP53. Clean up 85 acres of known highly contaminated sediments in the Portland Harbor and other sites in the Lower Columbia River; and • Measure CR-SP54. Demonstrate a reduction in mean concentration of certain contaminants of concern found in water and fish tissue in five sites where baseline data is available. 10. The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary (Bay Delta)148 is the largest estuary on the west coast of North America. In 2009, EPA joined with other federal agencies in redoubling our collective efforts toward restoring beneficial uses of the Bay Delta ecosystem and advancing the design of infrastructure needed to secure California's water supplies. In August 2012, EPA released the Bay Delta Action Plan149 that identifies seven priority actions for Region 9 to take in collaboration with interagency partners and NGOs. Some of the most tangible improvements in water quality and ecosystem functions are achieved through the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund150. San Francisco Bay Delta Activities for FY 2014 • Advancing the seven point Bay Delta Action Plan, including contributing to the update of the State's Water Quality Control Plan for the Delta and lower San Joaquin River, establishing a Regional Monitoring Program for the Delta, implementing existing TMDLs across the Bay Delta watershed, drafting site-specific selenium criteria to protect aquatic and terrestrial species, and partnering with EPA ORD and USGS to complete field studies on potential treatment technologies for methylmercury in wetlands. EPA will collaborate with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) per the EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries Program151, to identify habitats and infrastructure that are vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise, and formulate new policies for BCDS's Bay Plan to address these vulnerabilities. • Supporting activities that predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of climate change on the Bay- Delta watershed consistent with the Climate Change Handbook for Regional Water Planning152 prepared by EPA in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, USAGE, and the Resources Legacy Fund. • Advancing the ongoing implementation of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership's CCMP153 by reducing adverse effects of urban/suburban runoff on water quality - through watershed planning, implementation of TMDLs, and the use of LID and green infrastructure154. • Continuing to administer the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund155. 148 Read more on the Bay Delta at http://www2.epa. gov/sfbav-delta. 149 Read more on the Bay Delta Action Plan at http://www2.epa.gov/sfbav-delta/bav-delta-action-plan. 150 Read more on the Bay Area Water Projects at http://www2.epa.gov/sfbav-delta/bav-area-water-projects. 151 Read more at http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/planning/climate change/estuary.shtml. 152 Read the Handbook at http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange/CCHandbook.cfm. 153 Read the CCMP at http://sfep.sfei.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2007-CCMP.pdf. 154 Read more on LID at http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/green/. 155 Read more on Bay Area water projects at http://www2.epa.gov/sfbav-delta/bav-area-water-projects. Office of Water Page 69 of 69 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target talicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Indicator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. Goal 2 Protecting America's Waters Subobjective 2.1.1 Water Safe to Drink SDW-211 SDW- SP1.N11 SDW-SP2 SDW- SP3.N11 SDW-SP4a SDW-SP4b SDW-18.N11 SDW-Ola SDW-Olb SDW-04 SDW-05 SDW-07 SDW-08 SOW- 11 SOW- 15 SOW- 17 SDW-19a Percent of the population served by community water systems that receive drinking water that meets all applicable health-based drinking water standards through approaches including effective treatment and source water protection. Percent of community water systems that meet all applicable health-based standards through approaches that include effective treatment and source water protection. Percent of "person months" (i.e. all persons served by community water systems times 12 months) during which community water systems provide drinking water that meets all applicable health-based drinking water standards. Percent of the population in Indian country served by community water systems that receive drinking water that meets all applicable health-based drinking water standards. Percent of community water systems where risk to public health is minimized through source water protection. Percent of the population served by community water systems where risk to public health is minimized through source water protection. Number of American Indian and Alaska Native homes provided access to safe drinking water in coordination with other federal agencies. Percent of community water systems (CWSs) that have undergone a sanitary survey within the past three years (five years for outstanding performers or those ground water systems approved by the primacy agency to provide 4- log treatment of viruses). Number of tribal community water systems (CWSs) that have undergone a sanitary survey within the past three years (five years for outstanding performers or those ground water