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U.S. EPA, NOAA CONDITIONAL APPROVAL OF STATE PLANS ON COASTAL RUNOFF

Release Date: 7/9/1998
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1578

U.S. EPA NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS: STATE PLANS ON COASTAL RUNOFF


       (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today announced  their approval of California's and Hawaii's programs to reduce polluted runoff in coastal areas, making the approval contingent upon further improvements to protect water quality and comply with federal requirements.  

       Polluted runoff is now the leading cause of coastal water pollution.  Nonpoint source contamination is polluted runoff from land that affects rivers, lakes, streams, and coastal waters.  The federal Coastal Zone Reauthorization Act Amendments of 1990 (CZARA) requires states to establish nonpoint source programs to protect and restore coastal waters, addressing pollution from forest practices, agriculture, urban runoff, marinas, and modification of streams, rivers, and wetlands.

       The States' programs had been submitted to U.S. EPA and NOAA to comply with CZARA. U.S. EPA and NOAA's announcement  acknowledged California's and Hawaii's substantial effort in preparing these programs and said that the agencies will assist these states in their efforts to control coastal nonpoint source pollution.

       The Clinton Administration's recently-released Clean Water Action Plan, a blueprint for restoring and protecting the nation's precious water resources, includes numerous actions that focus renewed efforts on addressing nonpoint source pollution.  The actions include establishing effective state coastal nonpoint source programs, upgrading existing state nonpoint source programs as administered under the Clean Water Act, and increasing federal funding to reduce polluted runoff.

       U.S. EPA's rationales for conditionally approving  the California and Hawaii coastal nonpoint source programs are provided in Findings Documents that have been prepared by U.S. EPA and NOAA for each program. Draft  documents were made available for public comment earlier this year.  The agencies considered these comments in preparing the final Findings Documents. A summary of the comments and the agencies' responses  have been prepared for each program.  These and related documents will be available shortly on U.S. EPA Region 9's Internet site at: https://www.epa.gov/region09/water.