Phase 2 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Meeting [41 Pa.B. 4911]
[Saturday, September 10, 2011]The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) provides notice of the upcoming meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) Management Team. This meeting will be related to the development of the Commonwealth's Phase 2 WIP.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 1, 2011, revised nutrient and sediment allocations for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The revised planning targets are the result of the EPA's development of a revised Watershed Model. Using the revised planning targets, the EPA expects the states to develop a Phase 2 Chesapeake Bay WIP (Phase 2 WIP) which will further subdivide the loads by local area (county). These will not be regulatory allocations to the county. Rather, they are to inform local implementers (for example, municipal elected officials and planning agency personnel, county conservation districts and planning commissions) of the nutrient and sedimentloads generated by their geographical area so they can help implement or plan appropriate actions to reduce the target loads. Local implementation efforts should focus on compliance with existing rules and regulations, as well as seeking opportunities for additional management actions. The reduction targets are for planning purposes only and do not become regulatory allocations at the county level.
The EPA has established a December 15, 2011, deadline for submission of the Draft Phase 2 WIP, and a March 30, 2012, deadline for the final plan. The EPA expects the Phase 2 WIP to contain greater detail about the first stage of implementation, which will last from when the EPA established the Chesapeake Bay TMDL in December 2010 until 2017.
This meeting is scheduled to be held on September 29, 2011, starting at 1 p.m. in the Susquehanna Room, Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110.
For further information, contact Karen Price, Water Planning Office, P. O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063, (717) 772-4785, kprice@state.pa.us or visit the Department's web site at www.depweb.state.pa.us (DEP Keywords: ''Chesapeake Bay'').
MICHAEL L. KRANCER,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-1563. Filed for public inspection September 9, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]
