It is currently under development by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the State of New York, as part of the Long Island Sound Study with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It will establish daily limits on nitrogen discharges from more than 75 municipal sewage treatment plants, industrial plants and other smaller sources of nitrogen discharge.
Plans also call for a trading program to control the level of nitrogen discharged into the Sound.
The TMDL program will be developed over the next year. During that time the state will develop specific nitrogen reduction plans for 11 management zones established around the Sound in Connecticut and New York. Nitrogen is the primary pollutant causing hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen, and is the most serious threat to marine life and the health of Long Island Sound. Governor Rowland said. In October 1996, Governor Rowland and Governor George Pataki of New York signed a commitment to continue Long Island Sound cleanup efforts.