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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-1



## Chapter 1. Introduction 1

1. 

## 1 Background 2 On May 12, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Exec utive Order 13508, which recognizes the 3 Chesapeake Bay as a national treasure and calls on the federal government to lead a renewed 4 effort to restore and protect the nation’s largest estuary and its watershed. In the Executive 5 Order, the President states that despite significan t efforts by federal, state, and local governments 6 and other interested parties, water pollution in th e Chesapeake Bay prevents the attainment of 7 existing state water quality standards and the fishable and swimmable goals of the Clean Water 8 Act. The President further notes that at the curren t level and scope of pollution control within the 9 Chesapeake Bay’s watershed, restoration of the Ches apeake Bay is not expected for many years. 10 Nutrients (forms of both nitrogen and phosphorus) a nd sediment delivered from the Chesapeake 11 Bay watershed are the pollutants largely responsibl e for the continued degradation and 12 restoration complexities of the Chesapeake Bay. 13 The Executive Order expresses the great challenge f acing our renewed efforts to restore the 14 health of the Chesapeake Bay, 15 Restoration of the health of the Chesapeake Bay wil l require a renewed commitment to 16 controlling pollution from all sources as well as p rotecting and restoring habitat and 17 living resources, conserving lands, and improving m anagement of natural resources, all 18 of which contribute to improved water quality and e cosystem health. 19 To meet that challenge, the Executive Order lays ou t a series of steps. One of the first key steps 20 requires the federal agencies to define the “ next generation of tools and actions to restore water 21 quality in the Chesapeake Bay and describe the chan ges to be made to regulations, programs, and 22 policies to implement these actions.” The Executive Order assigns the lead responsibility to the 23 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the federal government published the final 24 report on November 24, 2009. The report is at 25 http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net(President 26 Barack Obama 2009). 27 Another key step in the Executive Order is for EPA to publish this guidance document. Section 28 502 of the Executive Order states, 29 The Administrator of the EPA shall, within 1 year o f the date of this order and after 30 consulting with the Committee and providing for pub lic review and comment, publish 31 guidance for Federal land management in the Chesape ake Bay watershed describing 32 proven, cost-effective tools and practices that red uce water pollution, including practices 33 that are available for use by Federal agencies. 34 

## 2 Purpose and Scope of this Document 35 This document provides information and data on land management practices for federal agencies 36 with land, facilities, or installation management r esponsibilities affecting ten or more acres 373/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-2 within the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay to contr ibute towards the restoration of the 1 Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The ultimate goal of the Executive Order—to restore the 2 health of the Chesapeake Bay—is very high. Yet, as the Executive Order states, the Chesapeake 3 Bay is, “one of the largest and most biologically p roductive estuaries in the world.” It is certainly 4 deserving of the ambitious effort laid out in the E xecutive Order. 5 However, we cannot underestimate the challenge. In particular, abating nonpoint source 1 6 pollution, which is the focus of this document, pre sents a huge challenge to the recovery of the 7 bay. Unless we adequately address the vast majority of nonpoint source pollution, the 8 Chesapeake Bay will not be restored. Consider the f ollowing: 9

• Almost half of all the nitrogen and phosphorus poll ution delivered to the Chesapeake Bay 10 derive from agricultural sources, from both livesto ck production and row crop land. 11

• In addition to contributing 31 percent of phosphoru s loads and 11 percent of nitrogen 12 loads to the bay, urban runoff and stormwater sourc es compose the only significant 13 pollutant source category that is increasing in the bay watershed. 14

• River basins with the highest percentage of agricul tural lands yield the highest overall 15 amount of sediment each year, while basins with the highest percentage of forest cover 16 yield the lowest amount of sediment. 17

• On a per-acre basis, construction sites can contrib ute the most sediment of all land uses— 18 as much as 10 to 20 times that of agricultural land s. 19

