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Home My WebLink AboutSept 2022 WQC AgendaNORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION WATER QUALITY COMMITTEE September 7, 2022 Archdale Building-Ground Floor Hearing Room 1:30-3:30pm Marion Deerhake, Chair Presiding This meeting will occur in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building at 512 N. Salisbury St, Raleigh, NC. Commissioners, staff, and scheduled speakers will attend in-person. Limited seating will be available to the public. Face coverings are optional for employees and visitors. Meeting audio and presentations will be broadcast via the state web conferencing links posted online at: https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WaterResources/DocView.aspx?id=2312547&dbid=0&repo=WaterRes ources. I. Preliminary Matters 1. Call to Order and Notice of NCGS 138A-15………………….Chair Deerhake North Carolina General Statute 138A-15 mandates that at the beginning of any meeting of a board, the chair shall remind all members of their duty to avoid conflicts of interest under this Subchapter. The chair also shall inquire as to whether there is any known conflict of interest with respect to any matters coming before the board at the time. 2. Approval of Minutes from July 13, 2022, Meeting II. Action Items 1. Request Approval to Proceed to the EMC with the 2020-2022 Biennial Report on the Progress in Developing and Implementing Basinwide Water Resources Management Plans to the Environmental Review Commission (ERC) (Michelle Raquet, Division of Water Resources, Basin Planning Branch) General Statute 143-215.8B(d) and 143-355(p) requires the Environmental Management Commission (Commission) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) report on or before November 1 of even-numbered years on the progress in developing and implementing basinwide water resources management plans (basin plans) and basinwide hydrologic models to the Environmental Review Commission (ERC).  The 2020-2022 biennial report provides a summary of the progress in developing and implementing basin plans between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022.   ATTACHMENTS Presentation 2020-2022 Biennial Report on Basinwide Planning 2. Approval of the 2024 303(d) Listing and Delisting Methodology (Pam Behm, Division of Water Resources, Modeling and Assessment Branch Chief) Staff will present the 2024 303(d) Listing and Delisting Methodology for approval. Staff are proposing no changes to the methodology approved by the EMC for the 2022 assessment. ATTACHMENT Presentation Draft 2024 303(d) Listing and Delisting Methodology 3. Proposed High Quality Waters Reclassification and Outstanding Resource Waters Reclassification of Four Waters and Seven Waters, respectively, in the Watauga River Basin (Avery and Watauga Counties, North Carolina) (Adriene Weaver, Division of Water Resources) DWR Water Sciences Section (WSS) staff have requested the reclassification of waters in the Watauga River Basin in Avery and Watauga Counties to High Water Quality Waters (HQW) and Outstanding Resources Waters (ORW). Local support for waters in this reclassification request includes Mountain True, Trout Unlimited, Vallis Cruis Community Park, North Carolina Wildlife Resources, and an Appalachian State University biology professor. Based on the review of available data for these waters and associated watersheds, including results of a 2020 DWR water quality study, DWR staff determined that four waters and seven waters are eligible to be reclassified to HQW and ORW, respectively. The HQW and ORW classifications are designed to protect waters with excellent water quality, and the ORW classification also adds protections to waters with outstanding resource values. The Water Quality Committee (WQC) will be asked to approve this reclassification request in order for staff to proceed to the full Environmental Management Commission (EMC), at which approval of the fiscal analysis and permission to send the proposed reclassifications to public notice will be sought. ATTACHMENTS PowerPoint Presentation Proposed Rule Amendment Maps Memo 4. Request Approval to Proceed to the EMC with Proposed Revisions to Laboratory Certification Rule 15A NCAC 02H .0804 to Add Additional Parameters (Todd Crawford, Division of Water Resources, Wastewater/Groundwater Laboratory Certification Branch) A multitude of emerging contaminants broadly known as “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)” are of great concern for NC regulators and the general public at large. DEQ anticipates requiring many permitted facilities to test for this class of compounds in the near future. Permits require analyses to be performed by certified laboratories (i.e., certified by NC WW/GW Laboratory Certification Branch). The NC WW/GW Laboratory Certification Branch does not currently have the authority to certify for the parameter known as “PFAS” or “Organic Fluorine”. These parameters must be added to Certification rule 15A NCAC 02H .0804 (d), therefore the Division of Water Resources is requesting that the WQC approve to proceed to the EMC with the proposed revisions to rule 15A NCAC 02H .0804 to include Parameters “PFAS” and “Organic Fluorine”. ATTACHMENTS Presentation Proposed Rule Revision 5. Request Approval to Proceed to the EMC with Falls Lake Stage I Existing Development Individual and Joint Compliance Programs (John Huisman, Division of Water Resources, Nonpoint Source Planning Branch) The Falls Lake Existing Development Stormwater Rule (.0278) requires all fourteen local governments in the watershed to implement load reduction programs to reduce nutrient loading from existing developed lands under their control. Implementation is divided