Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

Estuarine and CoastalManagement-Toolsof the
Trade. Proceedings of theTenth National Conference
ofTheCoastal Society. October 12-15,1986. New
Orleans.LA. Copyrightby The CoastalSociety
1987.
TRACKING NPS IMPLEMENTATION FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
Lynn R. Shuyler
Environmental Protection Agency
Region ni
Chesapeake BayLiaison Office
Annapolis, MD 21403
WPS Funds and Guidelines for Use of Funds
The decision to address the Nonpoint Source (NPS) problems in the drain
age basin of the Chesapeake Ray was based on results of the research and
technical studies and the overall progress being made with the point
sources within the basin. The research and study effort came to a close
wtth a Governor's Conference, held In December of 1983, and with the
signing of an agreement establishing the current cooperative program for
the clean-up of Chesapeake Bay. The federal government, via the White
House, pledged $40 million over a four year period to assist with the
Implementation of measures to address problems that were not heing funnVri
with construction grants funds and to fund an office to assist the States
with the effort. The Executive Council earmarked a major portion (S7.25
million) of the annual funds for grants to be used for the control of NPS
problems. They also developed a set of guidelines for the use and distr
ibution of the money as follows: 1) of the total implementation funds,
30* Is to go to each of the three States (only Pennsylvania, Virginia,
Maryland, and the District of Columbia signed the agreement) and 10% to
the District of Columbia; 2) the projects must address problems ident
ified In the Restoration and Protection Plan for the Bay, a document
listing problems and corrective activities for the Bay; 3) at least
75* of the funds for each grant must be used for NPS activities, the other
25% could be used for point source projects that cannot be funded using
construction grant funds; and 4) federal funds must he matched dollar for
dollar.
The federal funds are managed by EPA, Region III, the Chesapeake Bay
Liaison Office, and are subject to the grant rules and regulations for
project grants. As such, the grants require the same accountability as
any federal grant. However, since the funding of NPS implementation on
such a large scale Is new for EPA and for that natter for most other
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