Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Proposed Findings Document, Environmental Assessment, and Finding of No Significant Impact

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Environmental Protection Agency

Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Proposed Findings

Document, Environmental Assessment, and Finding of No Significant

Impact

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

Department of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Proposed Findings Document,

Environmental Assessment, and Finding of No Significant Impact on

Approval of Coastal Nonprofit Pollution Control Programs for

California.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the availability of the Proposed

Findings Document, Environmental Assessment (EA), and Finding of No

Significant Impact for California. Coastal states and territories were

required to submit their coastal nonprofit programs to the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval in July 1995. The

Findings document was prepared by NOAA and EPA to provide the rationale

for the agencies' decision to approve the state coastal nonprofit

pollution control program. Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act

Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA), 16 U.S.C. 1455b, requires states

and territories with coastal zone management programs that have

received approval under section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act

to develop and implement coastal nonpoint pollution control programs.

The EA was prepared by NOAA, pursuant to the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., to assess the environmental

impacts associated with the approval of the coastal nonpoint pollution

control program submitted to NOAA and EPA by California.

NOAA and EPA have proposed to approve, with conditions, the coastal

nonpoint pollution control program submitted by California. The

requirements of 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 (Council on Environmental

Quality (CEQ) regulations to implement the National Environmental

Policy Act) apply to the preparation of the Environmental Assessment.

Specifically, 40 CFR section 1506.6 requires agencies to provide public

notice of the availability of environmental documents. This notice is

part of NOAA's action to comply with this requirement.

Introduction

Nonpoint source pollution, pollution caused by a wide range of

activities including agriculture, mining, urban development and

forestry, is a major cause of water quality impairment nationally and

in California. To address these problems, the State of California,

along with various federal and local agencies, private non-profit

groups and landowners are involved in many efforts to reduce and

prevent nonpoint source pollution. California's CZARA submittal, an

important part of these efforts, is a good start to describing a

program to address the challenging and critical problems associated

with nonpoint source pollution. However, the proposed findings for the

California submittal conclude that the program as currently submitted

to EPA and NOAA is not adequate to protect California's water quality.

In particular, EPA and NOAA are asking the State Water Resources

Control Board (SWRCB) and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) to

more fully identify the activities that will be undertaken to ensure

widespread implementation of management measures for the major nonpoint

sources in the State, while providing for evaluation, feedback, public

review and program adjustments as necessary. California has agreed to

expand upon the California submittal documents prepared to date to more

adequately address the requirements of CZARA and advance the success of

the nonpoint source program.

Background: Description of California's Nonpoint Source Program

The SWRCB and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards

(RWQCBs) have primary responsibility in California for the protection

of water quality. As such, in 1988 the SWRCB adopted the California

Nonpoint Source (NPS) Management Plan that outlined a 3-tiered approach

for addressing polluted runoff: (1) Voluntary implementation of Best

Management Practices (BMPs), (2) regulatory-based encouragement of

BMPs, and (3) effluent limitations. In addition to the SWRCB and the

RWQCBs, California's program recognizes that other federal, state,

local and private entities have key responsibilities for addressing the

problems caused by nonpoint sources, such as the Board of Forestry,

Department of Pesticides, California Department of Transportation,

Natural Resource Conservation Service, and local governments.

Preparation of the State's NPS Management Plan was in response to Clean

Water Act Section 319, enacted by Congress in 1987. CWA Section 319

required states to develop an assessment report detailing the extent of

nonpoint source pollution and a management program specifying nonpoint

source controls, in order to be eligible for federal funding. As a

result, California received an annual federal funding allocation in

1997 of $5.3 million to carry out its nonpoint source program.

California's Response to Section 6217 of CZARA

CZARA requirements resulted in the expansion of the partnership for

addressing nonpoint source pollution to include the California Coastal

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Commission (CCC), in order to strengthen the links between Federal and

State coastal zone management and water quality programs. Therefore,

the SWRCB, the RWQCBs and CCC undertook a joint effort to improve the

statewide nonpoint source program and comply with CZARA requirements.

In February 1994, the State initiated a comprehensive review process to

consider the requirements of Section 6217 and update its existing

statewide nonpoint source management program rather than create a

separate program dealing exclusively with coastal waters. The State

anticipated that a statewide approach would reduce resource

expenditures and eliminate the potential for regulatory inequities

which might occur if a separate nonpoint source pollution control

program was instituted for coastal areas.

