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Strategic Objective

Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems

Strategic Objective

Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.

Lead Office: Office of Water

Themes:

Natural Resources and Environment

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Overview
Progress Update
Related Goals

Overview

People and the ecological integrity of aquatic systems rely on healthy watersheds. EPA employs a suite of programs to protect and improve water quality in the nation’s watersheds—rivers, lakes, wetlands, and streams—as well as in our estuarine, coastal, and ocean waters. In partnership with states, territories, local governments, and tribes, EPA’s core water programs help:

Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment infrastructure;
Conduct monitoring and assessment;
Establish pollution reduction targets;
Update water quality

Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment infrastructure;
Conduct monitoring and assessment;
Establish pollution reduction targets;
Update water quality standards;
Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
Implement programs to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution.

While promoting sustainable management of municipal wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, we will work with federal, state, and local partners to bring appropriate and effective solutions to small, rural, and disadvantaged communities. EPA will continue to promote robust planning that includes an assessment of green, sustainable alternatives, and will continue to work with municipalities on implementing the integrated planning process for wastewater and stormwater management on a case-by-case basis.[1]

We will also work more aggressively to reduce and control pollutants that are discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources, and vessels, as well as to implement programs to prevent and reduce pollution that washes off the land during rain events. By promoting green infrastructure and sustainable landscape management, EPA will help restore natural hydrologic systems and the health of aquatic ecosystems to reduce pollution from stormwater events.[2] The Agency is exploring innovative approaches to meeting the 21^st century water quality challenges with streamlined permitting and oversight processes supported by modernized data management and technologies.

To provide information on the ecological and recreational condition of the nation’s waters and the key stressors impacting those waters, EPA will continue to work with states and tribes to implement the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, including the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, the National Coastal Condition Assessment, the National Wetland Condition Assessment, and the National Lakes Assessment.[3] These probability-based surveys provide nationally consistent and scientifically-defensible assessments of our nation's waters. These data will support EPA and our partners in identifying priority actions to protect and restore water quality and in assessing whether collective efforts are improving water quality over time as water conditions are altered in response to climate change.

Over the next 4 years, EPA will continue efforts to restore water bodies that do not meet water quality standards, preserve and protect high-quality aquatic resources, and protect, restore, and improve wetland acreage and quality. The Agency will improve the way existing tools are used, explore how innovative tools can be applied, and enhance efforts and cross-media collaboration to protect and prevent water quality impairment in healthy watersheds. The Agency will use the National Aquatic Resource Survey to track the effectiveness of these combined efforts at protecting and improving water quality over time.

Results from the National Aquatic Resource Survey reinforce EPA’s commitment to address nitrogen and phosphorus pollution as among the most serious and pervasive water quality problems. Programs for controlling nonpoint sources of pollution are key to reducing the number of impaired waters nationwide. The programs provide a multi-faceted approach to the problem, combining innovative development strategies to help leverage traditional tools. In addition to working with state, tribal, and local partners, EPA is collaborating with USDA to implement its National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) and collaborating on other geographically-based initiatives. Coordination of EPA’s nonpoint source (CWA Section 319) grant funds and USDA Farm Bill funds is intended to protect water quality more effectively from runoff from agricultural lands and demonstrate improved effectiveness. USDA launched the NWQI in FY 2012, which targets 5 percent of USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program resources for water quality improvements in 165 specific watersheds across the nation. EPA is collaborating closely with USDA as it implements this program, and is now requiring states to assess water quality results in NWQI watersheds through Section 319 grant funds or other funding sources.

Development and implementation of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for CWA Section 303(d) listed impaired waterbodies is a critical tool for meeting water quality restoration goals. The CWA 303(d) listing and TMDL program has engaged with states to implement a new 10-year vision for the program to more effectively achieve the water quality goals of each state. The approach involves fostering effective integration across multiple programs, statutes, and agencies—CWA point and nonpoint source programs, other statutory programs within EPA’s jurisdiction (e.g., the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act [CERCLA], Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [RCRA], SDWA, and Clean Air Act [CAA]), and the water quality efforts of other federal agencies (e.g., the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce). As part of this effort, EPA will continue to encourage states to identify priority waters for assessment, for development of TMDLs and other restoration plans for impaired segments, and for pursuit of protection approaches for unimpaired waters. EPA will work with states and other partners to develop and implement activities and watershed plans to restore and protect these waters.