• A large percentage of riparian buffers in the Chesa peake Bay have been lost or degraded. 20 While the Chesapeake Bay Commission set a goal in 2 004 to achieve buffer along 70 21 percent of riparian lands, the percentage currently stands at 60 percent. 22 For those and other reasons, it is critically impor tant that we achieve , at a minimum, the nonpoint 23
source implementation measures goals set forth in this document for the various land 24 management categories. The implementation measures goals are designed to promote the use of 25 the best, cost-effective and reasonable practices available to achieve the Executive Order’ s broad 26 and ambitious goals for the Chesapeake Bay. In turn , the practices and actions described and 27 recommended in this document are those that are ind icated by the current, state-of-the-art 28 scientific and technical literature to be the most effective and cost-effective in achieving the 29 Chesapeake Bay goals. Thus, the information present ed in this document will enable 30 practitioners to design and implement on-the-ground solutions that collectively will move the 31 entire watershed toward achieving the goals. 32
Note: This document provides guidance to states and the public regarding practices that they can 33 use to reduce nonpoint source pollution in the Ches apeake Bay and other waterbodies. At times, 34 this document refers to statutory and regulatory pr ovisions that contain legally binding 35 requirements. This document does not substitute for those provisions or regulations, nor is it a 36

1 This document uses the term nonpoint source broadly, as EPA has in the past, to refer to sourc es that are treated as nonpoint sources in EPA’s implementation of section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Some of those sources may legally be made subject to regulation as point sour ces under section 402(p) of the Clean Water Act. EP A has designated several categories of those stormwater s ources for regulation, such as small municipal sepa rate storm sewer systems, and may designate others for regulat ion in the future.3/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-3 regulation itself. Thus, it does not impose legally binding requirements on EPA, states, or the 1 public and might not apply to a particular situatio n according to the circumstances. EPA and 2 state decision makers retain the discretion to adop t approaches to control nonpoint source 3 pollution that differ from this guidance where appr opriate. EPA may change this guidance in the 4 future. 5 

## 3 Scope 6 As required by Section 502 of the Executive Order, this document (1) provides guidance for 7 federal land management in the Chesapeake Bay and ( 2) describes proven, cost-effective tools 8 and practices that reduce water pollution, includin g practices that are available for use by federal 9 agencies. Federal agencies in the Chesapeake Bay wa tershed will find this guidance useful in 10 managing their lands, ranging from the development and redevelopment of federal facilities to 11 managing agricultural, forested, riparian, and othe r land areas the federal government owns or 12 manages. 13 At the same time, the great majority of land in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is nonfederal land 14 that private landowners, states, and local governme nts manage. Indeed, the vast majority of 15 actions to restore the Chesapeake Bay will need to take place on nonfederal lands, and 16 nonfederal actors will be implementing them. From t he perspective of land management and 17 water quality restoration/protection, federal and non federal land managers will need to employ 18 the same set of , “proven cost-effective tools and practices that re duce water pollution” are 19 appropriate for both federal and nonfederal land ma nagers to restore and protect the Chesapeake 20 Bay. 21 Therefore, this document presents practices and act ions equally applicable to federal and 22 nonfederal land management personnel. EPA’s goal in writing this document is to provide 23 federal agencies, states, local governments, conser vation districts, watershed groups, developers, 24 farmers and all citizens in the Chesapeake Bay wate rshed a useful guide to implementing the 25 most effective and cost-effective practices availab le to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay. 26 Finally, many of the nutrient and sediment sources in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are similar 27 to sources in other watersheds around the country. Many of the practices needed to protect and 28 restore the bay are the same as or very similar to those used in other large-scale, multistate 29 watersheds in the country. Indeed, the authors have made great efforts to assure that they have 30 considered all relevant data on the Chesapeake Bay watershed and used it as appropriate in 31 preparing and publishing this document. EPA has als o employed data from outside the bay 32 watershed when it was deemed relevant and applicabl e to the bay. For that reason, much of the 33 information provided in this document is relevant t o other areas of the United States, and EPA 34 strongly recommends that practitioners outside the watershed consider this guidance document 35 (including especially “next generation tools and ac tions”) as they develop and implement their 36 own watershed plans and strategies to address nutri ent and sediment pollution from nonpoint 37
sources. 38 This document provides information pertaining to al l the major categories and subcategories of 39 nonpoint source pollution that are relevant to the Chesapeake Bay. Those categories include 403/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-4 agriculture, urban and suburban development, hydrom odification, on-site wastewater treatment, 1 forestry and riparian streamside areas. 2 The authors hope that this document serves as an ef fective resource for professionals, 3 landowners (federal and nonfederal), and others who are implementing programs and practices to 4 restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay and watershe d as well as others interested in its recovery. 5 Each chapter describes the problem presented by the relevant nonpoint source category or 6 subcategory of activity and its relevance to the Ch esapeake Bay’s recovery. Each chapter states 7 the key goals that readers should strive to achieve to attain the ambitious overall goals for the 8 Chesapeake Bay set forth in the Executive Order. Th e goals are accompanied by information and 9 data on the cost-effective tools and practices that practitioners can employ to help achieve the 10 goals. It also provides available effectiveness dat a and cost data. 11 

