November 7 2018 WQC Agenda
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
WATER QUALITY COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
November 7, 2018
Archdale Building-Ground Floor Hearing Room
12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
General Statute § 138A-15 mandates that the Chair inquire as to whether any member knows of any known conflict of interest or appearance of conflict with respect to matters before the Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee. If any member knows of a conflict of interest or appearance of conflict, please so state at this time.
Dr. Albert Rubin, Chair, Presiding
I. Preliminary Matters
1. Approval of October 9, 2018 Water Quality Committee Meeting Summary
II. Agenda Items
1. Request Approval to Send Revised Environmental Management Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality Basinwide Water Management Plans Annual Report 2018 to the Environmental Review Commission – (Action Item) (Nora Deamer, Division of Water Resources)
The Division of Water Resources (DWR) requests approval to proceed to the EMC with the revised Draft Environmental Management Commission and Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) 2018 Annual Basinwide Water Management Planning Report to the Environmental Review Commission (ERC). The report is required under GS 143-215.8B(d) and includes information related to developing and implementing basinwide water management plans. Additional information was included in the report at the request of the EMC to inform the ERC on additional environmental concerns as they relate to water quality. The report is due to the ERC by November 1 of each year. (Attachments enclosed: Draft Water Quality 2018 Basin Planning Annual Report to the ERC and PowerPoint Presentation)
2. Request for a Major Variance from the Neuse Riparian Area Protection Rule for the Improvements and Expansion of the City of Raleigh’s E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant – (Action Item) (Paul Wojoski, Division of Water Resources)
A request has been received for the Water Quality Committee to grant a Major Variance from the Neuse Riparian Area Protection Rule for improvements and expansion of the City of Raleigh’s E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant within Zone 1 and Zone 2 of the buffer. The applicant is proposing mitigation through the Division of Mitigation Services to offset the proposed buffer impacts. Based on information submitted, the Division of Water Resources (DWR) staff supports this request for a Major Variance from the Neuse Riparian Area Protection Rule because all the requirements in 15A NCAC 02B .0233 have been met. (Attachments enclosed: DWR Findings of Fact and PowerPoint Presentation)
3. Request Approval of Technical Correction to 15A NCAC 02T .1310, Animal Waste Residuals Management Rule - (Action Item) (Christine Lawson, Division of Water Resources)
In July 2018, the EMC adopted 15A NCAC 02T .1310, the Animal Waste Residuals Management Rule as a part of the re-adoption of the rules of Subchapters 15A NCAC 02T and 15A NCAC 02U, and the rules were effective September 1, 2018. The official rule document submitted to the Rules Review Commission contained an editorial error in 02T .1310(b)(2), which results in references to requirements that were eliminated from rule. DWR staff requests WQC’s approval to proceed to the EMC with a technical correction to 15A NCAC 02T .1310(b)(2) to eliminate the references to requirements that no longer exist and to correctly reference the proper paragraph within the Rule. (Attachments enclosed: 15A NCAC 02T .1310 DRAFT and pages 116-122 of the Hearing Officers’ Report for Adoption and Re-adoption of Rules in 15A NCAC 02T Waste Not Discharged to Surface Waters and 15A NCAC 02U Reclaimed Water (July 12, 2018 NC EMC)).
4. Lake Mattamuskeet Watershed Restoration Plan – (Information Item) (Peter Campbell, USFWS)
Lake Mattamuskeet is the centerpiece of Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, the premier wintering waterfowl refuge on the eastern flyway. Historically the species of natural submerged aquatic and emergent vegetation provided a key food source for waterfowl and habitat for aquatic species. Over the past two decades, the lake’s water quality has been degraded, due to increased nutrient and sediment loading from adjacent lands within the watershed, to the point that vegetation is now totally absent from the lake. Certain water quality parameters now exceed critical thresholds resulting in the lake’s designation in 2016 as “impaired waters”. In 2017, a group of local stakeholders came together to begin the process to develop a Watershed Restoration Plan to address water quality in the lake and flooding issues within the watershed. This presentation provides an overview of the planning process and priority strategies and actions that are included in the plan. (Attachments enclosed: Moorman et al SAV and Water Quality in Lake Mattamuskeet , Importance of SAV in Lake Mattamuskeet, and PowerPoint Presentation)
5. Annual Agricultural Progress Reports for Jordan, Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Watersheds – (Information Item) (Patrick Beggs, Division of Water Resources)
The Tar-Pamlico and Neuse Agriculture Rules require annual updates to the EMC. The Jordan Lake Agriculture Rule requires an annual update to DEQ, which is being included in the EMC update this year. These reports demonstrate agriculture’s ongoing collective compliance with each rule. The reports estimate cumulative nitrogen loss reductions from crop agriculture of 54% in the Neuse Basin, 60% in the Tar-Pamlico Basin, and 55%, 64%, and 73% in the Haw, Upper New Hope, and Lower New Hope subwatersheds of the Jordan Lake Watershed. An evaluation of qualitative indicators, measured only in the Tar-Pamlico and Jordan, shows no increased risk of phosphorus loss from agricultural fields.(Attachments enclosed: Jordan Lake Crop Year 2017 Annual Agricultural Report, Neuse River Watershed Crop Year 2017 Annual Agricultural Report , Tar-Pamlico River Watershed Annual Agricultural Report, and PowerPoint Presentation)
III. Closing Comments – WQC Chair