Nutrient Over-Enrichment

North Carolina Nutrient Criteria Development Plan

The Environmental Management Commission and the Division of Water (DWQ) are in the process of taking the information gathered from the Nutrient Forum and other sources to develop a plan that lays out the steps to be taken to develop additional criteria for the control of nutrient over-enrichment. 

PUBLIC INPUT

• The Draft NC Nutrient Criteria Development Plan was available for public comment April 17 - May 24, 2013. 

Comments were received from 20 individuals and organizations. All comments are available for download HERE.

***  NUTRIENT CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE  ***

• May 29 - 30, 2012 North Carolina Forum on Nutrient Over-Enrichment
• December 4, 2012  - February 4, 2013 Public comment periods (compilation of public comments)
• December 4, 2012 Public input meeting in Raleigh, NC 
• December 12, 2012 Public input meeting in Huntersville, NC 
• December 17, 2012 Public input meeting in Wilmington, NC 
• April 17, 2013 Draft NC NCDP out for public review (INFORMATION BELOW)
• May 9, 2013 Draft NC NCDP presentation to the EMC
• May 24, 2013 Public comment period ends
• June 30, 2013 NC NCDP due to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Region 4
• July 11, 2013  Present to EMC for approval of the draft NC NCDP
• Begin criteria development 
• More Information on NC NCDP can be found Here

Additional Information

The NC NCDP will be a series of prioritized projects (or studies), each of which will be targeted at development of nutrient criteria and will include questions to be answered, methods to be used, timelines and milestones to be met. Nutrient criteria, for these purposes, encompass more than just the causal variables: nitrogen and phosphorus. For the NC NCDP, response variables such as algae, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen, and total organic carbon will be included.

A work group of DWQ staff from Standards, Permitting, Monitoring, and the Raleigh Regional Office are using the directives from the Nutrient Forum panelists to assist in identifying possible projects that would lead to adoption of additional nutrient criteria.

The projects will be shaped by the Nutrient Forum, public input, and activities going on around the nation. The plan will:

• Highlight and enhance North Carolina’s current approaches to nutrient management
• Provide for exploration of site-specific and waterbody type- specific approaches
• Provide for exploration of built-in protection and prevention
• Include review of a variety of possible criteria including response variables like benthic macroinvertebrates, periphyton, continuous dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon, algal densities and causal variables like nitrogen and phosphorus, and
• Involve all stakeholders

North Carolina’s first Nutrient Criteria Implementation Plan was agreed upon with EPA in 2004 and can be found by going to the following link HERE and scrolling down to “ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR NC’s NUTRIENT CRITERIA IMPLEMENTATION PLAN" This page also includes additional information regarding EPA’s Ecoregional Nutrient Criteria and correspondence with the division.

NC Nutrient Forum Information

The North Carolina Forum On Nutrient Over-Enrichment was held May 29 - 30, 2012. Like other states, North Carolina has experienced the effects of nutrient pollution in our surface waters–particularly in our lakes and estuaries–and we are searching for new approaches to address the challenge. In order to better inform the wise development of regulations or other policy responses to this challenge, the NC Division of Water Quality and the Environmental Management Commission hosted this forum to provide state and local leaders, managers, and planners with a well-balanced review of the science, regulatory issues, economic considerations, and other policy issues related to nutrient over-enrichment and options for avoiding impairment to our surface waters. For more information click here.

Who Attended

• State and Local Leaders, Managers, and Planners
• Local Governments, City Managers, Public Utility Directors
• State and Federal Agencies
• Major NPDES Permit Holders, Business, and Industries
• Leaders of Non-governmental Organization