In partnership with states, tribes, and local communities, EPA is implementing a clean water strategy that explores ways to improve the condition of the urban waterways that may have been overlooked or under-represented in local environmental problem solving. The Agency will continue to play an active role as a member of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership to promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources and build new partnerships with states, tribes, local entities, and the private sector.

EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in key geographic areas[4], to address complex and cross-boundary challenges. Key geographic areas in the national water program include the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico Border region, the Pacific Islands, Long Island Sound, the South Florida Ecosystem, the Puget Sound Basin, the Columbia River Basin, and the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary. EPA will continue to work with and involve states, tribes, and interested stakeholders to set and achieve goals in these geographic areas.

EPA is heading up a multi-agency effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.[5] In other parts of the nation, we will focus on nutrient pollution, which threatens the long-term health of important ecosystems such as the Chesapeake Bay. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, and stakeholders in the Mississippi River Basin on nutrient pollution that is affecting the health of the Gulf of Mexico. Further, given the environmental catastrophe resulting from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, EPA will continue to take necessary actions to support efforts of federal and state trustees in the natural resource damage assessment to restore the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. EPA shares in the role of being a Natural Resource Trustee with responsibility to conduct the natural resource damage assessment for the spill. In addition, EPA is also a member of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, established under the RESTORE Act[6], to restore the ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast region. Monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico under the National Aquatic Resource Survey will be important to fully document the long-term impacts of the spill and track the recovery of wetland and near-shore estuarine resources. This long-term effort by EPA and the states is an important complement to the project-specific and special-focus monitoring efforts underway as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and BP Research funds.

To respond and adapt to the current and potential impacts of a changing climate on aquatic resources, including the current and potential impacts associated with warming temperatures, changes in rainfall amount and intensity, and sea level rise, EPA has developed a “National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change.” This strategy sets out long-term goals and specific actions contributing to national efforts to prepare for, and build resilience to, impacts of a changing climate on water resources. EPA is working with state, tribal, and local governments, as well as other partners, to implement actions addressing climate change challenges to the protection of water infrastructure, coastal and ocean waters, watersheds, and water quality.[7] For example, EPA has developed the Climate Resilience Evaluation and Assessment Tool (CREAT) to help water utilities assess vulnerability to a changing climate and take response actions. EPA is also defining actions that states can take starting in 2015 to adapt core clean water and drinking water programs (e.g., state revolving loan funds, water quality standards, and drinking water sanitary surveys) to a changing climate.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Water Quality: Water quality programs face challenges such as increases in nutrient loadings and stormwater runoff, aging infrastructure, and population growth (which can increase water consumption and place additional stress on aging water infrastructures). The Agency is carefully examining the potential impacts of and solutions to these issues, including effects on water quality and quantity that could result in the long term from a changing climate. The Agency will continue implementing the National Aquatic Resource Surveys to support collection of nationally consistent data to support these efforts. The Agency will also continue to implement the WaterSense program as a means to help communities address challenges posed by water scarcity through demand management.[8]

Population Density: In 2010, 52 percent of the U.S. population lived in coastal watershed counties which comprise less than 20 percent of the total land area of the U.S., excluding Alaska. The population density of coastal watershed counties is over five times greater than the corresponding inland counties. If current population trends continue, the already crowded U.S. coast will see population grow from 123 million people to nearly 134 million people by 2020, placing more of the population at increased risk from a changing climate and exposing these fragile coastal ecosystems to greater pressures. Population growth in coastal watershed counties is impacting water quality and other coastal resources within National Estuary Program (NEP) study areas. NEPs work to address the impacts of growth by focusing their long-term management and annual work plans on priorities such as stormwater management, reduction of excess nutrient loadings, and promotion of low-impact development and green infrastructure. Also, EPA’s climate-ready estuaries program provides the capacity for NEPs and coastal stakeholders to develop vulnerability assessments.[9]

Technology Market Opportunities: EPA is working both internally and with external partners and stakeholders to discuss plans for advancing innovative technologies that will be important to the continued protection and restoration of waters. Some key market opportunities for innovative technology to help address current and emerging water resource issues were identified in EPA’s “Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program.”[10] They include:

Energy reduction and recovery at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
Nutrient recovery from wastewater;
Improving and "greening" the nation's infrastructure;
Water reuse;
Improved and less expensive monitoring;
Improving reliability of small drinking water systems;
Technology evaluation and performance;
Reducing water impacts from domestic energy production;
Resiliency of water infrastructure; and,
Improving water quality of oceans, estuaries, and watersheds.