## 4 Relationship to Previous Documents 12 EPA has produced a considerable amount of technical information regarding the effectiveness 13 and costs of various measures and practices to addr ess nonpoint source pollution in the past. In 14 1993, as required by section 6217 of the Coastal Zo ne Act Amendments of 1990, EPA published 15 the Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal 16 Waters (USEPA 1993), which contains chapters on agricultu re, forestry, urban runoff, marinas 17 and recreational boating, hydromodification, and we tlands and riparian areas (see 18 http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/MMGI/). http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/MMGI/ )

. Section 6217 19 defines management measures as, “economically achievable measures for the cont rol of the 20 addition of pollutants...which reflect the greatestdegree of pollutant reduction achievable 21 through the application of the best available nonpo int pollution control practices, technologies, 22 processes, siting criteria, operating methods, or o ther alternatives.” The 1993 guidance includes a 23 set of management measures in each chapter and then provides information on available 24 practices, their effectiveness, and their costs. 25 The National Management Measures E ach of these volumes expand expand s a chapter from the 26 1993 coastal guidance into an entire book that cont ain national management measures patterned 27 after the coastal guidance, complete with updated d ata (see 28 http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/pubs.html). http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/pubs.html ). All the 29 practices and actions in the National Management Me asures books are based on those 30 established in the 1993 publication, but the newer publications provide updated information and 31 addresses to some extent select newly emerging issu es and practices. The six National 32 Management Measures books are 33

• National Management Measurers for the Control of No npoint Pollution from Agriculture 34 (USEPA , 2003) ; 35

• National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint So urces of Pollution from Forestry 36 ( USEPA 2005b) 2005); 37

• National Management Measures to Protect and Restore Wetlands and Riparian Areas for 38 the Abatement of Nonpoint Source Pollution (USEPA 2005c) , 2005); 39

• National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint So urce Pollution from Urban 40 Areas (USEPA 2005d) , 2005) ; 413/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-5 • Handbook for Managing Onsite and Clustered (Decentr alized) Wastewater Treatment 1 Systems (USEPA 2005a) , 2005); 2

• National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint So urce Pollution from 3 Hydromodification (USEPA , 2007)

. 4 This guidance document builds on those two earlier efforts but also differs in significant ways. It 5 focuses to a considerable extent on newer, more eff ective approaches to controlling some of the 6 most significant aspects of nonpoint pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and elsewhere. 7 Most importantly, it responds to the imperative of implementing in the Chesapeake Bay 8 watershed those “next generation tools and actions” that reflect, in the words of the Executive 9 Order, “a renewed commitment to controlling polluti on from all sources as well as protecting 10 and restoring habitat and living resources, conserv ing lands, and improving management of 11 natural resources, all of which contribute to impro ved water quality and ecosystem health.” 12 

