EPA Approves Maine’s Nonpoint Source Control Program Upgrade & 15 Year Strategy

On 10/13/99 John DeVillars, Regional Administrator of EPA approved Maine’s Non-Point Source (NPS) Control Program Upgrade and 15 Year Strategy. DeVillars said "We believe Maine’s NPS program is exemplary. In fact, managers at our EPA Washington office, who have reviewed strategies from 40 States, consider Maine’s plan as one of the best in the nation." The President’s Clean Water Action Plan requires each state to update its plan for managing nonpoint source pollution in 1999, in order to qualify for watershed restoration grant money under Clean Water Act (Section 319). Maine’s potential share for this program is $1.2 million for the year 2000. NPS pollution is the largest type of pollution to surface waters, nationally and in Maine. Maine’s NPS strategy aims to prevent or abate water by building local community awareness and commitment to protecting or improving water quality and by increasing compliance with water quality protection laws.The strategy document addresses:

EPA’s requirement that all states substantiate that their NPS water pollution control program is consistent with national EPA guidance, titled Nine Key Elements of Effective and Dynamic State Nonpoint Source Management Programs, and
EPA and NOAA requirements, pursuant to Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 and related federal guidance, that each coastal state prepare a strategy to ensure implementation of NPS management measures to protect and improve water quality within 15 years of approval of the state's Coastal NPS Program. NOAA and EPA conditionally approved Maine's Coastal NPS Program, an element of Maine's statewide NPS Program, in 1998.

Maine coordinated development of a single, unified NPS program document in accordance with joint EPA-NOAA guidance dated March 11, 1999. This unified approach reflects the fact that the State intends to continue to plan, implement, and prioritize actions to address NPS problems on a statewide basis. The strategy was developed by DEP and the State Planning Office in consultation with State agencies and other partners. Under Maine’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Program (38 M.R.S.A. §410-I), the following State agencies share responsibility for coordinating and implementing NPS programs: the Maine Departments of Agriculture Food and Rural Resources; Conservation (Maine Forest Service); Transportation; Human Services (Division of Health Engineering); and Marine Resources. This strategy document was endorsed by the Maine Land and Water Resources Council, which serves as the State’s decision-making body for natural resource issues of interagency scope.

Contacts: Don Witherill or Norm Marcotte, Watershed Management Division