Florida Nutrient Criteria Update

Transcription

1 Standards and Assessment Florida Nutrient Criteria Update Russ Frydenborg

2 Path Forward March 15, 2013: FDEP and EPA announced agreement to continue the protection of Florida s waterways from excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollution Agreement builds off of momentum from EPA s November 30, 2012 approval of the state s numeric nutrient criteria for lakes, rivers, streams and springs, as well as estuaries from Clearwater Harbor to Biscayne Bay. FDEP will move forward with rulemaking and legislation in 2013 to finish the job of setting numeric nutrient criteria for Florida s waterways.

3 Path Forward The plan includes proposing state legislation and adopting additional state rules that will eliminate the need for dual rulemaking FDEP will establish numeric nutrient criteria for 22 estuary and coastal segments by July 1, 2013, or as soon as possible FDEP will complete its rulemaking to establish numeric nutrient criteria by December 1, 2014 FDEP will adopt NNC Implementation Document into rule

4 Proposed Legislation Authorizes FDEP to implement the adopted nutrient standards consistent with the document entitled Implementation of Florida s Numeric Nutrient Standards, Directs FDEP to adopt criteria for the remaining estuaries and coastal waters by December 1, 2014 TP, TN, chl-a in estuaries Chl-a in coastal waters Establishes nutrient standards for all remaining estuaries and coastal at the current condition until specific numeric interpretations are adopted Requires FDEP to a report on the status of NNC to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate by August 1, 2013

5 Implementation Document To assist EPA s understanding of Florida s rules during the EPA approval process, DEP produced a document entitled, Implementation of Florida s Numeric Nutrient Standards The implementation document basically describes how the adopted provisions for nutrients in Chapters , , and the SCI Primer work in conjunction FDEP is now incorporating the Implementation Document into rule s/docs/nnc_implementation.pdf

6 State Adopted NNC

7 Goal by December 1, 2014

8 Estuary Schedule South Florida estuaries adopted by the State and approved by EPA TMDLs approved by the state (December 8, 2011) and under review by EPA Panhandle estuaries adopted by the state on November 13, 2012, although not yet submitted to EPA. Additional estuaries in June 2013 Remaining estuaries and Coastal Waters by December 1, 2014

9 Numeric Interpretation Paragraph (47)(b), F.A.C., states that in no case shall nutrient concentrations of a body of water be altered so as to cause an imbalance in natural populations of aquatic flora or fauna. Method for numerically interpreting this narrative nutrient criterion, on a site-specific basis, is provided in Rule , F.A.C (Hierarchical Approach)

10 Hierarchical Approach Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Loads, Site Specific Alternative Criteria, Estuary-specific Criteria, and Water Quality-Based Effluent Limitations Stressor-Response Relationships (lakes & springs) Reference stream-based thresholds combined with biological data (flora and fauna) Narrative (wetlands, intermittent streams, South Florida flowing waters)

11 Lakes Based on cause-effect relationship between nutrients (TN and TP) and phytoplankton response (chlorophyll a Derived using multiple lines of evidence Maintain naturally low nutrient lakes in an oligotrophic state Maintain lakes with naturally moderate nutrient levels in a mesotrophic state Eutrophic lakes handled on site-specific basis 5/6/2016

12 NNC for Lakes Long Term Geometric Mean Lake Color and Alkalinity Annual Geometric Mean Chlorophyll a Minimum calculated numeric interpretation Annual Geometric Mean Total Phosphorus Minimum calculated numeric interpretation Annual Geometric Mean Total Nitrogen Maximum calculated numeric interpretation Annual Geometric Mean Total Phosphorus Maximum calculated numeric interpretation Annual Geometric Mean Total Nitrogen > 40 Platinum Cobalt Units 20 µg/l 0.05 mg/l 1.27 mg/l 0.16 mg/l mg/l 40 Platinum Cobalt Units and > 20 mg/l 20 µg/l 0.03 mg/l 1.05 mg/l 0.09 mg/l 1.91 mg/l CaCO 3 40 Platinum Cobalt Units and 20 mg/l CaCO 3 6 µg/l 0.01 mg/l 0.51 mg/l 0.03 mg/l 0.93 mg/l 1 For lakes with color > 40 PCU in the West Central Region, the maximum TP limit is 0.49 mg/l