systems approved to provide 4-log treatment of viruses). Fund utilization rate [cumulative dollar amount of loan agreements divided by cumulative funds available for projects] for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Number of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) projects that have initiated operations, (cumulative) Percent of Classes I, II and Class III salt solution mining wells that have lost mechanical integrity and are returned to compliance within 180 days thereby reducing the potential to endanger underground sources of drinking water. Number of Class V motor vehicle waste disposal wells (MVWDW) and large capacity cesspools (LCC) that are closed or permitted (cumulative). Percent of DWSRF projects awarded to small PWS serving <500, 501- 3,300, and 3,301-10,000 consumers. Number and percent of small CWS and NTNCWS (<500, 501-3,300, 3,301- 10,000) with repeat health based Nitrate/Nitrite, Stage 1 D/DBP, SWTR and TCR violations. Number and percent of schools and childcare centers that meet all health- based drinking water standards. Volume of CO2 sequestered through injection as defined by the UIC Final Rule. OMB PA BUD SG ARRA OMB PA BUD SG SP OMB PA BUD KPI BUD KPI SP OMB PA BUD SG SP BUD OMB PA BUD SG OMB PA BUD ARRA OMB PA ARRA OMB PA BUD SG OMB PA BUD I I I I 92% 90% 95% 87% LT LT 79% 89% 85% 25,225 92% 90% 95% 87% 45% 57% 119,000 79% 529 89% 6,976 85% 25,225 Indicator Indicator Indicator Indicator Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 1 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. SDW-19b Number of permit decisions during the reporting period that result in CO2 sequestered through injection as defined by the UIC Final Rule. I Indicator Subobjective 2.1.2 Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat FS-SP6.N11 FS-la FS-lb Percent of women of childbearing age having mercury levels in blood above the level of concern. Percent of river miles where fish tissue were assessed to support waterbody- specific or regional consumption advisories or a determination that no consumption advice is necessary. (Great Lakes measured separately; Alaska not included) (Report every two years) Percent of lake acres where fish tissue were assessed to support waterbody- specific or regional consumption advisories or a determination that no consumption advice is necessary. (Great Lakes measured separately; Alaska not included) (Report every two years) BUD SP I I 4.9% 4.9% Indicator Indicator Subobjective 2.1.3 Water Safe for Swimming SS-SP9.N11 SS-1 SS-2 Percent of days of the beach season that coastal and Great Lakes beaches monitored by state beach safety programs are open and safe for swimming. Number and national percent, using a constant denominator, of Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) permits with a schedule incorporated into an appropriate enforceable mechanism, including a permit or enforcement order, with specific dates and milestones, including a completion date consistent with Agency guidance, which requires: 1 ) Implementation of a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) which will result in compliance with the technology and water quality-based requirements of the Clean Water Act; or 2) implementation of any other acceptable CSO control measures consistent with the 1994 CSO Control Policy; or 3) completion of separation after the baseline date, (cumulative) Percent of all Tier I (significant) public beaches that are monitored and managed under the BEACH Act program. SG SP SG 95% 790 100% Subobjective 2.2.1 Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis WQ- SP10.N11 WQ-SP11 WQ- SP12.N11 WQ- SP13.N11 WQ- SP14a.Nll WQ- SP14b.Nll WQ-24.N11 Number of waterbodies identified in 2002 as not attaining water quality standards where standards are now fully attained, (cumulative) Remove the specific causes of waterbody impairment identified by states in 2002. (cumulative) Improve water quality conditions in impaired watersheds nationwide using the watershed approach, (cumulative) Ensure that the condition of the Nation's streams does not degrade (i.e., there is no statistically significant increase in the percent of streams rated "poor" and no statistically significant decrease in the streams rated "good"). Improve water quality in Indian country at baseline monitoring stations in tribal waters (i.e., show improvement in one or more of seven key parameters: dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, pathogen indicators, and turbidity), (cumulative) Identify monitoring stations on tribal lands that are showing no degradation in water quality (meaning the waters are meeting uses), (cumulative) Number of American Indian and Alaska Native homes provided access to basic sanitation in coordination with other federal agencies. OMB PA BUD SG, KPI ARRA, SP BUD BUD SP OMB PA SP SP OMB PA BUD SP I SP BUD 3,927 12,134 408 LT LT LT 3,927 12,134 408 Deferred for FY14 30 Indicator 5,100 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 2 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. WQ-Ola WQ-26 WQ-02 WQ-03a WQ-03b WQ-04a WQ-06a WQ-06b WQ-08a WQ-08b WQ-09a WQ-09b WQ-09c WQ-10 Number of numeric water quality standards for total nitrogen and for total phosphorus adopted by states and territories and approved by EPA, or promulgated by EPA, for all waters within the state or territory for each of the following waterbody