EPA Accepts Virginia's Plan To Clean Up The Bay

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, December 31, 2010

Virginia’s revised plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday.

The plan is one of seven being created by Bay jurisdictions that will establish a “pollution diet” limiting the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the Bay from rivers and streams. Virginia’s first draft of its plan, submitted to the EPA in September, was rejected; the approved plan was submitted Nov. 29.

Governor Bob McDonnell praised the plan for reflecting recommendations from stakeholders, while proposing specific actions to take place within specific timeframes. “We feel it is a stringent but workable plan that demonstrates Virginia’s commitment to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay while providing for continued economic growth in the Commonwealth,” he said.

He added that the plan balances the protection of the environment with the protection of the state’s agricultural jobs.

Virginia’s plan identifies actions to reduce the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment entering the Bay from sewage treatment plants, industrial facilities, urban areas, agriculture, forestry and septic systems. The plan also outlines a process to evaluate the unique characteristics of the James River and how that river affects water quality standards.

The earlier draft submitted in September was rejected by the EPA. After discussions with the EPA and representatives from local governments, agricultural workers and sewage treatment plant operators, the state revised the plan to include:

• An additional 2.6 million pounds reduction of nitrogen in the James River basin from wastewater treatment plants.

• The adoption of resource management plans on agricultural operations that will feature water quality best management practices, with consequences to be enforced if goals are not met.

• Actions that will lead to nitrogen-reducing septic systems.

• Standards for limiting runoff from new development and for the control of storm water in existing storm drainage systems.

• Use of new and emerging technology to achieve nutrient and sediment reductions.

• The expansion of the existing nutrient credit exchange program.

Secretary of Natural Resources Doug Domenech called the plan the most “far-reaching and ambitious plan ever devised to clean up Virginia’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.”