TMDLs and Prince William County Virginia

1. TMDLs and Prince William County Virginia

2. Major Points • Improve Bay conditions by addressing streams/lands leading into Bay • Specifically: dissolved oxygen, water clarity, chlorophyll a; improvement by setting N, P, and sediment allocations • Relies on Bay Program Model at local level • Many other TMDLs currently exist on paper for other impairments such as trash (Anacostia), bacteria (Bull Run), various pathogens (Boston Harbor), fecal coliform, temperature, copper (Puget Sound)

3. Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP): document published by each Bay state/DC outlining State’s plan to meet the TMDL waste load allocations (amount you can pollute) Outlines actionsto reduce N, P, and sediment loads to meet/keep TMDL 60% reduction by 2017 and 100% reduction by 2025 WIPs also provide reasonable assurancethat each state will meet its obligations If WIP does not show reasonable assurance, EPA will implement a backstop(mandated load reduction) Phase I WIPs allocate pollutant loads for states by river basin Phase II WIPs allocate pollutant loads on a local (county) scale (39 VA watershed segments) – currently being done by state committee Phase III WIPs provide additional detail of restoration actions beyond 2017 What is a WIP?

4. Urban BMP examples (actions) • Impervious urban surface reduction/bmp retrofit • Filtering practices (LID) • Urban stream restoration • Forest and grass buffers • Tree planting • Street sweeping • Urban nutrient management • Septic pumping

5. Concerns: Cost Effectiveness Cost-Effectiveness of Nutrient Reduction Option Removal Cost ($/lb-yr) TN TP Wastewater $250 $2,700 Urban Retrofits and Impervious Area Reductions $6,000 $33,500 Septic Field Upgrades $720 N/A Urban Fertilizer Management $19 0 Agricultural BMP: Enhanced Nutrient Management $125 $2,750 Source: Wetland Studies and Solutions, Gainesville, VA

6. Concerns: Costs to Comply

7. Achieving the EPA backstop will potentially double the cost to the Urban sector based on an analysis of local counties: less expensive BMPs like street sweeping, urban nutrient management and goose control are needed. Concerns: Cost if TMDL Not Met County Impervious Area (ac) 2025 Backstop 50% Total Coverage (%, ac) Retrofit Unit Cost ($/ac) Total EPA Backstop Cost WIP Level 2 Cost Fairfax 44,474 22,237 $102,5201 $2,280 M $1,048 M Loudoun 15,371 7,686 $788 M $362 M Prince William 14,651 7,326 $751 M $345 M 1. Center for Watershed Protection, Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series, Manual 3, Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices, Version 1.0, Appendix E.1, 2007. The average cost is listed as $88,000/impervious acre treated. This is scaled up based on the ENR Construction Cost Index (20-city average). January 2006: 7660; October 2010: 8921; Resulting Index = 8921/6130 = 1.165. Resulting cost = 102,520.

8. New Development Preserve/restore site hydrology to the maximum extent practicable Post-development loads to be lower than the aggregate pre-development load Impervious cover limits Redevelopment Require pollutant reductions > 20% Credit for work already done? Private property retrofits, who pays? Concerns: Cost of Development/Redevelopment

9. Concerns: Cost of Compliance • Landowners (new and redevelopment) • Agricultural Community • Homeowners (wastewater treatment and septic systems) • Tax Payers (stormwater fee, government buildings) • Utility Rate Payers • Businesses • Builders and Developers • 90% of 7,000 + public comments received by EPA support this effort or greater

10. Concerns: Stormwater Fee Funding • Fee History – In 13 years, fee has increased twice • FY02, FY07 • Generates ~ $5 million/year, no automatic inflationary escalator • Fee Rate – monthly fee based on the total impervious area of a typical single family detached dwelling in the County.

11. Concerns: Stormwater Program Funding • Single Family Dwellings - charged a “flat fee” equal to the base rate of $2.20 per month ($26.36 per year) regardless of the size of the parcel • Townhouses, Apartments, and Condominiums - charged a rate of $1.65 per month ($19.78 per year) • Undeveloped property - exempt

12. Concerns: Stormwater Program Funding • Fee Rate Cont. • Non-Residential property - based on the size of the impervious area. The rate is $12.80 per 1,000 square feet of impervious area. This includes institutional uses • Agricultural parcels - charged only for the single family dwelling unit located on the property. All other agricultural parcels are exempt from fee because they are considered undeveloped

13. Other Concerns • Increasing Unfunded Mandates • Balance between unknown increasing costs and community willingness/ability to pay • Other Increasing Responsibilities • County maintained stormwater management ponds continue to increase • Stormwater drainage system infrastructure continues to increase • Added inventory requires additional inspections and added maintenance responsibility • Infrastructure/system is aging, requiring expensive restoration efforts • Dam Safety requirements/# of County owned dams is an increasing long term liability

14. Program Funding Analysis • Storm Water Management Fee currently covers only yearly Program cost, insufficient to fund these yearly requirements (~ $5M) along with new TMDL requirements (~ $23 M) • Increasing demands on the Program from state and federal mandates; requires funding capacity analysis of the entire Program • Fee increases not popular

15. Summary • Prince William County will comply with Chesapeake Bay TMDL requirements • Compliance will impact: • Homeowners • Businesses • New Development • Tax and Rate payers • Non compliance could cause Federal action which would be costly/draconian • Implementation schedule and requirements are still uncertain

16. Questions/Comments Marc T. Aveni Watershed Management Branch Chief Department of Public Works 703-792-4064maveni@pwcgov.org