## 5 Some Topics Receive New or Special Emphasis 13 The key areas in which this document focuses on nex t-generation tools and actions that go 14 beyond the previous nonpoint source guidance docume nts are the following: 15 1. Nutrient Management. This document focuses specifically on significantl y expanding on 16 practices and actions that control the delivery of nutrients and sediment from agriculture by 17 employing a whole-farm nutrient management planning approach from source control and 18 avoidance, in-field control, and edge-of-field trap ping and treatment. The practices and actions 19 presented here build from the most recent, state-of -the-art literature in nutrient management 20 planning and provide information on achieving reduc ed nutrient losses from both livestock 21 production on animal feeding operations and row cro p agricultural lands. 22
2. Control of Urban Runoff and Stormwater. In this document, EPA recognizes and 23 emphasizes that hydrology is the principal driver o f water quality impairments in developed and 24 developing areas. From that understanding, EPA esta blishes in this document a primary focus on 25 the goal of maintaining and restoring predevelopmen t hydrology to the maximum extent 26 technically feasible (METF). The guidance presents background information, data, examples, 27 and resources that demonstrate how practitioners ca n achieve that goal by implementing low 28 impact development (LID) and other green infrastruc ture techniques that infiltrate, 29 evapotranspire, and use rainwater on-site. 30
3. Turf Management. At 3.8 million acres, the total cultivated area fo r turf makes it the number 31 one crop grown in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A s ignificant portion of the turf is grown in a 32 manner that includes high inputs of fertilizers. Th us, turf management practices can at present 33 contribute a substantial amount of nutrient to the Chesapeake Bay. Therefore, this document 34 includes implementation measures that can help redu ce nutrient runoff from turf. 35
4. Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems. This document presents an increased 36 emphasis on reducing nitrogen from decentralized sy stems, because of based on both the need to 37 reduce nutrient delivery to the Chesapeake Bay and the rapidly advancing state of the art. In 38 addition, this document uses the term “ decentralized systems ” rather than “ onsite systems ” , 393/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-6 reflecting the technical, feasibility, and manageme nt advantages of cluster treatment systems that 1 treat effluent from multiple lots at nearby off-sit e locations. 2 

## 6 Some Topics are Addressed by Reference to Existin g 3 

## Documents 4 Some nonpoint source practices remain important, bu t EPA has already adequately addressed 5 them in previous management measures documents and in other published literature. In those 6 cases, this document does not repetitively include details on those practices. (The six National 7 Management Measures books total approximately 1,500 pages.) Instead, t his document briefly 8 acknowledges the issue or subject and then refers t he reader to the appropriate existing 9 documents. 10


## 7 References 11 President Barack Obama. 2009. Executive Order 13508: Chesapeake Bay Protection an d 12 Restoration. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Wa shington, DC. 13 < http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net >. Accessed January 28, 2010. 14 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 1993. Guidance Specifying Management 15 Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters. EPA 840-B-92-002. U.S. 16 Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. 17 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2003. M anagement Measure for Nutrients 18 described in the National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Po llution from 19 Agriculture

. (USEPA, 2003). EPA 841-F-05-001. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 20 Washington, DC. 21 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005 a. Handbook for Managing Onsite and 22 Clustered (Decentralized) Wastewater Treatment Syst ems . EPA 832-B-05-001. Office of 23 Wastewater Management. Washington, DC. 24 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005b

. National Management Measures to 25 Control Nonpoint Sources of Pollution from Forestry . EPA 841-B-05-001. U.S. 26 Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water , Washington, DC

. 27 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005 c

. National Management Measures to 28 Protect and Restore Wetlands and Riparian Areas for the Abatement of Nonpoint Source 29 Pollution . EPA 841-B-05-003. U.S. Environmental Protection A gency, Office of Water, 30 Washington, DC. 31 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005 d

. National Management Measures to 32 Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Urban Areas (USEPA, 2005) . EPA 841-B-05- 33 004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, W ashington, DC. 34 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2005. Handbook for Managing Onsite and 35 Clustered (Decentralized) Wastew ater Treatment Systems . EPA 832

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- 001. Office of 36 Wastewater Management. Washington, DC. 373/15/20 2

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Chapter 1. Introduction 1-7 USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2007. National Management Measures to 1 Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Hydromodific ation

. EPA 841-B-07-002. U.S. 2 Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, W ashington, DC. 3