NOTICES
Draft Nonpoint Source Management Plan—2014 Update; Availability for Public Comment
[45 Pa.B. 3277]
[Saturday, June 20, 2015]The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is providing its draft Nonpoint Source Management Plan—2014 Update (Management Plan) for public comment. The Management Plan includes a narrative description of significant efforts taking place in this Commonwealth to address nonpoint source pollution, and milestones set to demonstrate progress in addressing nonpoint source pollution in this Commonwealth. The Management Plan has been developed consistent with United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidance outlining the required elements of these program updates.
The Commonwealth receives Federal Section 319 funds under the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.A. §§ 1251—1388) annually to further the Commonwealth's efforts to reduce nonpoint source pollution. In Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, the Commonwealth received $4.672 million in Section 319 funds. States receiving these funds are required under section 319(b) of the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.A. § 1329(b)) to develop and update a Management Plan outlining the major activities that the states will implement or support with this funding.
In April 2013, the EPA issued revised guidelines to states for the award of Section 319 grants. These revised guidelines are requirements that apply to recipients of grants made with funds appropriated by Congress under section 319 of the Federal Clean Water Act, and include direction to states in the development of Management Plan updates. States are to implement these revised guidelines beginning in FY 2014. The April 2013 Section 319 program guidance revisions established a 5-year life span for these Management Plans; therefore, as of 2014, every state receiving Section 319 funds from the EPA is required to update its Management Plan once every 5 years. The Commonwealth's original Management Plan was developed in 1989, and updated in 1999 and 2008. The Department has developed a 2014 update and is providing this document for public review and comment.
The draft Management Plan follows the EPA guidance by providing the following elements: goals, objectives, and strategies to protect and restore water quality; efforts to strengthen working partnerships with appropriate state, interstate, regional and local entities, private sector groups, citizens groups and Federal agencies; a balanced approach to addressing nonpoint source pollution that emphasizes both statewide programs and on the ground projects to abate existing problems and prevent new ones; and the use of periodic feedback to evaluate progress and make appropriate program revisions.
The draft Management Plan is available on the Department's web site at www.dep.state.pa.us (DEP Keywords: NPS Management Plan).
Interested persons may submit written comments on this draft Management Plan by July 20, 2015. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted. Comments, including comments submitted by e-mail, must include the originator's name and address. Commentators are urged to submit comments using the Department's eComment at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment. Written comments can be submitted to the Policy Office, Department of Environmental Protection, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P. O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063, ecomment@pa.gov.
JOHN QUIGLEY,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 15-1164. Filed for public inspection June 19, 2015, 9:00 a.m.]
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