November 12 WQC Agenda

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
WATER QUALITY COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA

November 12, 2014
Archdale Building-Ground Floor Hearing Room
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

General Statute § 138A-15 mandates that the Chairman 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.

Steve Tedder, Chairman Presiding

I. Preliminary Matters

1. Approval of Summary for September 10, 2014 WQC meeting (attached).

II. Agenda Items

1. Request for an After-the-Fact Major Variance from the Tar-Pamlico Riparian Area Protection Rules by Mr. Ernest Floyd Foster for a Commercial Seafood Operation at 70 Captain Tom’s Rd in Washington, NC – (Action Item) (Jennifer Burdette)

A request has been received for the Water Quality Committee (WQC) to grant a Major Variance from the Tar-Pamlico River Riparian Area Protection Rules (15A NCAC 2B .0259) to Mr. Ernest Floyd Foster for a commercial blue crab operation at 70 Captain Tom’s Road in Washington, NC.  Because crabs must be kept cool for grading and storage, Mr. Floyd has located two refrigerated trailers adjacent to the existing docks and boardwalk in Zone One and Two of the riparian buffer.  The applicant is proposing mitigation and maintenance of diffuse flow to offset the proposed buffer impacts.  Although the Division of Water Resources (DWR) recognizes that the applicant does not comply with the evaluation criterion 15A NCAC 02B .0259(9)(a)(i)(E), DWR supports this major variance request.  (Attachments enclosed: Variance Application, DWR Findings of Fact and Power Point Presentation)

2. Status of Rules Review of Subchapter 02R in accordance with S.L. 2013-413- (Information Item) (Kelly Williams)

In accordance with General Statute 150B-21.3A the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) at its July meeting made an initial determination of “necessary with substantive public interest” for the ten rules in 15A NCAC 02R.  A comment period was held from July 11, 2014 to September 17, 2014 to accept comments on the initial determinations.  Staff will present an overview of the comments received and will return to the EMC in January with a final recommendation for the EMC’s action. (Attachments enclosed: 02R report template, 02R comment and responses, EDP-EEP review comments, and PowerPoint Presentation)

3. Minimum Criteria Design Team for Stormwater – (Information Item) (Annette Lucas)

Session Law 2013-82 (House Bill 480) requires the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to convene a Minimum Design Criteria (MDC) Team that includes industry experts, engineers, environmental consultants, university faculty and other stakeholders.  The purposes of the MDC Team are:

1. To consult with DENR in developing MDCs that encompass all requirements for siting, design, construction and maintenance of stormwater BMPs. The MDC shall be developed with the goal of generating state stormwater permits that comply with water quality standards.  DENR shall submit its recommendations to the Environmental Review Commission by February 1, 2015.

2. To consult with the EMC in developing a fast-track permitting process for issuing state stormwater permits without a technical review when all BMPs comply with all MDCs and the permit application is prepared by a qualified individual. The EMC shall adopt a fast-track permitting rule no later than July 1, 2016.

The MDC Team has met once a month since March 2014.  Staff will provide an update on the status thus far and an explanation of the future steps for the MDC Team.  (Attachments enclosed: House Bill 480, MDC Definition, List of MDC as of October 28, 2014, and PowerPoint Presentation)

4. Update on 15A NCAC 02B .0295 Rulemaking Process  - (Information Item) (Sue Homewood)

Temporary Rule 15A NCAC 02B .0295 was approved by the Rules Review Commission (RRC) on October 16, 2014 and becomes effective on October 24, 2014.  The temporary rule will expire on August 14, 2015, unless the permanent rule adopted by the EMC to replace the temporary rule has been submitted to the Rules Review Commission. The Division is actively working on the permanent rule and a draft permanent rule will be presented to the WQC in January 2015.  During the RRC review of Rule .0295, substantial changes to the text were requested by the RRC.  Due to legislative mandates, many of technical change requests were allowed to be delayed until permanent rule making.  The Division would like to immediately start working with the RRC counsel to address the technical change requests in detail and to provide the WQC with a proposed permanent rule in January that is based on the RRC requests.  Staff will provide an update of the RRC technical change requests. (Attachments enclosed:  EMC Temporary Rule Change Request (October 7, 2014))

5.  Annual Progress Reports on the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Agriculture Rules – (Information Item) (John Huisman)

The Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rules (15A NCAC 2B .0238 and .0256, respectively) require that the Basin Oversight Committees (BOCs) report to the EMC each year on implementation progress. For crop year 2013, the BOCs received and approved annual reports from the 17 Local Advisory Committees (LACs) in the Neuse basin and the 14 Tar-Pamlico LACs. The reports showed cumulative nitrogen loss reductions of 38% and 43% from baseline through 2013 from agriculture in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico, respectively. Relative to reductions reported last year, this equates to a 7% decrease in nitrogen loss reduction in the Neuse and a 3% decrease in reduction in the Tar-Pamlico Basin. These decreases in nitrogen loss reduction are primarily the result of cropping shifts to crops with higher nitrogen demands and increased nitrogen application rates. Separate report documents are provided for each basin from the respective BOCs. (Attachments enclosed: 2014 Annual Progress Report (Crop Year 2013) on the Tar- Pamlico Agricultural Rule , 2014 Annual Progress Report (Crop Year 2013) on the Neuse Agricultural Rule, and PowerPoint Presentation)

6. Report on Comprehensive, Integrated Water Quality/Quantity Plan – (Information Item) (Ian McMillian)

General Statute 143-215(b) and General Statute 143-355(m) mandates the development of a basinwide water quality management plan for each of the seventeen river basins in the State and a State water supply plan, respectively.  The Division has developed a new approach for integrating water quality and water quantity plans. Staff will explain why comprehensive basin planning is the prudent path and preferable to separate water quality and water quantity planning and a draft timeline for completing a basin plan. (Attachments enclosed: Statutory Requirements for Comprehensive Basin Planning and PowerPoint Presentation) 

III. Closing Comments  Chairman Tedder

This agenda is available on the internet at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/emc/november-12-wqc-agenda.