NOAA's Coastal Polluted Runoff Program

In an effort to develop a more comprehensive solution to the problem of polluted runoff in coastal areas, the U.S. Congress expanded the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in 1990 to include a new section 6217 entitled "Protecting Coastal Waters". Section 6217 requires that states with approved coastal zone management programs develop Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Programs (coastal nonpoint programs). In keeping with the successful state-federal partnership to manage and protect coastal resources achieved by the CZMA, section 6217 envisioned that nonpoint source programs developed under section 319 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) would be combined with existing coastal management programs. By combining the water quality expertise of state 319 agencies with the land management expertise of coastal zone agencies, section 6217 was designed to more effectively manage nonpoint source pollution in coastal areas. To facilitate development of state coastal nonpoint programs and ensure coordination between states, administration of section 6217 at the federal level was assigned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Guidance Documents

• Facts About the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program (2004)
• Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters (EPA, January 1993)
• Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program: Program Development and Approval Guidance (NOAA and EPA, January 1993) (692K PDF)
• Flexibility for State Coastal Nonpoint Programs (NOAA and EPA, March 1995) (108K PDF)
• Final Administrative Changes to the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Guidance for Section 6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA) (NOAA and EPA, October 1998) (140K PDF)
• Policy Clarification on Overlap of 6217 Coastal Nonpoint Programs with Phase I and II Storm Water Regulations (NOAA and EPA, December 20, 2002) (28 KB PDF)

Note: If you have any difficulty opening the files on this page, try saving them to disk and then opening PDF files through Adobe Acrobat Reader or RTF files through your word-processing software. To save files to disk, for Windows right click on the link and select Save Link As; for Mac, press option key and click the mouse.

Success Stories and Updates

The following is a compilation of success stories and updates posted regularly to the Coastal Nonpoint listserve. The postings highlight accomplishments of state coastal nonpoint pollution control programs in the various management areas.

• General
• Agricultural
• Forestry
• Urban
• Marinas
• Hydromodification
• Wetland and Riparian Areas
• Critical Coastal Areas and Additional Management Measures
• Monitoring and Tracking

Program Approval Findings

NOAA and EPA review and approve state coastal nonpoint programs. All states were initially approved with specific conditions (Conditional Approval): most states in 1997-98, the rest in 2001-03. The conditions called for states to enhance their management programs and/or develop new implementation mechanisms. NOAA and EPA issued Conditional Approval Findings for each of the states and territories. Once states meet their conditions, NOAA and EPA will fully approve the state coastal nonpoint programs. Many states have already received full approval.

When NOAA and EPA make the decision to fully approve a state coastal nonpoint program, they develop a Full Approval Decision Memo and publish a notice of intent in the Federal Register. A 30-day public comment period is provided before Full Approval is granted. The Conditional Approval Findings and Full Approval Decision Memos are available for download

National Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Workshops

National Coastal Nonpoint Program Workshop materials from the November 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana workshop:

• Everything you wanted to know about Section 6217 (1.3M PDF)
• Coastal Watershed Protection: 6217 Lessons Learned (408K PDF)
• Creating Capacity (948K PDF)
• Onsite Wastewater Management Success in an Ocean State (520K PDF)
• Clean Marinas (153K PDF)

National Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Workshop, Leesburg, VA April 22-25, 2002

National Coastal Nonpoint Program Implementation Workshop, Richmond, VA, April 28 - May 1, 2003.

Links:

Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) section 6217

Section 319 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds

NOAA's Clean Marina's Website