VERMONT LAKE CHAMPLAIN PHOSPHORUS TMDL PHASE 1 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 PREPARED BY THE STATE OF VERMONT FOR THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 26 A. PHOSPHORUS IMPAIRMENT OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN ................................................. 26 B. TMDL DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING ............................... 29 C. VERMONT’S TMDL IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS TO DATE............................... 30 CHAPTER 2 - EPA’S DEVELOPMENT OF PHOSPHORUS ALLOCATIONS .......................... 41 CHAPTER 3 – VERMONT COMMITMENTS TO REDUCE POINT SOURCE POLLUTION .. 43 A. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 43 B. WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES (WWTFS) .................................................. 43 C. URBAN STORMWATER - MS4S ....................................................................................... 47 D. NPDES CONSTRUCTION STORMWATER DISCHARGES .......................................... 47 E. STORMWATER DISCHARGES ASSOCIATED WITH INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES . 47 F. RESIDUAL DESIGNATION AUTHORITY DISCHARGES ............................................ 48 G. CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION DISCHARGES ....................... 48 H. DEVELOPED LANDS - STORMWATER ......................................................................... 48 I. DEVELOPED LANDS - TRANSPORTATION ................................................................... 51 J. ADDED COMMITMENTS TO ADDRESS STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM STATE ROADS AND NON-ROADS ................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER 4 - CURRENT PROGRAM CAPACITY TO REDUCE NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION .................................................................................................................................... 59 A. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 59 B. ILLICIT DISCHARGE DETECTION AND ELIMINATION ................................................ 60 C. GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRACTURE .................................................................... 61 D. AGRICULTURE ...................................................................................................................... 61 E. FORESTRY .............................................................................................................................. 69 F. RIVER AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT ................................................................. 70 G. WETLANDS PROTECTION .................................................................................................. 76 H. UPLAND LAKES PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT ................................................... 79 CHAPTER 5 - INTRODUCTION TO WATERSHED RESTORATION USING TACTICAL BASIN PLANNING AND FUNDING ............................................................................................ 81 A. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 81 B. TACTICAL BASIN PLANNING ............................................................................................ 82 C. VERMONT CLEAN WATER INIATIVE PROGRAM .......................................................... 86 3 | P a g e CHAPTER 6 - VERMONT COMMITMENTS TO FURTHER REDUCE NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION .................................................................................................................................... 88 A. AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS ............................................................................................ 89 B. NON-REGULATORY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FOR NON-MS4 MUNICIPALITIES ................................................................................................................ 105 C. RIVER CHANNEL STABILITY ........................................................................................... 108 D. FOREST MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................... 112 E. WETLAND PROTECTION AND RESTORATION ........................................................ 120 F. UPLAND LAKES PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT ................................................. 122 G. INTERNAL PHOSPHORUS LOADING IN ST. ALBANS BAY ................................... 123 H. MISSISQUOI BAY - ENHANCED IMPLEMENTATION ............................................ 125 I. PHOSPHORUS DETERGENT AND FERTILIZER USAGE .............................................. 128 CHAPTER 7 – ENHANCEMENTS TO THE WATERSHED PROTECTION AND RESTORATION PROGRAMS ...................................................................................................... 129 A. FUNDING AND CAPACITY ................................................................................................ 129 B. CLEAN WATER INITIATIVE PROGRAM ......................................................................... 130 C. CLEAN WATER FUND ........................................................................................................ 131 D. TACTICAL BASIN PLANNING AND CRITICAL SOURCE AREA ................................ 133 E. TRACKING PHASE 2 TMDL IMPLEMENTATION & BEYOND .................................... 146 CHAPTER 8 - CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILIENCE ........................................................... 152 A. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 152 B. SUMMARY AND PERSPECTIVE ON THE TETRA TECH CLIMATE RESPONSE MODELING REPORT ......................................................................................................... 154 C. ACTIONS TO MINIMIZE THE CURRENT AND FUTURE WATER QUALITY IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ................................................................................. 156 D. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 167 CHAPTER 9 - IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE AND ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................................................... 169 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 170 4 | P a g e EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vermonters value a clean Lake Champlain. We swim and fish in the lake, we boat on it, we drink its water, and we deeply appreciate its beauty. A clean lake attracts businesses and tourists to the region and is a major driver of the State’s economy. Phosphorus pollution is the greatest threat to clean water in Lake Champlain. Phosphorus is a nutrient that stimulates excessive growth of algae in the lake, turning the water green. In excessive amounts, algae can impair recreational uses, aesthetic enjoyment, the taste of drinking water, and the biological community. In some cases, algal blooms - particularly cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) - can produce toxins that harm animals and people. Phosphorus is found in eroded soil and runoff from farm fields, barnyards, roads, parking lots, and streambanks, and in wastewater discharges. Efforts to reduce all these sources of phosphorus have accelerated over the past ten years but the lake has been slow to improve. In 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a Lake Champlain Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) prepared by the states of Vermont and New York. The TMDL placed caps on the amount of phosphorus allowed to enter each segment of Lake Champlain, and allocated those maximum amounts among the various sources within each major watershed draining to the lake. In 2011, the EPA revoked its approval of the Vermont portion of the Lake Champlain TMDL. In June 2016 EPA approved a revised TMDL. Phosphorus loading to Lake Champlain is dominated by “nonpoint sources,” which are generated by runoff and erosion across the landscape, as opposed to “point sources” such as wastewater and certain stormwater discharges that are conveyed by a pipe or other discrete conveyance and are more closely regulated. For a TMDL to be approved in a situation where reductions in nonpoint source loading are relied upon to achieve the TMDL, the EPA must find “reasonable assurances” that the necessary nonpoint source reductions will actually occur. Insufficient reasonable assurance was the primary reason given by the EPA for reversing its approval of the 2002 TMDL. EPA’s expectations of Vermont for the new Lake Champlain TMDL are divided into two distinct planning phases. For the first phase, EPA expects Vermont to provide policy commitments relating to nonpoint source phosphorus reductions in a basin-wide scale implementation plan. This Vermont Lake Champlain TMDL Phase 1 Implementation Plan (Phase 1 Plan) contain those policy commitments. The State also agreed to develop a sub-basin tactical implementation plan (Phase 2 Implementation Plans) for each lake segment following EPA’s completion of the final TMDL. Each tactical sub-basin plan will have an implementation table that identifies in more detail the specific point source and nonpoint source