13 Performance Based Criteria If annual geometric mean chlorophyll a does not exceed the chlorophyll a value for the lake type, then the TN and TP for that year are the annual geometric means of ambient TN and TP samples for that lake For lakes with color > 40 PCU in the West Central Nutrient Watershed Region, the maximum TP limit is 0.49 mg/l (streams criteria) TN, TP, and chlorophyll a cannot be exceeded more than once in any consecutive calendar three year period

14 Springs Weeki Wachee, 1950s; Nitrate < 0.1 mg/l, Eel grass Weeki Wachee, 2001: Nitrate ~ 0.7 mg/l, Lyngbya mats Nuisance Algal Mats in Springs

15 Nitrate in Spring Vents Applicable numeric interpretation of the narrative nutrient criterion is 0.35 mg/l of nitrate-nitrite as an annual geometric mean Not to be exceeded more than once in any three consecutive calendar year period

16 NNC in Streams Stressor-response relationships between nutrients and biological effects were insufficient to develop criteria (for both flora and fauna) Therefore, a weight of evidence evaluation of: floral end points, which were derived from the same minimally disturbed stream data used for the TP and TN thresholds, and the Stream Condition Index (SCI) are used to determine if a stream s nutrient concentrations are protective

17 NNC in Streams Achieved IF: Information on chlorophyll a levels, algal mats or blooms, nuisance macrophyte growth, and changes in algal species composition do not indicate an imbalance in flora or fauna; AND EITHER The average score of at least two temporally independent SCIs is 40 or higher, with neither of the two most recent SCI scores less than 35, OR The Nutrient Thresholds (expressed as annual geometric means) are not exceeded more than once in a three year period

18 Streams Thresholds and Regions

19 Floral Tools in Streams Linear Vegetation Survey (LVS) Coefficient of Conservatism, invasive exotics Rapid Periphyton Survey (RPS) Thickness and extent, autecology (interpreting species information) Phytoplankton chlorophyll a Habitat Assessment as ancillary data Substrate type, availability, mapping, etc.

20 Floral Metric Summary Floral Metric Evidentiary Threshold of No Imbalances LVS C of C Site average > 2.5 LVS FLEPPC Site average < 25% RPS Chlorophyll Algal Community Composition (Autecology) < 25% rank 4-6 coverage 20 to 25 % rank 4-6 coverage, evaluate algal autoecological data < 20 ug/l; 3.2 to 20 ug/l = site specific No adverse shifts in dominant taxa

21 Example Rapid of >50% Periphyton rank 4-6 RPS Survey Transect Flags

22 Example of a Site that Would Fail the LVS Dominated by Commellina And Colocassia

23 Adverse Trends Test Mann s one-sided trend test DEP assesses whether there is a statistically significant adverse trend in nutrients (nitrate-nitrite, TN or TP) or a nutrient response variable (chlorophyll a) and if the waterbody is expected to become impaired Confounding variables controlled for Residual COLLECTION.DATE

24 Estuaries Primary approach is a reference period Each estuary that is documented to be healthy is used to describe its own reference condition Document biological health Evaluating EPA targets Chl-a not exceed 20 µg/l in more than 10% of samples DO not less than 4 mg/l in more than 10% of samples Achievement of light targets (secchi depth) for the protection of SAV within each segment Nutrient distribution of a baseline period, (when the waterbody achieved its designated use) is determined and criteria are established to maintain that distribution into the future

25 Recent Training SAS conducted 3 trainings in Tallahassee, Orlando, and Tampa ~150 attendees Focused on NNC Implementation and Floral Tools Next training: FLMS, Daytona, June 17

26 Next Steps for Nutrients Complete Triennial Review including adopt of Implementation Document Complete Estuary criteria Revised proposal and workshops mid-april 2013 Additional adoptions in June 2013 Characterize current conditions for remaining estuaries Collect additional data in remaining estuaries Adopt criteria for remaining estuaries by December 1, 2014

27 This Year s Monitoring WMS will conduct LVS and RPS twice per year at Trend sites where SCI is currently conducted Floral sampling not planned at Status Sites or where SCI not appropriate