Addressing Nonpoint Source Pollution through EPA’s National Nonpoint Source Program Webcast
July 17th, 2023
Please join EPA’s Watershed Academy for this webcast to learn more about the national nonpoint source program and the various ways this program helps restore water quality across the United States.
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution encompasses a wide range of sources and is the prevailing cause of the nation’s water quality problems. The vast extent and continuous nature of NPS pollution is a challenge that requires problems to be addressed through a variety of approaches using multiple funding sources. EPA’s national nonpoint source program encompasses a variety of initiatives and partnerships that help address NPS pollution in the nation’s waterbodies, including:
- Section 319 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which was established in 1987 and establishes a grant program for states, territories, and Tribes to implement their approved NPS management programs. Since 2009, funded work through § 319 has collectively restored over 12,500 miles of rivers and streams and over 230,000 acres of lakes and ponds, with documented water quality improvements in 1,080 waterbodies (and counting!). This webinar will highlight the basics of this program as well as recent changes to the Tribal 319 program.
- The Pollutant Load Estimate Tool (PLET) is a tool used by Section 319 grantees and others to estimate annual pollutant load reductions that result from the implementation of best management practices. We will take a close look at the Urban BMP Tool!
- The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) can be an important partner to significantly leverage § 319 investments to address NPS pollution. We will explore the connections between the NPS and CWSRF programs.
- EPA is a co-chair of the Mississippi River/Gulf of America Hypoxia Task Force, which was established to coordinate activities to reduce the size, severity, and duration of a hypoxic zone that forms annually in the Gulf as a result of nonpoint source pollution from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.
Speakers:
- Ellie Flaherty, U.S. EPA
- Adrienne Donaghue, U.S. EPA
- Don Waye, U.S. EPA
- Jake Greif, U.S. EPA
- Steve Epting, U.S. EPA
- Margot Buckelew, U.S. EPA