Agenda - 02-15-2011 - 7c - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Lake nutrient management strategy estimated the total cost of implementation of the rules to be approximately $1.5 billion, most of which would "kick in" at Stage II of the Falls Lake rules. Approximately $1.25 billion dollars of this total is estimated as the cost to local governments in the upper Neuse River basin. Most of this figure is estimated to be the cost to comply with two areas of the nutrient management strategy: • the rules associated with stormwater emanating from existing development, and • the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants to reduce the nutrient loading in their discharges. The final Nutrient Management Strategy requires that the EMC re-evaluate the nutrient management strategy prior to the initiation of Stage II of the strategy in the year 2026. The collection of necessary data to permit a re-examination of the Nutrient Management Strategy could begin as early as this year. The re-examination of the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy is likely to include consideration of the conditions of the lake, and the effectiveness of the nutrient management strategy versus the cost of complying with the Stage I and Stage II nutrient management rules as currently written. The re-examination could also include evaluation of the current uses of the lake, the cost of achieving (or attempting to achieve) the Stage II nutrient reduction goals, and whether alternative water quality standards may be sufficient to protect the existing uses of the lake. Some directors of the UNRBA have indicated that lobbying DWQ and the EMC to revise the nutrient management rules should occur as part of this re-examination period. As a result, the UNRBA is considering developing a new 501(c)(4) organization in order to legally lobby DWQ and EMC. A working group composed of attorneys and UNRBA directors has concluded that this may be necessary in the near future to permit the association to continue its current activities as well as begin to undertake additional activities, including possibly lobbying. Additional activities which the UNRBA is likely to undertake in the near future include directing the development and oversight of a water quality monitoring project in the entire Falls Lake watershed, and possibly even conducting water quality monitoring of Falls Lake itself. In addition, the UNRBA is likely to also consider contracting with a national consulting firm to complete independent modeling of Falls Lake in order to gauge the effectiveness of Stage 1 of the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy prior to the initiation of Stage II of the Strategy, or even go so far as to engage a consultant to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a Use Attainability Assessment (UAA) of Falls Lake in an attempt to modify the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy. Conducting the UAA would be an expensive undertaking. However, given the estimated cost of complying with the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy as currently written, especially for urban areas in the Falls Lake watershed, expending funds to explore alternatives to the current nutrient management strategy may appear to be a reasonable expense. However, the cost/benefit ratio of such activities for more rural jurisdictions such as Orange County may be very different. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There are no financial impacts at present, although additional financial impacts are likely in coming years as a result of additional activities likely to be undertaken by the UNRBA. Currently, Orange County's dues to the UNRBA are approximately $13,000. This amount could double next year as a result of some of the additional activities discussed above.