Orange County NC Website
7 <br />Consensus Principles <br />February 9, 2010 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />a. Point Sources: Large point sources as a group should be required to <br />achieve by 2016 a 20% reduction in 2006 nitrogen loads and a 40% <br />reduction in 2006 phosphorus loads. The allowable mass load for these <br />point sources should be allocated among them based on 110% of current <br />flows.Z Smaller point sources should be required to meet limits of <br />technology by 2016. <br />b. New Development: As soon as is reasonably feasible, and no later than <br />eighteen months after adoption of rules by the EMC, new development <br />throughout the Falls watershed should be required to meet a nitrogen <br />annual loading limit of 2.2 pounds per acre and a phosphorus annual <br />loading limit of 0.33 pounds per acre, a portion of which may be achieved <br />through offset payments. <br />c. Existing Development: No later than three years after adoption of the <br />rules by the EMC, all jurisdictions throughout the Falls watershed should <br />be required to begin and continuously implement a program to reduce <br />existing development nutrient loads to 2006 levels within ten years from <br />adoption of the rules by the EMC. <br />1. Where septic systems account for more than 20% of the nitrogen <br />loading in the portion of a subwatershed of Falls Lake within a <br />jurisdiction (according to DWQ's watershed model), that jurisdiction <br />should be required, as a part of its Stage 1 existing development <br />program, to begin and continuously implement a program to reduce <br />loading from septic systems, discharging into waters of the State <br />within that jurisdiction and subwatershed, which accounted any part <br />for nutrient loading for the jurisdiction. <br />2. A jurisdiction that includes any part of a subwatershed of Falls <br />Lake in which chlorophyll a levels have exceeded 40 ug/L in more <br />than 75% of the monitoring events in any calendar year should be <br />required, as a part of its Stage 1 existing development program, to <br />begin and continuously implement a program to reduce nutrient <br />loading into waters of the State within that jurisdiction and <br />subwatershed. <br />However, the total amount of nutrient loading reductions in Stage 1 is not <br />increased for local jurisdictions by the requirement to add specific <br />program components to address septic loading or high nutrient loading <br />levels. <br />d. State and Federal Agencies: State and federal agencies, including but not <br />limited to DOT, shall be required to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus <br />loading from new and existing development to a similar degree and within <br />a similar time schedule as local governments. <br />z The Consensus Principles rely on, and do not seek any change from, the apportionment of load allocations <br />as proposed by DWQ in the draft rules issued on January 14, 2010 <br />