Endnotes:

For information on the Integrated Planning process, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.cfm.
For information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298.
For information on National Aquatic Resource Surveys, see http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/monitoring/aquaticsurvey_index.cfm.
For more information on these programs and their performance measures, see the annual National Water Program Guidance, available at http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan/index.html.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is focused on toxic substances and areas of concern, invasive species, nearshore health and nonpoint source pollution, habitats and species, and integrated solutions to cross-cutting issues. Information is available at http://greatlakesrestoration.us/.
Please see http://www.restorethegulf.gov/council/about-gulf-coast-ecosystem-restoration-council.
EPA National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change, information available at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/2012-National-Water-Program-Strategy.cfm. United States Global Change Research Program, information available at http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/reports.
For information on WaterSense, see http://www.epa.gov/watersense/.
For information on climate-ready estuaries, see http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/cre/index.cfm.
“Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program,” information is available at http://water.epa.gov/blueprint.cfm.

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Progress Update

EPA made significant progress in FY 2014 in protecting and restoring watersheds and aquatic ecosystems. A cumulative total of 3,866 waterbodies that were listed as impaired in 2002 were attaining water quality standards at the end of the year. EPA met its programmatic goals in FY 2014 by achieving its annual targets for sustaining a Clean Water State Revolving Fund utilization rate of over 97 percent, establishing or approving TMDLs, and maintaining 90 percent of non-tribal NPDES permits in current status. EPA and its partners also increased wetland acres restored and improved to a cumulative total of 221,000 acres.

EPA’s geographic programs largely achieved their end of year goals. Key accomplishments include completing management actions at three areas of concern in the Great Lakes for a cumulative total of seven (the target was five), restoring over 41,000 acres of estuarine wetlands in Puget Sound, and restoring or protecting over 93,000 acres of habitat in National Estuary Program (NEP) study areas (just short of the target of 100,000 acres).

EPA also supported States and local water utilities in responding to the water related challenges posed by a changing climate. EPA deployed new tools to develop climate change adaptation plans on a watershed or estuary basis, to help water utilities improve preparedness for coastal and inland flooding, and to help local developers design stormwater practices that account for changing rainfall patterns. The National Water Program also released a final Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Dounloads/OW-climate-change-adaptation-plan.pdf).

EPA awarded Urban Waters Small Grants of $40,000 to $60,000 each to 37 organizations, providing approximately $2.1 million to support projects helping communities in their efforts to access, improve, and benefit from their urban waters and the surrounding land. These local projects showcase how EPA is making a visible difference in underserved communities on the ground by helping to restore urban waters, improve water quality and support community revitalization and other local priorities.

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Strategic Goals

Strategic Goal:

Protecting America's Waters

Statement:

Protect and restore waters to ensure that drinking water is safe and sustainably managed, and that aquatic ecosystems sustain fish, plants, wildlife, and other biota, as well as economic, recreational, and subsistence activities.

Strategic Objectives

Protect Human Health

Statement:

Achieve and maintain standards and guidelines protective of human health in drinking water supplies, fish, shellfish, and recreational waters, and protect and sustainably manage drinking water resources.

Description:

Sustaining the quality and supply of our water resources is essential to safeguarding human health. More than 300 million people living in the United States rely on the safety of tap water provided by public water systems that are subject to national drinking water standards. Over the next 4 years, EPA will help protect human health and make America’s water systems sustainable and secure by:

Providing financial assistance for public water system infrastructure to protect and maintain drinking water quality;
Strengthening compliance with drinking water standards;
Continuing to protect sources of drinking water from contamination and ensuring reliable supplies of drinking water as water temperatures increase (including addressing the harmful effects of algal blooms);
Developing new and revising existing drinking water standards to address known and emerging contaminants that endanger human health; and,
Supporting states, tribes, and territories in their oversight of public water systems in implementing these standards, and supporting water systems directly through provision of guidance, training, and information.