into two Stages with Stage I calling for reductions in loading back to 2006 baseline levels with additional reductions called for in Stage II that equate to the full reduction goals of the strategy. In January 2021 the Commission approved the Division’s Model Program which provides the accounting tools, practices, and guidance local governments used to develop their own load reduction programs. The Division has also worked in close collaboration with Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA) over the past several years on the development of their proposed Interim Alternative Implementation Approach (IAIA) under the joint compliance option for Stage I as allowed under the rule and in the Model Program. Once the Model Program was approved, local governments were required to submit and begin implementation of their load reduction programs by July 2021. Staff will provide an overview of the Final IAIA Joint Compliance Program submitted by the UNRBA on behalf of its thirteen local government members as well as the one Individual Program submitted by the City of Roxboro. Once approved, local governments will have four months to begin implementation of their final approved individual and joint compliance programs. Recommendation: The Division requests approval to proceed to EMC for approval of the UNRBA’s Interim Alternative Implementation Approach and the City of Roxboro’s Individual Local Program for implementing the Falls Lake Stage I Existing Development Requirements. ATTACHMENTS Presentation Upper Neuse River Basin Association: Final Program Document: Stage I Existing Development Interim Alternative Implementation Approach (IAIA) City of Roxboro: Stage I Load Reduction Implementation Plan for Existing Development II. Information Items 1. Supplemental Review of Local Programs Neuse and Tar-Pamlico New Development Stormwater (Trish D’Arconte, Division of Water Resources, Non- Point Source Planning Branch) The amended Neuse and Tar-Pamlico New Development Stormwater rules (15A NCAC 2B .0711 and .0731 respectively), effective April 1, 2020, stagger program approval timeframes for local governments subject to the original rules and those newly subject, with original communities seeking approval first. There are 23 local programs under the original Rules. In response to public comments received at the July EMC meeting regarding compliance of local ordinances with G.S. 143-214.7(a1) and (b3), DWR staff reviewed all nineteen Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Local Programs that have been brought to the Water Quality Committee and the EMC. This presentation describes that review, requests approval of thirteen of these Local Programs by the EMC found to be in compliance, and requests revisions to six Local Programs to meet Rule and statutory requirements. ATTACHMENTS Presentation EMC Requested Local Program Changes NCHBA Millis Email 07.12.22 NCHBA Public Comment Email 07.13.22 NCBHA Public Comment 07.13.22 Links to Local Governments’ Local Program Materials: Cary Cary_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) City of Durham Durham Neuse Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Durham County Durham Co_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Edgecombe County Edgecombe Co_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Franklin County Franklin County Tar-Pamlico Draft Local Program 2022 Garner Garner_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Goldsboro Goldsboro_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Havelock Havelock Neuse Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Kinston Kinston Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) New Bern New Bern Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Orange County Orange Co_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Oxford Oxford_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Raleigh Raleigh_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Rocky Mount Rocky Mount Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Smithfield Smithfield_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Wake County Wake_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) City of Washington Washington_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) Wayne County Wayne Co_Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) City of Wilson Wilson Draft Local Program 2022 (nc.gov) III. September 8, 2022 EMC Meeting Agenda Items 1. Action Item [22-27] Request Approval of the 2022 Annual Report on the Progress in Developing and Implementing Basinwide Water Resource Management Plans to the Environmental Review Commission (ERC) (Michelle Raquet, Division of Water Resources, Basin Planning Branch Supervisor) 2. Action Item [22-28] Request Approval of Falls Lake Stage I Existing Development Individual and Joint Compliance Programs (John Huisman, Division of Water Resources, Nonpoint Source Planning Branch) 3. Action Item [22-29] Supplemental Review of Local Programs Neuse and Tar-Pamlico New Development Stormwater (Trish D’Arconte, Division of Water Resources, Non-Point Source Planning Branch) 4. Action Item [22-30] Approval of the 2024 303(d) Listing and Delisting Methodology (Pam Behm, Division of Water Resources. Modeling and Assessment Branch Chief) 5. Action Item [22-31] Request Approval of 30-day Waiver and to Proceed to Public Notice and Hearing with Proposed Revisions to Laboratory Certification Rule 15A NCAC 02H .0804 and Regulatory Impact Analysis (Todd Crawford, Division of Water Resources, Wastewater/Groundwater Laboratory Certification Branch) IV. Future Committee Interests……………………………………….Chair Deerhake V. Director’s Remarks (Richard Rogers, DWR) VI. Closing Remarks…………………………………………….…….Chair Deerhake