types: lakes/reservoirs, rivers/ streams, and estuaries (cumulative, out of a universe of 280). Number of states and territories implementing nutrient reduction strategies by (1) setting priorities on a watershed or state-wide basis, (2) establishing nutrient reduction targets, and (3) continuing to make progress (and provide performance milestone information to EPA) on adoption of numeric nutrient criteria for at least one class of waters by no later than 201 6. (cumulative) Number of tribes that have water quality standards approved by EPA. (cumulative) Number, and national percent, of states and territories that within the preceding three year period, submitted new or revised water quality criteria acceptable to EPA that reflect new scientific information from EPA or other resources not considered in the previous standards. Number, and national percent of tribes that within the preceding three year period, submitted new or revised water quality criteria acceptable to EPA that reflect new scientific information from EPA or other resources not considered in the previous standards. Percentage of submissions of new or revised water quality standards from states and territories that are approved by EPA. Number of tribes that currently receive funding under Section 1 06 of the Clean Water Act that have developed and begun implementing monitoring strategies that are appropriate to their water quality program consistent with EPA Guidance, (cumulative) Number of tribes that are providing water quality data in a format accessible for storage in EPA's data system, (cumulative) Number, and national percent, of TMDLs that are established or approved by EPA [Total TMDLs] on a schedule consistent with national policy. Note: A TMDL is a technical plan for reducing pollutants in order to attain water quality standards. The terms 'approved' and 'established' refer to the completion and approval of the TMDL itself. Number, and national percent, of approved TMDLs, that are established by states and approved by EPA [State TMDLs] on a schedule consistent with national policy. Note: A TMDL is a technical plan for reducing pollutants in order to attain water quality standards. The terms 'approved' and 'established' refer to the completion and approval of the TMDL itself. Estimated annual reduction in million pounds of nitrogen from nonpoint sources to waterbodies (Section 319 funded projects only). Estimated annual reduction in million pounds of phosphorus from nonpoint sources to waterbodies (Section 319 funded projects only). Estimated annual reduction in million tons of sediment from nonpoint sources to waterbodies (Section 319 funded projects only). Number of waterbodies identified by states (in 1998/2000 or subsequent years) as being primarily nonpoint source (NPS)-impaired that are partially or fully restored, (cumulative) SG SG OMB PA BUD SG OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD KPI OMB PA BUD SG OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD SG 37 66.1% 88% 2,201 2,195 9.1 4.5 1,200 LT 58 27.67 42 37 66.1% 15 39.5% 88% 230 200 2,201 2,195 9.1 4.5 1,200 518 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 3 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. WQ-11 WQ-12a WQ-12b WQ-13a WQ-13b WQ-13c WQ-13d WQ-14a WQ-14b WQ-15a WQ-16 WQ-17 WQ-19a WQ-19b WQ-22a WQ-23 WQ-25a Number, and national percent, of follow-up actions that are completed by assessed NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) programs, (cumulative) Percent of non-tribal facilities covered by NPDES permits that are considered current. [Measure will still set targets and commitments and report results in both % and #.] Percent of tribal facilities covered by NPDES permits that are considered current. [Measure will still set targets and commitments and report results in both % and #.] Number, and national percent, of MS-4s covered under either an individual or general permit. Number of facilities covered under either an individual or general industrial storm water permit. Number of sites covered under either an individual or general construction storm water site permit. Number of facilities covered under either an individual or general CAFO permit. Number, and national percent, of Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) that are discharging to POTWs with Pretreatment Programs that have control mechanisms in place that implement applicable pretreatment standards and requirements. Number, and national percent, of Categorical Industrial Users (CIUs) that are discharging to POTWs without Pretreatment Programs that have control mechanisms in place that implement applicable pretreatment standards and requirements. Percent of major dischargers in Significant Noncompliance (SNC) at any time during the fiscal year. Number, and national percent, of all major publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs) that comply with their permitted wastewater discharge standards. (i.e. POTWs that are not in significant non-compliance) Fund utilization rate [cumulative loan agreement dollars to the cumulative funds available for projects] for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). Number of high priority state NPDES permits that are issued in the fiscal year. Number of high priority state and EPA (including tribal) NPDES permits that are issued in the fiscal year. Number of regions that have completed