While promoting sustainable management of drinking water infrastructure, we will provide needed oversight and technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories, so that their water systems comply with or exceed existing standards and are able to comply with new standards. We will also promote the construction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking water into the homes of small, rural, and disadvantaged communities and increase efforts to guard the nation's critical drinking water infrastructure.

In addition, EPA is actively working Agency-wide and with external partners and stakeholders to implement a multi-faceted drinking water strategy. With this approach, EPA seeks to: address chemicals and contaminants by group, as opposed to working on a chemical-by-chemical basis; foster the development of new drinking water treatment technologies; use the authority of multiple statutes in addressing drinking water contamination; and, encourage collaboration with states and tribes to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems. To this end, the Agency is replacing the federal and state components of EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) with a new system. SDWIS Prime is designed to assist regulatory agencies with their implementation of the public water system supervision (PWSS) program, as well as improve the efficiency of sharing drinking water data among states, tribes, and the Agency. This will allow for better targeting of federal and state funding and technical assistance resources, and improve data quality while increasing public access to drinking water data.

Science-based water quality criteria are essential to protect our public water systems, groundwater and surface water bodies, and recreational waters. These criteria are the foundation for state and tribal tools to safeguard human health such as public advisories for beaches, fish consumption, and drinking water. Over the next 4 years, we will expand that science to improve our understanding of emerging potential waterborne threats to human health, develop new criteria, and validate testing methods that provide quicker results and enable faster action on beach safety.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

EPA’s underground injection control (UIC) program provides a framework to ensure protection of underground sources of drinking water from endangerment related to the construction, operation, permitting, and closure of injection wells that place fluids underground for storage, disposal, enhanced recovery of oil and gas, or minerals recovery. Natural gas plays a key role in our clean energy future. Hydraulic fracturing is a key way to recover natural gas from sources. EPA will ensure proper oversight of hydraulic fracturing operations in cases where diesel fuel is used by implementing permitting guidance under SDWA's Class II UIC program for hydraulic fracturing. EPA is working with state and tribal organizations, along with other federal agencies, to develop and implement voluntary strategies for encouraging the use of alternatives to diesel in hydraulic fracturing and improving compliance with other Class II regulations, including possible risks from induced seismic events and the risk from radionuclides in disposal wells. EPA is also continuing to work with state, tribal, and industry representatives to make UIC Class II regulations and information more transparent and to implement best practices and promote coordination between UIC and oil and gas agencies.

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FY 16-17 Priority Goal: Advance resilience in the nation’s water infrastructure, while protecting public health and the environment, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable communities.

Statement:

By September 30, 2017, EPA will provide technical assistance and other tools to 75 urban communities to advance green infrastructure planning and implementation efforts to increase local climate resilience and water quality protections in stormwater infrastructure. EPA will also provide tools and training for 5000 operators of small water utilities to improve resilience in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Trainings will be targeted based on regional threats, such as drought and flooding.

Description:

The uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water is an integral element in maintaining the public health of the nation. Improvements in the drinking water sector preparedness to prevent and mitigate the duration and severity of interruptions to the delivery of safe drinking water continues to be necessary in light of evolving stresses, whether attributed to natural, accidental, or intentional circumstances or aging or stressed infrastructure. Extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns and temperature variability, all intensified by climate change, have significant implications for the sustainability of the water sector. By planning for, assessing and adapting to these challenges, the water sector can fulfill their public health and environmental missions and begin the process of becoming climate ready.

Under Presidential Policy Directive 21, the President has designated EPA as the Sector Specific Agency responsible for enhancing the resilience and preparedness of the nation’s water sector, which includes about 180,000 drinking water and wastewater utilities. Further, the Department of Homeland Security has designated the water sector to be one of four “lifeline” sectors, meaning that if a disruption of service occurs in any one of these four sectors, then a community or region will experience potentially significant consequences in terms of public health, the economy, and the other critical infrastructure sectors, many of which rely on the lifeline sectors.

EPA’s green infrastructure program works with communities to assess how green infrastructure can enhance their stormwater management systems and be an integral part of their climate resiliency strategy. The agency has developed green infrastructure tools and resources for communities to use in planning their long-term stormwater actions.

