Advance Restoration Plan
Communities that are taking initiative to voluntarily create and execute plans to clean up impaired waters may defer or even bypass the need for a TMDL. These plans are locally crafted and executed, giving flexibility in the restoration process.
The EPA’s Vision for the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program (“vision”) identifies five goals, including the Restoration Goal, which encourages the identification, development, and implementation of the most effective tool for restoring waters – be it a total maximum daily load (TMDL) or other approach. In most cases, a TMDL is the first step in restoring these waters, providing the pollution budget that serves as a foundation for implementation plans, regulatory activities, and/or on-the-ground restoration. The Restoration Goal recognizes there are cases in which pursuing restoration approaches in advance of developing a TMDL may provide a more immediately beneficial or practicable path to restore water quality.
An Advance Restoration Plan (ARP) is a near-term plan, or description of actions, with a schedule and milestones, that is more immediately beneficial or practicable to achieving water quality standards. ARPs remain on the 303(d) list of impaired waters until water quality standards are attained, but receive a lower priority for TMDL development as long as the ARP is being implemented. As such, waters with ARPs in place for impaired parameters are designated as Category 5r on the 303(d) list. Once developed, North Carolina will periodically evaluate ARPs to determine if such approaches are still expected to be more immediately beneficial or practicable in achieving WQS than pursuing a TMDL approach in the near-term.
What is required to be considered an ARP?
Impaired waters with a DWR-approved 9-Element (9E) Watershed Plan are eligible for ARP designation on the 303(d) list.
9E Watershed Plans are consistent with the EPA's framework to develop watershed-based plans and consist of nine key elements. The elements are intended to ensure that the contributing causes and sources of nonpoint source pollution are identified, that key stakeholders are involved in the planning process and that restoration and protection strategies are identified that will address the water quality concerns. An overview of the 9E framework is provided in Introduction to the 9 Elements of a Watershed Restoration Plan. Projects identified in the 9E Watershed Plan are eligible for 319 funding.