the development of a Healthy Watersheds Initiative (HWI) Strategy and have reached an agreement with at least one state to implement its portion of the region's HWI Strategy. Percent of serviceable rural Alaska homes with access to drinking water supply and wastewater disposal. Number of urban water projects initiated addressing water quality issues in the community. I KPI I I I I SG I OMB PA BUD, SG OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD ARRA OMB PA BUD, SG BUD I OMB PA BUD BUD <22.5% 86% 94.5% 80% 80% 93.5% 10 Indicator 90% 90% Indicator Indicator Indicator Indicator 98% Indicator <22.5% 86% 94.5% 80% 80% Indicator 93.5% 10 Subobjective 2.2.2 Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters CO-222.N11 Prevent water pollution and protect coastal and ocean systems to improve national and regional coastal aquatic system health on the 'good/fair/poor' scale of the National Coastal Condition Report. OMB PA SP BUD LT 3.0 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 4 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. CO-SP20.N11 CO-02 CO-04 CO-06 CO-432.N11 Percent of active dredged material ocean dumping sites that will have achieved environmentally acceptable conditions (as reflected in each site's management plan and measured through on-site monitoring programs). Total coastal and non-coastal statutory square miles protected from vessel sewage by "no discharge zone(s)." (cumulative) Dollar value of "primary" leveraged resources (cash or in-kind) obtained by the NEP Directors and/or staff in millions of dollars rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent. Number of active dredged material ocean dumping sites that are monitored in the reporting year. Working with partners, protect or restore additional acres of habitat within the study areas for the 28 estuaries that are part of the National Estuary Program (NEP). BUD SP I I I OMB PA BUD SP 95% 100,000 95% Indicator Indicator Indicator 100,000 Subobjective 2.2.3 Increase Wetlands WT-SP22 WT-01 WT-02a WT-03 In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, states and tribes, achieve 'no net loss' of wetlands each year under the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulatory program. Number of acres restored and improved, under the 5-Star, NEP, 319, and great waterbody programs (cumulative). Number of states/tribes that have substantially built or increased capacity in wetland regulation, monitoring and assessment, water quality standards, and/or restoration and protection. (Annual) Percent of Clean Water Act Section 404 standard permits, upon which EPA coordinated with the permitting authority (i.e., Corps or State), where a final permit decision in FY 08 documents requirements for greater environmental protection* than originally proposed. Subobjective 2.2.4 The Great Lakes GL-433.N11 GL-SP29 GL-SP31 GL-SP32.N11 GL-05 GL-06 GL-07 GL-09 GL-10 GL-11 Improve the overall ecosystem health of the Great Lakes by preventing water pollution and protecting aquatic ecosystems. Cumulative percentage decline for the long term trend in average concentrations of PCBs in Great Lakes fish. Number of Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes where all management actions necessary for delisting have been implemented (cumulative) Cubic yards (in millions) of contaminated sediment remediated in the Great Lakes (cumulative from 1997). Number of Beneficial Use Impairments removed within Areas of Concern. (cumulative) Number of nonnative species newly detected in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Number of multi-agency rapid response plans established, mock exercises to practice responses carried out under those plans, and/or actual response actions (cumulative). Acres managed for populations of invasive species controlled to a target level (cumulative). Percent of populations of native aquatic non-threatened and endangered species self-sustaining in the wild (cumulative). Number of acres of wetlands and wetland-associated uplands protected, restored and enhanced (cumulative). BUD BUD I I OMB PA SP BUD OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD SP OMB PA BUD BUD BUD BUD BUD BUD No net loss 200,000 No net loss 200,000 Indicator Indicator 23.4 46 5 1 1 million 46 0.8 29 36,000 35% 52 70,000 23.4 46 5 1 1 million 46 0.8 29 36,000 35% 52 70,000 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 5 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. GL-12 GL-13 GL-16 Number of acres of coastal, upland, and island habitats protected, restored and enhanced (cumulative). Number of species delisted due to recovery. Acres in Great Lakes watershed with USDA conservation practices implemented to reduce erosion, nutrients, and/or pesticide loading. BUD BUD BUD 38,000 2 30 38,000 1 30 Subobjective 2.2.5 The Chesapeake Bay CB-SP33.N11 CB-SP34 CB-SP35 CB-SP36 CB-SP37 Percent of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation goal of 1 85,000 acres achieved, based on annual monitoring from prior year. Percent of Dissolved Oxygen goal of 100% standards attainment achieved, based on annual monitoring from the previous calendar year and the preceding 2 years. Percent of goal achieved for implementing nitrogen pollution reduction actions to achieve the final TMDL allocations, as measured through the phase 5.3 watershed model. Percent of goal achieved for implementing phosphorus pollution