EPA

1
EPAs Push for the Tier III Nomination of VAs
Waters

• Clean Water Act and the EPA Water Quality
  Standards
• Tier I surface water maintain uses
• Tier II High Quality maintain uses of
  fishing, rec., aquatic life
• Tier III Also High Quality, must have
• exceptional environmental setting and
• aquatic communities OR rec. opportunities

2
The Big Whammy
Absolutely NO additional degradation of water
quality via point or nonpoint source
pollution OWRM Guidance Memo No.s 92-012A and
93-004 No new permits will be issued for
permanent point source discharges. The
application should be returned with a copy of the
antidegradation policy and the current list of
Tier III waters as an explanation that the permit
cannot be issued.
3
VAs Delinquency

• Virginia only has one Tier III water, while
  Pennsylvania, another state in its region, has
  hundreds.
• Does this mean that VA does not want to protect
  or maintain its waters?? hmmmm
• Is a lot involved
• Politics
• Nepotism
• Development pressures
• Private landowners
• Slow-moving process due to bureaucratic red tape

4
EPA Takes Matters into Own Hands

• In May, 2000, EPA (person) decides to nominate
  some Virginian waters for Tier III status to get
  the ball rolling.
• ESW Team- investigated potential candidate
  streams with much help from
• EPA Region III Wetlands Division
• National Park and Forest Service
• Fish and Wildlife
• VA Nature Conservancy
• VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries
• local enviros (Southern Environmental Law
  Center)

5
North Carolina

• Several hundred ONRWs, including
• New River basin areas
• Stump Sound Area (CFR basin)
• Topsail Sound and Middle Sound area, including
  all estuaries from New Topsail Inlet to Mason
  Inlet, including the ICW and Howe Creek
• T15A02B.0200 (7) (F)

• Masonboro Sound area
• -T15A02B.0200 (8) (D)
• NC Admin. Code (revised 10/28/99)
• NC DENR, Water Quality Division