Good Morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Sub-Committee. My name is Jane Nishida, Secretary of Maryland's Department of the Environment I am delighted to be here today to support the President's new national initiative to protect America's rivers, lakes, and coastal waters and to give a Maryland perspective on behalf of Governor Parris Glendening. After 27 years of pursuing regulatory solutions under the existing Clean Water Act, the "Clean Water Action Plan" represents a fresh and innovative approach which greatly enhances the environmental of options available to States to address impaired waters.
Maryland is very fortunate to have one of the nations most outstanding resources--"the beautiful Chesapeake Bay". The people of Maryland know the importance of the Chesapeake Bay and are committed to continue the excellent progress we are making restoring the health of the Bay. There are many waters around the country which could similarly benefit from a comprehensive watershed management approach, like the watershed assessment, restoration prioritization process, and action strategies which are promoted through the "Clean Water Action Plan".
The New Direction
The Nation's clean water program has been reinvigorated through the "Clean Plater Action Plan". This process refocuses State efforts through strengthening and expanding existing programs to assure protection of public health, enhancing stewardship of natal resources, strengthening run-off standards, and expanding citizen's right to know.
Maryland is very excited about these new opportunities. The Action Plan will provide Marylanders a process for refocusing priorities and a mechanism for developing an over-arching strategy to address issues which transcend various environmental laws such as, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act.
The Bay Program - As a Model
No better model exists as to how a watershed approach can serve as a catalyst for developing interrelated voluntary and regulatory solutions to water quality management, than the "Chesapeake Bay Program". Through the Bay program strong federal, State, and local partnerships were achieved. Tributary Teams made up of citizens, local governments, environmentalists, scientists/engineers, homebuilders, and various business and economic interests were established. Waters were assessed, problems identified, and goals agreed to. One of the most successful outcomes was voluntary efforts to achieve a 40 percent nutrient reduction goal. Each Tributary Strategy Team identified reductions targeted to both point and nonpoint sources in each watershed.
Maryland in cooperation with local governments instituted a 50/50 cost share program supported by the Maryland General Assembly which has contributed over $125,000,000 over the past ten years to the cost for insuring nitrogen removal equipment at 63 targeted sewage treatment plants. As effort alone has been credited for reducing nutrients to the Bay by 27 percent.
Governor Parris Glendening and the Maryland General Assembly also passed landmark legislation, through the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998, which will require nitrogen and phosphorus based nutrient management plans on all farms by 2002 and complete implementation by 2005.
Various stakeholder groups in Maryland are currently working with the Department of the Environment to pursue nutrient removal requirements for septic systems to provide for a balanced approach in addressing nutrient reductions from all sectors.
The "Clean Water Action Plan" will strongly reinforce Maryland's efforts to clean up the Bay through various initiatives to include:
Promoting watershed assessments, providing guidance for establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), and enhancing current funding levels for State programs through funding programs like Section 106 and 319.
Establishing nutrient water quality criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus and provide the scientific basis for State adopted standards.
Requiring all State's to manage nutrients on farms by implementing the new Federal Unified Animal Feeding Operation Strategy which will create level playing field among farmers, on a national level, balancing nutrient removal between point and nonpoint sources, and most importantly ensuring that waters impaired by agricultural run-off are restored.
Public Health as a Vital Element of the Action Plan
Although the Bay program has focused on traditions pollutants like suspended solids, oxygen demanding substances, nutrients, fecal coliform and toxics, the summer of 1997 Maryland also demonstrated the need to devote equal attention to public health issues like Pfiesteria.
Emerging disease issues like Pfiesteria and the outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee several years ago reinforces the need to reinvigorate our public health program. Source protection studies under the Safe Drinking Water Act and river basin studies under the Clean Water Act, can achieve far greater results by combining them under a collaborative watershed assessment approach as encouraged under the "Clean Water Action Plan".
It is essential that EPA and States place appropriate emphasis on finding new mechanisms for treatment and new barriers to disease transmission which replace inadequate historical approaches to protect against this new generation of diseases. Chlorination alone cannot be the answer. Watershed assessments, source water protection, and comprehensive performance evaluations at water plants must be viewed collectively as new approaches to public health protection.
Gunpowder Watershed Project -- A Prototype
In Maryland, such a comprehensive watershed assessment is underway for the Gunpowder Watershed Project. In 1997, EPA, Maryland, Baltimore County, Carroll County, and Baltimore City forged a new partnership to look at issues impacting Baltimore Cites metropolitan area reservoir, Loch Raven. The project examines both the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act issues and investigates:
Impacts from sewage treatment plants on stream biodiversity, health and extent of fisheries, and reservoir eutrophication.
Stormwater impacts on nutrient loadings and localized stream back erosion.
Sedimentation rates of the reservoir.
Cryptosporidium occurrence in the reservoir.
Source protection benefits as compared to water treatment costs, and
Land use impacts associated with development on overall shears loadings and impairments.
As the assessment is completed and various options are considered and prioritized many of the remedies promoted by the "Clean Water Action Plan" will be considered. These will necessarily include options for:
Creating wetlands
Using monitoring results to develop TMDLs and watershed permits
Instituting the CAFO Strategy on farms
Implementing Phase II stormwater management requirements
Encouraging pollution prevention and pretreatment requirements at industries and a variety of other options to assure protection of wildlife, improve aquatic habitat, and to enhance natural resources.
Smart Growth
Another approach encouraged Trough the "Clean Water Action Plan'', which Maryland is aggressively pursuing involves Smart Growth. Governor Glendening introduced and the Maryland General Assembly passed landmark legislation in 1997 which discourages sprawl development by targeting public funds to existing community centers where infrastructure is in place to accommodate "planned growth". This program protects and preserves "green areas"' eliminates new sources of pollutant run-off, enhances existing communities, and promotes a better quality of life for all Marylanders.
Not only does the Smart Growth initiative discourage sprawl and promote "green areas" but it targets limited public funding to existing infrastructure needs which significantly enhances efforts to reduce pollution from metropolitan areas. Key projects receiving targeted funds include combined sewer overflows, stormwater retrofits, Brownfields, sewage treatment upgrades, water supply source protection and treatment, wetland creation projects, and small creek and estuary restoration projects.
Summary and Recommendations
Maryland is looking forward to developing restoration strategies like the Gunpowder project for other watersheds identified as put of the State's watershed assessment process. Only through collaborative efforts involving multi-media solutions, strong federal/State/local partnerships, and enhancement of existing programs and implementation mechanism, can State efforts continue the progress towards restoring impaired waters to fishable/swimmable standards. The "Clean Water Action Plan" is a formidable and well-conceived mechanism for assuring that national water management goals are achieved.
Much progress has been made under the framework of the Clean Water Act but, as we move forward to the next millennium, new challenges must be met with renewed focus and commitment. Watershed assessments and permits nutrient water quality standards, a progressive CSO Strategy, implementation of the AFO/CAFO Strategy, new wetlands initiatives, stricter controls on non-point source run-off, and Smart Growth will all be essential elements in our new environmental management approach.
Maryland strongly supports the watershed restoration and assessment approach as well as balanced tributary strategies which are desired to achieve water quality goals through a continuation of voluntary and legally mandated programs. Merging objectives and bringing efforts together to comprehensively address public heals, water quality and living resources is what is needed and what U.S. citizens and Marylanders expect us to do to meet the continuing challenges of restoring and preserving fishable/swimmable waters.