EPA’s efforts to improve the resilience of the water sector derive not only from these homeland security directives, but also from its core mission as an agency, viz., the protection of public health and the environment.

Drinking water and wastewater utilities must remain operational in the face of all hazards if we are to preserve the many gains in public health and environmental protection which have been realized from the water sector. As with the other lifeline sectors, the water sector is at risk from a multitude of threats spanning natural disasters, climate change, cyber-attacks, and terrorism.

The 2002 amendments to the SDWA required drinking water systems serving more than 3,300 people to submit a vulnerability assessment to EPA. However, Congress required that such systems prepare a vulnerability assessment as a one-time mandate, not a recurring one. The statutory requirements also excluded water systems serving fewer than 3,300 people and all wastewater systems.

EPA’s water security and resilience program has developed a robust array of successful tools, training, and direct technical assistance for the water sector to improve prevention, as well as enable appropriate situational response, including application of resources, to mitigate the interruption of delivery of safe drinking water to the nation’s consumers. For instance, under EPA’s leadership, the number of intrastate mutual aid compacts (peer-to-peer assistance networks) has increased from just three states in 2006 to 49 states in 2015. Small and larger scale incidents have triggered the activation of eighty-six percent of these agreements. Despite this success, enhancing resilience competes with many other priorities within the water sector, notably, regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and funding inadequacies. As such, EPA continues to try to lower the barriers to adopting resilience measures by providing innovative, easy to use software tools and in person, nationwide training sessions to help water systems of all sizes and types to enhance their resilience.

In addition to motivating the water sector, EPA must be mindful of the evolving threats to the water sector. Extreme weather events, the increasing impacts of climate change, and the almost omnipresent threat of cyber-attacks in particular will impose a daunting challenge to the water sector, as evident by several recent events: the persistent drought in California and much of the west, drought then extreme flooding in Texas, storm surge in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, and cyber intrusions into water utilities’ operations. Such threats will jeopardize the ability of the water sector to continue to fulfill its public health and environmental missions unless the sector manages to improve its resilience to all hazards.

In response, EPA has undertaken a national effort to enhance resilience—with an emphasis on severe drought, flooding, cybersecurity, and climate change—through the provision of planning tools, training sessions, and direct technical assistance.

Stormwater is an increasing water infrastructure challenge. As more land is developed with impervious surfaces, the amount of stormwater that communities must manage continues to grow. Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution, contributes to sewer overflows, and causes local flooding. As the climate changes, more precipitation and more intense rain events in certain portions of the country will further strain community stormwater management systems. In the west and southwest increasing drought conditions will emphasize the need for communities to use rain as a beneficial water resource before in can become polluted stormwater runoff.

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Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems

Statement:

Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.

Description:

Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment infrastructure;
Conduct monitoring and assessment;
Establish pollution reduction targets;
Update water quality standards;
Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
Implement programs to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Water Quality: Water quality programs face challenges such as increases in nutrient loadings and stormwater runoff, aging infrastructure, and population growth (which can increase water consumption and place additional stress on aging water infrastructures). The Agency is carefully examining the potential impacts of and solutions to these issues, including effects on water quality and quantity that could result in the long term from a changing climate. The Agency will continue implementing the National Aquatic Resource Surveys to support collection of nationally consistent data to support these efforts. The Agency will also continue to implement the WaterSense program as a means to help communities address challenges posed by water scarcity through demand management.[8]

Population Density: In 2010, 52 percent of the U.S. population lived in coastal watershed counties which comprise less than 20 percent of the total land area of the U.S., excluding Alaska. The population density of coastal watershed counties is over five times greater than the corresponding inland counties. If current population trends continue, the already crowded U.S. coast will see population grow from 123 million people to nearly 134 million people by 2020, placing more of the population at increased risk from a changing climate and exposing these fragile coastal ecosystems to greater pressures. Population growth in coastal watershed counties is impacting water quality and other coastal resources within National Estuary Program (NEP) study areas. NEPs work to address the impacts of growth by focusing their long-term management and annual work plans on priorities such as stormwater management, reduction of excess nutrient loadings, and promotion of low-impact development and green infrastructure. Also, EPA’s climate-ready estuaries program provides the capacity for NEPs and coastal stakeholders to develop vulnerability assessments.[9]

Energy reduction and recovery at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
Nutrient recovery from wastewater;
Improving and "greening" the nation's infrastructure;
Water reuse;
Improved and less expensive monitoring;
Improving reliability of small drinking water systems;
Technology evaluation and performance;
Reducing water impacts from domestic energy production;
Resiliency of water infrastructure; and,
Improving water quality of oceans, estuaries, and watersheds.

