MIDDLEBURY — Vermont’s plan to improve Lake Champlain’s water quality does not go far enough to comply with federal regulations, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA released phosphorus pollution reduction targets for Lake Champlain at a meeting in Middlebury on Monday. It also ran a model of the phosphorus reduction plan Vermont submitted in May to determine whether it would meet federal standards.
Stephen Perkins, director of ecosystem protection for the EPA’s Boston office, pointed to an up-sloping trend line showing the amount of phosphorus in several segments of Lake Champlain.
“The phosphorus levels are too high in many portions of the lake,” he told the crowd of farmers, water quality advocates and state officials. “It’s going to take an awful lot of work to take those red trend lines and get them to bend down in a different direction.”
The EPA is requiring Vermont to cut phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain by 36 percent. The state’s plan aims to reduce phosphorus runoff from farms, roads, cities and forests. The Shumlin administration Monday released two proposals to raise state revenue for the cleanup.
That plan does not go far enough, according to the EPA’s latest phosphorus models.
Even if the state’s plan were fully implemented, projected phosphorus levels in South Lake A and B and Missisquoi Bay would still exceed phosphorus limits set by the EPA. These are sections of the lake where phosphorus levels already must be cut by more than 50 percent to meet the federal requirements, according to the EPA.
“For implementation to succeed, it’s really important that it comes from the state. EPA should be in the business of setting the target here, but Vermonters know the best way of going about achieving it,” Perkins said.
For example, the state could expand its proposed livestock exclusion regulations, which currently apply only to streams where erosion is prevalent, he said.
David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said Monday that his agency has no other proposals to present to the EPA at this time. “We’ll continue to have our sleeves rolled up and we’ll continue to work.” he said.
Mears said the EPA’s model does not account for certain activities included in the state’s plan that are harder to measure, such as technical assistance and educational outreach to farmers. “You can’t quantify that, but we expect it will be substantial,” he said.
Mears said the state is already asking farmers and municipalities to do a lot, and that’s why he is asking the EPA to accept an adaptive implementation plan to better manage phosphorus reductions.
“We don’t want to put forward a plan that we can’t actually achieve,” he said.
The EPA released its phosphorus pollution limits from wastewater treatment plants in each of the lake segments at Monday’s hearing. It’s likely that some treatment plants will need to be upgraded to reduce the discharge of phosphorus into streams and the lake.
However, to provide the state with more compliance flexibility, the EPA agreed to assign a phosphorus pollution limit for all wastewater treatment plants in specific watersheds. The state will then be able to adjust the limits to achieve the desired overall reduction.
Mears said some plants may have just been upgraded, and others may not be effective in removing phosphorus, such as lagoon systems. Communities would then share the responsibility for meeting the required phosphorus reductions within the watershed, he said.
The EPA was open to the plan. “As long as the total at the mouth of the tributary is the same, I am OK with that,” Perkins said.
The new pollution limits are still higher than the total pollution emitted during 2012, according to the EPA. Perkins said the limits are designed to restrict the impacts of future growth.
“It’s the kind of thing that won’t make a difference tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a way of dealing with growth in the community.”
Mears said there is still the potential for more flexibility. The state wants wastewater treatment facilities to measure their phosphorus pollution annually rather than daily. Plants may exceed the new limits on summer days during heavy rain, but then make up for it in the winter when pollutants are far below the limit, he said.
The EPA will issue a plan by late spring or early summer 2015. The agency will use certain criteria to determine whether Vermont is complying with clean water regulations, such as whether the state has updated its Acceptable Agricultural Practices for farms to reduce manure runoff, new forest practice guidelines to prevent stream crossings, and financial commitments, including new staff to enforce the regulations in the governor’s capital budget this year.
If the state does not comply, the EPA can ask the state to invest more in upgrades to wastewater treatment plants and put more EPA inspectors on the ground in Vermont.