reduction actions to achieve final TMDL allocations, as measured through the phase 5.3 watershed model. Percent of goal achieved for implementing sediment pollution reduction actions to achieve final TMDL allocations, as measured through the phase 5.3 watershed model. OMB PA SP OMB PA OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD LT LT 30% 30% 30% Long Term Long Term 30% 30% 30% Subobjective 2.2.6 The Gulf of Mexico GM-SP38 GM-SP39 GM-SP40.N11 Restore water and habitat quality to meet water quality standards in impaired segments in 13 priority areas, (cumulative starting in FY 07) Restore, enhance, or protect a cumulative number of acres of important coastal and marine habitats, (cumulative starting in FY 07) Reduce releases of nutrients throughout the Mississippi River Basin to reduce the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, as measured by the 5-year running average of the size of the zone. BUD BUD SP 360 30,600 360 30,600 Deferred for FY14 Subobjective 2.2.7 Long Island Sound LI-SP41 LI-SP42.N11 LI-SP43 LI-SP44 Subobjective 2 PS-SP49.N11 PS-SP51 Percent of goal achieved in reducing trade-equalized (TE) point source nitrogen discharges to Long Island Sound from the 1999 baseline of 59, 146 TE Ibs/day. Reduce the size (square miles) of observed hypoxia (Dissolved Oxygen <3mg/l) in Long Island Sound. Restore, protect or enhance acres of coastal habitat from the 2010 baseline of 2,975 acres. Reopen miles of river and stream corridors to diadromous fish passage from the 2010 baseline of 177 river miles by removal of dams and barriers or by installation of bypass structures. BUD SP BUD BUD 78% 410 acres 1.5 miles 78% n/a 410 acres 1.5 miles 2.8 The Puget Sound Basin Improve water quality and enable the lifting of harvest restrictions in acres of shellfish bed growing areas impacted by degraded or declining water quality, (cumulative starting in FY 06) Restore acres of tidally- and seasonally-influenced estuarine wetlands. (cumulative starting in FY 06) BUD SP BUD 7,758 33,818 7,758 33,818 Subobjective 2.2.9 U.S. -Mexico Border Environmental Health MB-SP23 MB-SP24.N11 Loading of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removed (cumulative million pounds/year) from the U.S. -Mexico Border area since 2003. Number of additional homes provided safe drinking water in the U.S.- Mexico border area that lacked access to safe drinking water in 2003. OMB PA BUD OMB PA BUD SP 135.8 1,700 135.8 1,700 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 6 of 7 ------- Appendix A - FY 2014 National Water Program Measures FY 2014 ACS Codes FY 2014 Measure Text Measure Category FY 2014 Budget Target FY 2014 Planning Target Italicized ACS code denotes a change in measure text and/or in reporting. Measure categories include: OMB PA (OMB Program Assessment); BUD (Budget Measure); SG (State Grant Measure); KPI (Key Performance Ind cator); ARRA (Recovery Act Measure); LT (Long Term Budget Measure), and 1 (Indicator Measure). FY 2014 Budget Target is from 8-year performance measure table in the FY 2014 CJ. MB-SP25.N11 Subobjective 2 PI-SP26 Number of additional homes provided adequate wastewater sanitation in the U.S. -Mexico border area that lacked access to wastewater sanitation in 2003. OMB PA BUD SP 39,500 39,500 2.10 The Pacific Island Territories Percent of population in the U.S. Pacific Island Territories served by community water systems that has access to continuous drinking water meeting all applicable health-based drinking water standards, measured on a four quarter rolling average basis. BUD 84% 84% Subobjective 2.2.11 The South Florida Ecosystem SFL-SP45 SFL-SP46 SFL-SP47a SFL-SP47b SFL-SP48 SFL-1 Achieve 'no net loss' of stony coral cover (mean percent stony coral cover) in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and in the coastal waters of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, Florida, working with all stakeholders (federal, state, regional, tribal, and local). Annually maintain the overall health and functionality of sea grass beds in the FKNMS as measured by the long-term sea grass monitoring project that addresses composition and abundance, productivity, and nutrient availability. At least seventy five percent of the monitored stations in the near shore and coastal waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will maintain Chlorophyll a (CHLA) levels at less than or equal to 0.35 ug 1-1 and light clarity (Kd)) levels at less than or equal to 0.20 m-1 . At least seventy five percent of the monitored stations in the near shore and coastal waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will maintain dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) levels at less than or equal to 0.75 uM and total phosphorus (TP) levels at less than or equal to .25 uM . Improve the water quality of the Everglades ecosystem as measured by total phosphorus, including meeting the 10 parts per billion (ppb) total phosphorus criterion throughout the Everglades Protection Area marsh and the effluent limits for discharges from stormwater treatment areas. Increase percentage of sewage treatment facilities and onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems receiving advanced wastewater treatment or best available technology as recorded by EDU. in Florida Keys two percent (1 500 EDUs) annually. I I BUD BUD BUD I 75 75 Maintain P Baseline Indicator Indicator 