Endnotes:

For information on the Integrated Planning process, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.cfm.
For information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298.
For information on National Aquatic Resource Surveys, see http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/monitoring/aquaticsurvey_index.cfm.
For more information on these programs and their performance measures, see the annual National Water Program Guidance, available at http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan/index.html.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is focused on toxic substances and areas of concern, invasive species, nearshore health and nonpoint source pollution, habitats and species, and integrated solutions to cross-cutting issues. Information is available at http://greatlakesrestoration.us/.
Please see http://www.restorethegulf.gov/council/about-gulf-coast-ecosystem-restoration-council.
EPA National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change, information available at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/2012-National-Water-Program-Strategy.cfm. United States Global Change Research Program, information available at http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/reports.
For information on WaterSense, see http://www.epa.gov/watersense/.
For information on climate-ready estuaries, see http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/cre/index.cfm.
“Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program,” information is available at http://water.epa.gov/blueprint.cfm.

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FY 16-17 Priority Goal: Advance resilience in the nation’s water infrastructure, while protecting public health and the environment, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable communities.

Statement:

Description:

Learn More

Agency Priority Goals

FY 14-15: Improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems, which account for more than 97% of public water systems in the U.S., by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems.

Statement:

By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.

Description:

The responsibility for communities and public water systems to continuously provide safe drinking water is a key component of the Nation’s health and well-being. The delivery of safe drinking water is often taken for granted and is extremely undervalued. More than 156,000 public water systems provide drinking water to the approximately 305 million persons in the U.S. More than 97% of these public water systems serve fewer than 10,000 persons. Many of the communities that operate these small systems face a number of challenges in their ability to reliably administer, operate, and assure adequate and long term funding capacity in order to provide safe drinking water to their customers. These challenges include aging infrastructure, increased regulatory requirements, workforce shortages/high-turnover, increasing operational costs, and declining rate bases, and extreme natural disasters/weather events. EPA will work closely with state primacy agencies, tribes, and other organizations to implement a series of efforts to address these challenge areas and strengthen the capacity of small systems to sustainably provide safe water to the public now and in the future.

Trends and Milestone Status Updates:

Capacity Development Program: The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments established a strong emphasis on enhanced water system management to achieve and maintain technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity of water systems. The Capacity Development Program establishes a framework within which states and water systems can work together to help systems achieve the SDWA’s public health protection objectives. The state Capacity Development programs are supported federally by the Public Water System Supervision state grant funds and the set-asides established in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Since the 1996 Amendments, states have implemented a variety of activities to assist small systems with their compliance challenges and enhance their technical, managerial, and financial capacity.

In FY 2010, EPA re-energized its small systems focus with the intent to work more closely with state programs to improve public water system sustainability and public health protection for persons served by small water systems. As such, EPA launched the State/EPA Re-Energizing Workgroup to better understand state programs’ existing implementation efforts, evaluate barriers to water system capacity and identify areas where EPA and states need to collaborate to improve program implementation. The workgroup released its findings document in April 2011 http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/upload/re-energizing_ap..., which identifies challenges faced by small systems and states in assisting them, best practices for assisting small systems, and other opportunities to further enhance state programs. In addition, four additional State/EPA workgroups were formed in FY 2011 and conducted further discussions of topics identified by states: promoting water system partnerships to improve system sustainability; opportunities to improve collaboration across various state and federal programs to increase efficiency and assist small systems; best practices for assessing managerial capacity of small systems and opportunities to increase asset management; approaches for addressing projected water sector workforce shortages.

In FY12, EPA launched two new EPA-state workgroups: Asset Management Workgroup and the Non-Community Water Systems (NCWS) Workgroup. EPA also partnered with other federal agencies that work with small systems, such as USDA-Rural Development, or offer resources that can assist small systems with workforce challenges, such as the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these and other efforts, EPA has worked with states to continue to enhance their Capacity Development programs to improve small system capabilities.

