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Lower High Falls, Talladega Forest - Bill Wilson
Alabama Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program

Overview

The Alabama Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (ACNPCP) is part of the Alabama Coastal Management Program that addresses water quality. All coastal states that participate in the National Coastal Zone Management Program are required to develop coastal nonpoint pollution control programs as mandated in 1990 by Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments. Federally the National Program is jointly administered by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

This non-regulatory program seeks to reduce coastal non-point source pollution by providing funding, program development, and technical assistance for a range of activities that implement nonpoint source management measures.

The program establishes a set of management measures for coastal states to use in controlling runoff from the following sources:
  • Agriculture
  • Forestry
  • Urban Areas
  • Marinas and Recreational Boating
  • Hydromodification (shoreline and stream channel modification)
  • Wetlands
  • Riparian and vegetated treatment systems

On June 30, 1998, NOAA granted Conditional Approval to the ACNPCP. The Alabama Coastal Area Management Program has developed a new workplan, which was submitted to the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, to establish a process and timeline to address the remaining outstanding conditions of its conditionally approved coastal nonpoint source pollution program, which include the following areas:

Hydromodification
(1) Identify how the state will address the dam hydromodification measures within Baldwin and Mobile County.
(2) Clarify whether or not conditions placed on existing permits (dams and dredge) apply for the entire life of the project or just during the construction phase.
(3) Clarify whether or not the existing permits would also be able to address non-dam/dredge related hydromodification projects such as channel or bank stabilization.
(4) Provide information on the size threshold of the dam and dredge projects that require a permit.
(5) Explain how the hydromodification measures can be implemented through the state’s watershed management and river basin planning programs and indicate if there is any available guidance or assurance that the hydromodification measures will be addressed through the watershed processes.
(6) Provide information on the amount of funding and examples of a few projects the state has undertaken to support hydromodification improvement projects to improve water quality and restore instream and riparian habitat and address existing nonpoint source pollution problems caused by eroding streambanks and shorelines.

Urban: New and Site Development
(1) Outside of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Phase I and II communities, explain the process for ensuring that Total Suspended Solids (TSS) loads from new development are reduced by 80 percent.
(2) Provide a brief description of how implementation of the site and new development best management practices will be monitored and tracked.

Urban: Watershed Protection and Existing Development
(1) Supply a copy of the Coastal Regional Basin Plan for NOAA and EPA to review for consistency with the watershed protection and existing development management measures.
(2) Provide a brief description of how implementation of watershed protection and existing development management measures will be monitored and tracked.

Urban: Onsite Site Disposal System (OSDS)
(1) Describe the methodology the state uses for determining the OSDS separation distance.
(2) Demonstrate that a high percentage of on-site systems (80-90%) will be inspected through the various voluntary approaches over a 15-year period.
(3) Complete development and continue implementation of a system to track OSDS inspections.
(4) Demonstrate the state has dedicated funding to continue OSDS inspections and tracking in the future.
(5) Identify specific actions Alabama is taking to promote the use of denitrifying OSDS systems in nitrogen sensitive waters.

Wetlands, Riparian Areas, and Vegetated Treatment Systems
(1) Provide information on funding allocated to wetland and riparian restoration activities in Mobile and Baldwin Counties and other incentive/outreach programs that may exist to encourage restoration projects.
(2) Demonstrate the state has programs in place to protect wetland and riparian areas throughout Mobile and Baldwin Counties.
(3) Submit a brief paragraph outlining the coordination process linking ADEM with the various entities that implement the voluntary wetland and riparian restoration and protection programs.
(4) Provide a brief description of how implementation of wetland and riparian management measures will be monitored and tracked.

The documentation indicating how Alabama has met the outstanding conditions must be submitted no later than May 31, 2022.

Alabama implements its Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program through a group of networked programs that categorically addresses nonpoint source pollution. The State's Nonpoint Source Management Program, and through the ADEM Water Quality Management Programs, Alabama National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program, and Section 401 Water Quality Certification Program. These programs encompass all categories of nonpoint pollution listed in the federal guidance for the development of Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs. Many of the programs rely on non-regulatory measures for implementation of best management practices and reduction of nonpoint source pollution. Together, these programs have pollution control measures that are equal to or more stringent than the measures described in §6217(g).

In addition to working within the programs listed above, the ACNPCP will coordinate with numerous other programs to ensure wide participation and input into the ACNPCP, these program include:

Program Resources
NOAA's Conditional Approval Findings

Contact
Randy C. Shaneyfelt
Coastal-Mobile Office
Field Operations Division
3664 Dauphin Street, Suite B
Mobile, AL 36608
(251) 450-3408
rcs@adem.alabama.gov