Technical advisory committees (TACs), composed of representatives

from industry, academia, environmental groups, and state and federal

agencies, were convened to provide critical input to the program

review. For one year the TAC's reviewed current nonpoint source

programs and developed consensus-based recommendations for improving

implementation, including innovative approaches for using existing

programs more efficiently, and allowing limited staff and fiscal

resources to be focused on the most pressing water quality problems.

The 10 separate technical advisory committee (TAC) reports identified a

wide range of activities aimed at implementing the CZARA management

measures, improving the State's nonpoint source program, and reducing

the water quality impacts associated with nonpoint source pollution. In

addition these reports contained several common themes, such as:

voluntary cooperation is preferred over prescriptive measures; improve

outreach and technical assistance to individuals and local groups;

support local stewardship and specific, problem-responsive measures

devised through comprehensive watershed management plans; better

coordinate activities of the various resource management agencies; and

where voluntary efforts have not succeeded and significant water

quality problems persist, utilize appropriate authorities to achieve

environmental improvements.

The SWRCB and the CCC then prepared the State of California's

response to CZARA and submitted the documents in September 1995 to EPA

and NOAA, as required by the statute. The State's submittal package

included two principal documents:

``California's Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control

Submittal,'' which is an account of the State's existing programs

related to the management of nonpoint pollution, and

``Initiatives in Nonpoint Source Management,'' which

describes several Initiatives adopted by the SWRCB to improve the

nonpoint source program, along with the associated TAC reports.

EPA and NOAA's Review of California's 6217 Submittal

The proposed findings document now available for public review

concludes that California's nonpoint source program is encouraging

because of its broad scope in terms of the State's authorities and

programs to address nonpoint source pollution, its statewide

applicability and the watershed approach being proposed. However, the

State's submittal is not sufficient to conform with the requirements of

CZARA because (in summary):

The submittal does not describe how the management

measures are incorporated into the State's program and how they will be

implemented;

The submittal does not describe how existing ``back-up''

authorities will be used to ensure implementation of the management

measures, if voluntary efforts fail;

The submittal does not adequately address key gaps and

recommendations identified by the Technical Advisory Committees;

The submittal does not incorporate the activities, roles

and responsibilities of the CCC;

The submittal does not adequately address common program

elements related to administrative coordination, technical assistance,

critical coastal areas, additional management measures and monitoring.

EPA and NOAA have reached agreement with the CCC and the SWRCB on

an ``action plan'' for improving California's Nonpoint Source Program

that will also assist the State in meeting the requirements of Section

6217 of CZARA. The ``action plan'' outlines a framework and key

activities that the CCC and the SWRCB along with the RWQCBs will

undertake to prepare an implementation strategy to improve efforts to

reduce nonpoint source pollution. EPA and NOAA anticipate that the

completion of the activities in the ``action plan'' will address the

submittal's current shortcomings in a manner that will provide

California with a more effective nonpoint source program and help meet

the conditions for programs approval identified in the proposed

findings. EPA and NOAA are encouraging the State to base this strategy,

to the fullest extent possible, on the CZARA materials submitted to

date and to continue to involve a wide range of stakeholders in

preparing and implementing a nonpoint source program that more fully

protects California's water quality and complies with CZARA.

Copies of the Proposed Findings Document, Environmental Assessment,

and Finding of No Significant Impact may be obtained upon request from:

Joseph P. Flanagan, Coastal Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean

and Coastal Resource Management, NOS, NOAA, 1305 East-West Highway,

Silver Spring, Maryland, 20910, tel. (301) 713-3121, x201.

DATES: Individuals or organizations wishing to submit comments on the

proposed Findings or Environmental Assessment should do so by February

9, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be made to: Joseph A. Uravitch, Coastal

Programs Division (N/ORM3), Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource

Management, NOS, NOAA 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland,

20910, tel. (301) 713-3155, x195. (Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog

11.419 Coastal Zone Management Program Administration)

Dated: January 6, 1998.

Captain Evelyn J. Fields,

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal

Zone Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert H. Wayland III,

Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Environmental

Protection Agency.

[FR Doc. 98-542 Filed 1-8-98; 8:45 am]

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