Optimization Program: EPA’s Optimization Program or Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) provides a systematic approach for states and tribes to assess small water system performance, deliver needed technical assistance, measure the results of those efforts, and maintain performance at drinking water utilities. The Optimization program helps states and tribes prioritize their technical assistance resources by identifying which public water systems are in most need of help (based on water quality and public health risk) and most effectively apply a range of compliance and technical assistance tools to enable small water systems to meet (and sustain) compliance requirements and optimization goals. This is being done through a series of ongoing field training activities.

The Optimization Program was first piloted in 1998 in one EPA region with Drinking Water Program (DWP) staff from four states; the program is currently utilized by over 20 states with support from four EPA regions. The program originally focused on optimizing surface water treatment plant performance to improve finished water quality (lower microbial risk); more recently these concepts have been applied to control Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in the treatment plant and distribution system, and are now being piloted to address groundwater systems, distribution system water age and storage challenges, and systems that utilize membrane filtration. Additionally, operators at systems that pursue optimization often possess the prioritization and problem solving skills to address “unexpected” challenges (e.g., natural disasters, security concerns) and longer term changes in water quality (e.g., due to the impact of climate change). The Optimization Program and the Capacity Development Program have been working together to identify opportunities for collaboration and integration of core program activities. Combined, these programs provide resources, guidelines, technical assistance and a framework to the states to assist them in managing their drinking water programs and helping small systems.

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FY 14-15: Improve, restore, and maintain water quality by enhancing nonpoint source program leveraging, accountability, and on-the-ground effectiveness to address the Nation’s largest sources of pollution.

Statement:

By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section 319 grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.

Description:

The Clean Water Act Section 319 Program is a vital source of support for the management of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution – excess nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens and sediments that are the primary cause of pollution in the vast majority of impaired waterways across the Country. NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and can include excess fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems, among others. Because resources are limited and NPS pollution comes from diverse sources that differ by state and locale, strategic use of Section 319 funds is essential to achieving the best water quality outcomes for this limited natural resource.

In 2013 EPA took steps to strengthen the Section 319 program, issuing revised national guidelines for Section 319 grants to states. Key aspects of the new guidelines include 50% of a state’s 319 funds are devoted to on-the-ground projects to restore and protect waterways; strengthened incentives for leveraging of additional state and local funds; an emphasis on collaboration and leveraging with USDA; and a requirement that all states have updated NPS management programs with relevant goals and annual milestones to guide their investment of Section 319 funds. Effectively utilizing limited resources for such a diverse set of pollution problems requires setting priorities, sustaining priority efforts over time, and substantial leveraging with other programs and partners. The role of the states’ NPS Management Program is to provide a roadmap for doing just that.

A meaningful state NPS Management Program reflects the state’s goals, priorities, and key annual milestones and actions over a five-year period, which focuses resources to decrease pollution and protect high quality waters. The Plan describes how multiple state agencies and other partners, such as federal agencies, will coordinate, contribute, or leverage resources to meet the state’s articulated NPS goals and employ locally driven solutions that restore degraded waterways and revitalize communities. Because a state’s NPS management program spans five years, it provides a point of reference and an accountability framework for EPA to use in evaluating and approving annual Section 319 grant workplans. EPA will work with states to ensure that the commitments and milestones in their management program are reflected in annual Section 319 workplans.

This priority goal is a continuation of the work achieved under the 2012-2013 goal that 50 percent of states with outdated NPS management programs would update their programs in accordance with new Section 319 grant guidelines that EPA released in April 2013. Significant progress has been made, but additional work remains. This priority goal will track the continued progress of states updating their NPS Management Programs. Under the FY 2012-2013 priority goal, 22 states must update their programs. (Seven states already had updated programs that meet the guidance.) This FY 2014-2015 priority goal is that all state NPS management programs will be current and aligned with the new grant guidelines by September 2015. Moving forward beyond FY 2015, states are required to review and update their program every five years to keep them relevant.

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FY 14-15: Improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public.

Statement:

By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.

Description:

Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.

Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.

These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.

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