75 75 Maintain P Baseline Indicator Subobjective 2.2.12 The Columbia River Basin CR-SP53 CR-SP54 Clean up acres of known contaminated sediments, (cumulative starting in FY06) Demonstrate a reduction in mean concentration of certain contaminants of concern found in water and fish tissue, (cumulative starting in FY 06) I 86 Indicator Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 7 of 7 ------- Appendix B - Key Contacts in the National Water Program Subobjective National Water Program Guidance Water Safe to Drink Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat Water Safe for Swimming Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters Increase Wetlands The Great Lakes The Chesapeake Bay The Gulf of Mexico Long Island Sound The Puget Sound U.S. -Mexico Border Environmental Health The Pacific Island Territories The South Florida Ecosystem The Columbia River Basin Contact Vinh Nguyen (IO) Ian Achimore (IO) Travis Cummings (OGWDW) Eric Bissonette (OGWDW) Amber Erickson (OST) Amber Erickson (OST) KatherineTelleen (OWM) Kristie Moore (OWOW) KatherineTelleen (OWM) Gregory Stapleton (OST) Kristie Moore (OWOW) Kristie Moore (OWOW) Michael Russ (GLNPO) Nita Sylvester (CBPO) Lael Butler (GMPO) Joseph Salata (USD) MarkTedesco(LISO) Chris Castner (RIO) Angela Bonifaci (RIO) Stephanie Von Feck (OWM) John McCarroll (PIO) Michael Mann (PIO) Steve Blackburn (R4) Jennifer Derby (R4) MaryLou Soscia (RIO) Phone (202) 564-4631 (202) 564-0370 (202) 564-9592 (202) 564-2147 (202) 566-2984 (202) 566-2984 (202) 564-7933 (202) 566-1616 (202) 564-7933 (202) 566-1028 (202) 566-1616 (202) 566-1616 (312)886-4013 (410) 267-5711 (228) 688-1576 (203) 977-1541 (203) 977-1541 (206)553-6517 (206) 553-0332 (202) 564-0609 (415) 972-3774 (415) 972-3505 (404) 562-9397 (404) 562-9401 (503) 326-5873 Email nguyen.vinh@epa.gov achimore.ian@epa.gov cummings.travis@epa.gov bissonette.eric@epa.gov erickson.amber@epa.gov erickson.amber@epa.gov telleen.katherine@epa.gov moore.kristie@epa.gov telleen.katherine@epa.gov stapleton.gregory@epa.gov moore.kristie@epa.gov moore.kristie@epa.gov russ.michael@epa.gov sylvester.nita@epa.gov butler.lael@epa.gov salata.joseph@epa.gov tedesco.mark@epa.gov castner.chris@epa.gov bonifaci.angela@epa.gov vonfeck.stephanie@epa.gov mccarroll.john@epa.gov mann.michael@epa.gov blackburn.steven@epa.gov derby.jennifer@epa.gov soscia.marylou@epa.gov Key: IO - Immediate Office of the Office of Water OGWDW - Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water OST - Office of Science and Technology OWM - Office of Wastewater Management OWOW - Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds R - EPA Regional Office GLNPO - Great Lakes National Program Office CBPO - Chesapeake Bay Program Office GMPO - Gulf of Mexico Program Office LISO - Long Island Sound Office PIO - Pacific Island Office Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance ------- Appendix C- Explanation of Changes from FY 2013 to FY 2014 Change from FY 2013 National Water Program Guidance Reason for Change Affected Sections Priorities National Water Program Areas of Focus for FY 2014: A. Protecting Populations at Risk B. Improving the Integrity of the Nation's Drinking Water and Clean Water Quality C. Providing Safe and Sustainable Water Resources and Infrastructure D. Controlling Nutrient Pollution E. Assuring High Quality and Accessible Water Information The National Water Program revised priorities to focus on activities in FY 2014. As part of the new LEAN format, priorities are discussed under Section II., National Water Program Areas of Focus Guidance. Section II, page 5 Strategies Cross-Cutting Themes: 1. National Water Program and Tribes 2. Protecting Urban Waters 3. Climate Change 4. Implementing Innovative Technology in Water 5. Grants management Cross-cutting themes are grouped and moved to the front of the subobjective sections. Section III, page 17 Implementing Innovative Technology in Water A new cross-cutting section is added to emphasize the National Water Program's work in integrating technology innovation. Section III.A.4, page 21 Annual Commitment Measures Measure modified: SDW-Ola. Percent of community water systems (CWSs) that have undergone a sanitary survey within the past three years (five years for outstanding performers or those ground water systems approved by the primacy agency to provide 4-log treatment of viruses). The measure is updated to reflect the Ground Water Rule requirements. Changes to methodology for computation of results include: 1) territories will now be included in the calculation, 2) baseline updated from FY 2008 to FY 2012. The FY 2012 baseline is 79% (FY 2012). The universe is 49,183. Appendix A, page 1 Measure modified: SDW-Olb. Number of tribal community water systems (CWSs) that have undergone a sanitary survey within the past three years (five years for outstanding performers or those ground water systems approved to provide 4-log treatment of viruses). The measure is updated to reflect the Ground Water Rule requirements. Changes to methodology for computation of results include: baseline updated from FY 2005 to FY 2012. The FY 2012 baseline is 529. The universe is 706. Appendix A, page 1 Proposed modification: WQ-SP10. Nil Number of waterbodies identified in 2002 as not attaining water quality standards where standards are now fully attained. Based on feedback on revising the baseline, as well as