DIRECTOR'S CORNER
New regulations strengthen nutrient reduction efforts
Reducing the amount of excess nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is crucial to restoring the health of those waterways and keeping Virginia’s economy and the culture of the Bay area strong. The Commonwealth is committed to this effort, and recent changes to state water quality regulations will enable the Department of Environmental Quality to increase protection for the Bay and its tributaries.
Recognizing that this effort will cost a significant amount of money, Governor Mark Warner announced in December 2005 that his budget proposal will include a $200 million deposit into Virginia’s Water Quality Improvement Fund to reduce nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. If passed by the General Assembly, it would be the largest contribution to this fund and will jump-start improvement projects at 92 wastewater treatment plants. In the meantime, Virginia lawmakers are grappling with finding a long-term funding source, and there are currently programs in place to enable some progress now.
New regulations passed by the State Water Control Board in September and November 2005 give DEQ the authority to issue permits that set nutrient discharge limits for wastewater treatment plants. These facilities are called point sources – fixed locations (such as a pipe from a plant) from which pollutants are emptied into waterways. The regulations include nutrient discharge limits for the watersheds of the Potomac/Shenandoah River, Rappahannock River, Eastern Shore, the James River and the York River.
Nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, are vital to the plant and animal growth in the Bay and its rivers. But in excess, nutrients impair water quality and create algae blooms that rob the waters of vital oxygen and sunlight that are needed for aquatic life to thrive.
The Commonwealth has plans, called tributary strategies, to address nutrient pollution, including these point source reductions as well as widespread efforts to reduce runoff of nutrients and sediment from nonpoint sources such as cities, suburban areas, farms and forested land.
While reductions from all nutrient pollution sources are critical to achieving water quality goals, nutrient reductions from point sources such as municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants are highly reliable, cost-effective, measurable and enforceable, and provide immediate water quality benefits.
To meet these new limits, some wastewater treatment plants will need to upgrade their nutrient reduction technologies or build new facilities. The current estimate for upgrading plants that are significant dischargers of nutrients is $1.5 billion, and Virginia has two funding sources available to assist localities.
Virginia’s Water Quality Improvement Fund has $65.7 million available in grants during the state’s 2006 fiscal year, which started July 1, 2005. Depending on the financial need of localities, the grants may cover 35 percent to 75 percent of the total cost of the upgrades. This fund annually receives 10 percent of Virginia’s budget surplus, and the General Assembly added another $50 million this year to reduce point source pollution.
In December 2005 the water board approved $119.7 million for the Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund to support projects that will involve nutrient reduction efforts. Money for the fund comes from the state and federal governments and loan repayments. Typically the loans are at least 1 percent below the market rate, and zero interest loans are available for financially strained localities.
Virginia will make about $185 million available to help reduce nutrients this year. Localities may apply to both the Water Quality Improvement Fund and the Revolving Loan Fund.
Virginians have depended on the Bay and its tributaries for generations to provide fish, oysters and crabs for food, recreational opportunities and jobs to support our families. However the future of these waterways and a part of our coastal culture and economy is in jeopardy. Virginia and other Bay states must act now to preserve one of the nation’s greatest natural and economic resources, and the Commonwealth’s point source nutrient reduction effort is a significant step in the right direction.