Background Information
& History of the TMDL Program
Background
Section 303(d) of the Clean
Water Act (CWA) requires states to submit lists of surface waters that do not meet
applicable water quality standards (impaired waters) after implementation of
technology-based effluent limitations, and establish Total Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDLs) for
these waters on a prioritized schedule. TMDLs establish the maximum amount of a pollutant
that a water body can assimilate without causing exceedances of water quality standards.
As such, development of TMDLs is an important step toward restoring our waters to their
designated uses. In order to achieve the water quality benefits intended by the
CWA, it is
critical that TMDLs, once developed, be implemented as soon as possible.
Chapter
99-223, Laws of Florida, sets forth the process by which the
303(d) list is refined through more detailed water quality
assessments. It also establishes the means for adopting TMDLs,
allocating pollutant loadings among contributing sources, and
implementing pollution reduction strategies.
Implementation of TMDLs refers to any combination of
regulatory, non-regulatory, or incentive-based actions that attain the necessary reduction
in pollutant loading. Non-regulatory or incentive-based actions may include development
and implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs), pollution prevention activities,
and habitat preservation or restoration. Regulatory actions may include issuance or
revision of wastewater, stormwater, or environmental resource permits to include permit
conditions consistent with the TMDL. These permit conditions may be numeric effluent
limitations or, for technology-based programs, requirements to use a combination of
structural and non-structural BMPs needed to achieve the necessary pollutant load
reduction.
Spring 1999 Workshop
The FDEP held a TMDL workshop on March 2-4, 1999. This
meeting provided information allowing participating agencies to become
more familiar with the status of the program and the program's
procedures.
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Impaired Waters Technical
Advisory Committee (IWTAC)
The Florida Watershed Restoration Act clarified the Department’s
authority for the TMDL program and directed the Department to develop a methodology, and
adopt it by rule, that clearly defines those waters that should be included in the
state’s 303(d) list of impaired waters. Given the importance of this effort, the
Department elected to form a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to help us develop a
clear, consensus-based method to define impaired lakes, streams, and estuaries. TAC
members were selected based on their technical expertise in key scientific fields,
rather than as representatives of special interest groups. While the resultant 303(d) list
determined which waters were targeted for TMDL development, we also hoped
that the list will be used to help prioritize a variety of watershed restoration efforts.
TMDL Allocation Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC)
On March 24, 2000, the
Department held the first meeting of a Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) for the Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program. The intended purpose of the PAC was to address policy
issues related to the TMDL Program, including those related to the 303(d) Methodology
(Impaired Waters) Rule currently being developed by Department staff and a Technical
Advisory Committee (Impaired Waters TAC), and the allocation of TMDLs to point and
nonpoint sources. It was determined at the meeting though that the PAC would operate as an
open discussion group, with a format more like public workshops and informal public
meetings, rather than as a formal committee.
However,
the Watershed Restoration Act of 1999 required the Department to form a Technical Advisory
Committee to address issues relating to the allocation of load reductions among point
source and nonpoint source contributors. The Allocation TAC (ATAC) was therefore
formed in order to develop recommendations for a report to the legislature on the process
for allocating Total Maximum Daily Loads.
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Impaired Waters Rule Development Workshop
(IWRDEV)
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection held a
series of Impaired Waters Rule Development Workshops. These
workshops were one component of the ongoing rulemaking effort to develop a
rule to identify impaired waters in Florida. Topics included, impaired
waters rulemaking, statistical methods used to evaluate water quality
criteria exceedances, and biological assessment.
Impaired Waters Public Meetings on Policy
Issues (IWPM)
The purpose of these meetings was to address policy issues related
to the TMDL Program, including those related to the 303(d) Methodology
(Impaired Waters) Rule currently being developed by a Technical
Advisory Committee (TAC) and those related to the allocation of TMDLs
to point and nonpoint sources.
More
TMDL Info
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For
more information, send e-mail to
Jan
Mandrup-Poulsen (Jan.Mandrup-Poulsen@dep.state.fl.us)
Total
Maximum Daily Load Program
2600 Blair Stone Road - Mail Station 3555
Tallahassee, FL, 32399-2400
Phone: (850) 245-8449
2010 State of Florida