how EPA tracks environmental progress, EPA will evaluate the baseline and measure of water quality Appendix A, page 2 Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 1 of2 ------- Appendix C- Explanation of Changes from FY 2013 to FY 2014 Change from FY 2013 National Water Program Guidance Annual Commitment Measures Contacts (cumulative) WQ-SP11 Remove the specific causes of waterbody impairment identified by states in 2002. (cumulative) WQ-SP12.N11 Improve water quality conditions in impaired watersheds nationwide using the watershed approach, (cumulative) Measure deleted: WQ-25b. Number of urban water projects completed addressing water quality issues in the community. Measure deleted: WT-SP21.Nll.Working with partners, achieve a net increase of wetlands nationwide, with additional focus on coastal wetlands, and biological and functional measures and assessment of wetland condition. Measure deleted: GL-08. Percent of days of the beach season that the Great Lakes beaches monitored by state beach safety programs are open and safe for swimming. Measure deleted: GL-15. Five-year average annual loadings of soluble reactive phosphorus (metric tons per year) from tributaries draining targeted watersheds. Measure deleted: GM-435. Improve the overall health of coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico on the "good/fair/poor" scale of the National Coastal Condition Report. Measure modified: CR-SP54. Demonstrate a reduction in mean concentration of certain contaminants of concern found in water and fish tissue, (cumulative starting in FY 06) Contacts by subobjective. Reason for Change improvement issues. In this process, EPA will identify information that states will need to report to EPA as part of their Integrated Reports in order for ATTAINS to be used to track progress, as well as evaluate the pros and cons of establishing a fixed versus rolling baseline. The measure is being deleted as no projects are expected to be completed in FY 2014. The measure is deleted because it will not have annual targets or results. Achieving a net increase of wetlands remains a long-term goal that is included in the Agency's Strategic Plan. The measure is deleted due to data uncertainties. The measure is deleted as insufficient data exists for this measure. The measure is deleted because it will not have annual targets or results in this Guidance. Data will be available with the release of each NCCR. The measure is being changed to an indicator due to the complexity of setting reduction targets for five different sites with overlapping contaminants, compared to FY 2006 monitoring. Adding a list of contacts by subobjective. Affected Sections Appendix A Appendix A Appendix A Appendix A Appendix A Appendix A, page 7 Appendix B Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 2 of2 ------- Appendix D - Additional Guidance for CWA Section 106 State and Interstate Grant Recipients This appendix, along with the specific text found in Section III.C.I.a, provide guidance for state and interstate grant recipients when implementing water pollution control programs under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Together, Section III.C.I, and Appendix D make up the CWA Section 106 grant guidance. Associated Program Support: Since FY 1999, Congress has included language in the State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) account for "multi-media and single media pollution prevention, control and abatement, and related activities", authorizing EPA to use a portion of the funds available for those programs to fund activities that benefit all or a portion of the state and tribal grant recipients - the associated program support costs authority. See Public Law 105-276. EPA is currently developing guidance for use of associated program support costs authority by the Section 106 Program. Generally, the associated program support costs authority is used to support activities that promote the common goals of the requesting state(s) and/or promote administrative efficiency and cost savings to the recipients. For EPA to use STAG resources as associated program support, the activity must: (a) be the inherent responsibility of a state, tribal, territory, or interstate water pollution control agency and (b) be of primary benefit to these agencies and not EPA. EPA must get the prior approval of these agencies before such funding can be reserved for associated program support activities. Associated program support can be provided by EPA through a grant, contract, or interagency agreement. FY 2014 Nutrient Initiative: The FY 2014 President's Budget continues to support an additional $15 million in Section 106 funds for a Nutrient Initiative to support state, interstate agencies, and tribal activities to address water quality impairment through the reduction of nutrient loads. This initiative will work in conjunction with activities being carried out by states and tribes using Section 319 and USDA funding. The March 16, 2011, Nancy K. Stoner memorandum, Working in Partnership with States to Address Phosphorus and Nitrogen Pollution through Use of a Framework for State Nutrient Reductions, will be used as the framework for awarding Section 106 funds to implement nutrient reduction activities. A separate guidance will be provided for the nutrient initiative funds. Base Program Measures: CWA Section 106 funding supports many