EPA Announces Draft Nitrogen and Phosphorus Allocations for Maryland

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Megan Reuwer

EPA submitted this letter to Maryland on July 1, 2010 detailing the revised annual nutrient loadings that will be proposed under the Chesapeake Bay TMDL for each of the Bay states and Washington, DC. 

These annual loadings are expected to be achieved by the end date of the Bay Restoration Program of 2025 (2020 for Maryland).  The TMDL’s annual loading for sediment in each state will be provided by EPA to the states on August 15, 2010. 

The nitrogen and phosphorus draft allocations are intended to be used to during Maryland's development of its Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). Let's take a look at the jurisdiction-wide allocations for Maryland:

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nitrogen and Phosphorus Draft Allocations - Maryland
Basin

Nitrogen Draft Allocations (million pounds per year

 Phosphorus Draft Allocations (million pounds per year)
Susquehanna                         1.08                        0.05
Eastern Shore                         9.71                        1.09
Western Shore                         9.74                        0.46
Patuxent                         2.85                        0.21
Potomac                       15.70                        0.90
MD TOTAL                       39.09                        2.72

 

Important Deadlines:

  • August 15, 2010: EPA to provide the basinwide, jurisdictional, and major river basin draft allocation for sediment
  • September 1, 2010: EPA expects jurisdictions to submit draft WIP's which sub-allocate these nutrient and sediment allocations among source sectors and the 92 Bay TMDL segmentsheds.
  • September 24, 2010: EPA to propose for comment (for a 45-day public comment period) the draft Bay TMDL.
  • November 29, 2010: Maryland to submit its revised WIP to EPA

I've heard several members of the development industry remark that Maryland's Watershed Implementation Plan will have a significant impact on the industry - and, the draft nutrient load allocations presented in EPA's letter (and the sediment load allocations to come on August 15) will, in turn, play a major role in the WIP.

MDE is still hosting listening sessions on the WIP - the last one occurs on July 15, 2010 from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon in Upper Marlboro, MD at the Prince George's County Soil Conservation District Office (5301 Marlboro Race Track Road).

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