of the strategic targets and goals outlined in the National Water Program Guidance. These measures include: WQ-SP10.N11 WQ-SP11 WQ-SP12.N11 WQ-SP13 WQ-la WQ-26 WQ-3a WQ-8b WQ-10 WQ-12a WQ-13a, b, c, d WQ-14a WQ-15a WQ-19a SS-1 Measures specific to tribal programs are found in Section III.A.I. of this National Water Program Guidance. Guidance for Core Programs: Guidance for core programs funded through grants for water pollution control programs under CWA Section 106 is provided in specific text in Section III.C.I., Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis. Other programs in the NWPG that can utilize CWA Section 106 Funds: State and interstate agencies can use CWA Section 106 grants to carry out a wide range of water quality planning and management activities. Agencies have the flexibility to allocate funds toward priority activities. Other activities that may be funded with CWA Section 106 funds include: Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 1 of3 ------- Appendix D - Additional Guidance for CWA Section 106 State and Interstate Grant Recipients Source Water (Surface Water and Ground Water): EPA regions and states are reminded that CWA Section 106 grant funds are an essential funding source for the states' source water protection activities. The Agency recommends that states continue to direct a portion of their CWA Section 106 funding for source water protection and wellhead protection actions that protect both ground water and surface water used for drinking water. States should ensure that there are protective water quality standards in place, and being attained, for each waterbody being used as a public water supply. Also, EPA encourages states to allocate a reasonable share of water quality monitoring resources to assess attainment of the public water supply use, and consider using water quality or compliance monitoring data collected by public water systems in assessing water quality and determining impairment. States should consider placing a high priority on (a) waterbodies where state or local source water assessments have identified highly threatening sources of contamination that are subject to CWA and (b) the development and implementation of TMDLs to address impairments of the public water supply use. In particular, states should consider the relationship between point source dischargers and drinking water intakes in setting permit requirements and inspection and enforcement priorities. EPA also encourages state programs to consider using their allocation to leverage the resources of Source Water Collaborative members and allies, found on: http://www.sourcewatercollaborative.org/. In addition, EPA encourages states and tribes to integrate source water into updates of watershed assessments and plans, including incorporating ground water and the ground water/ surface water interchange, and in the course of doing so consider the effects of climate change on fresh water resources. See Section II.B. for additional discussion on the Source Water and Ground Water. Non-point Source: States, territories, and tribes may use CWA Section 106 funds to develop watershed-based plans and to conduct monitoring on a watershed basis. States' integrated monitoring designs should use a combination of statistical surveys and targeted monitoring to cost-effectively evaluate the health of watersheds and the effectiveness of protection and restoration actions, such as nonpoint source implementation projects. In addition, EPA encourages, consistent with the scope of CWA Section 106, broader efforts to protect and maintain healthy watersheds, so that costly implementation measures are not required to restore water quality and aquatic habitat. Protecting Wetlands: Some states have utilized CWA Section 106 funds for program implementation, including wetlands monitoring and protection projects. Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat: See the grant program guidance at: http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan. Water Safe for Swimming: See the grant program guidance at: http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan. Other Guidance: Guidance for the Tribal Program, the Monitoring Initiative, and Enforcement is provided separately and can be found at: • Tribal water pollution control programs. See http://epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/106tgg07.htm. • State and interstate use of Monitoring Initiative funds. See http://epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/106-guidelines-monitor.htm. • Office of Compliance and Enforcement Assurance National Program Manage Guidance. In October, 2009, EPA issued the Clean Water Act Action Plan ("the Action Plan"). The Action Plan identifies steps EPA will take to improve enforcement efforts aimed at addressing Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 2 of 3 ------- Appendix D - Additional Guidance for CWA Section 106 State and Interstate Grant Recipients water quality impairment. The Office of Water continues to work with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), EPA regions, and states to implement the Action Plan. For more information on specific enforcement actions for 2014, please see the 2014 OECA National Program guidance at http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy2014. Office of Water: FY 2014 National Water Program Guidance Page 3 of 3 ------- |