Managing Wastewater in Coastal Urban Areas (1993) / Chapter Skim
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5 BENEFITS, BARRIERS, SOLUTIONS, AND IMPLEMENTATION
5 BENEFITS, BARRIERS, SOLUTIONS, AND IMPLEMENTATION
Pages 155-174
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From page 155... ...
. The cost of constructing these treatment plants has been the single largest component of federal, state, and local expenditures for clean water over this time.
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From page 156... ...
In fact, significant portions of the coastal zone remain adversely affected and still short of being fishable and swimmable. Available evidence suggests cases of overcontrol as well, but the Clean Water Act has no present cure for this problem.
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From page 157... ...
The good news is that the trend toward future collaborative efforts of the states, counties, and cities to address nitrogen enrichment holistically indicate a great potential for success. The promise of an integrated approach to solving the hypoxia problem of Long Island Sound provides a model for a national approach to water quality objectives during the third decade of the Clean Water Act.
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From page 158... ...
It is comprehensive rather than single-issue in nature; it expands the range of alternative strategies rather than promoting uniform responses; and it gives equal attention to industrial pretreatment and pollution prevention, rather than focusing on end-of-pipe measures. This approach would allow regulators to move beyond the limitations and inefficiencies of current practice without sacrificing any of the accomplishments of the Clean Water Act.
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From page 159... ...
Federal agencies lack the information and the authority to do this type of planning, or to make the required choices. Integrated coastal management can only happen where local and regional leaders make a conscious decision to seek more effective and efficient wastewater management.
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If a region is unwilling to approach integrated management with its collective eyes open to this reality, then successful adoption will be elusive. Integrated coastal management requires answers to a number of ques tions: plan?
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With all relevant entities identified and involved, those responsible for overseeing the management plan would have more complete information and opportunity for addressing the needs of the region. Monitoring and analytical resources could be broadly applied to a coastal region to identify and evaluate various sources of stressors.
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For integrated coastal management to work effectively, the implementing institutions must be vested with sufficient responsibility, resources, and authority to be a viable force within a region. One approach might be to start , ~ ~ An institutional model that is successful in one with consolidating venous governmental expectations Into a single voice by .
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From page 163... ...
Integrated coastal management planning could identify the most effective tactical and strategic tools to address the problems unique to a region. Best management practices for POTWs, combined sewer overflows, stormwater, and nonpoint sources could be incorporated into a management plan, and the opportunity to determine the affordability of potential management practices or engineering solutions could help establish the most practical approach.
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From page 164... ...
It may be unrealistic to assume that costly management or structural changes required of a local government entity or a private stakeholder will be affordable. Funding alternatives that include tax incentives, government loans, low-interest bonding alternatives, and other forms of innovative financing may be a necessary element of a successful integrated management plan.
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From page 165... ...
Contingencies Population growth, economic development, and economic restructuring within the coastal zone may erode the gains made by an integrated plan. Unforeseen pressures caused by changing land use, market forces, and factors outside the boundary or charter of the region may be significant barriers to the short-term or long-term success of an integrated management plan.
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From page 166... ...
Implementation of ICM in the context of the Clean Water Act would be a strategy allowing more effective and efficient achievement of the nation's clean water objectives. This should not be confused with the wider range of planning activities provided for under the CZMA, including the requirement that federal activities be consistent with state plans.
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From page 167... ...
Immediate Actions The National Estuary Program The National Estuary Program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 320 of the Clean Water Act, provides an excellent opportunity to practice integrated coastal management. Seventeen estuary programs have been approved and several more are in the designation process.
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From page 168... ...
Perhaps most important, developing a sense of individual responsibility for water quality, thus fostering behavior changes regarding the use and disposal of toxic products, transportation choices, and consumer purchases, can be the result of effective public involvement in coastal management. For example, a monitoring program in the Chesapeake Bay that uses citizens to help collect data has produced good quality data on which analyses of trends are based and has served to increase public awareness of the status of the bay and its resources.
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From page 169... ...
In a wide variety of ongoing coastal activities, the suggested improvements in the management of science can be implemented now. This would be an important step toward actually achieving a more integrated approach to coastal problems and toward assuring a wider base of public and political support for needed allocation of resources or other management responses.
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From page 170... ...
. Section 320 of the Clean Water Act could be modified to establish a National Coastal Quality Program as a supplement to the estuary program and that would address coastal areas beyond those in the National Estuary Program.
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From page 171... ...
of the Clean Water Act providing for waivers from secondary treatment continues as an example of site-specific management practices bounded by overall federal objectives. Section 301(h)
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From page 172... ...
Pollution prevention may be achieved through educational programs, economic incentives, or, in a few cases, by command and control. Growth management planning, implemented through economic incentives or zoning changes, can also be employed to modify the amount and location of wastes that must be managed.
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From page 173... ...
Furthermore, integrated coastal management encompasses a far greater range of possible actions and policies than contemplated under existing practices. Instead of simply applying a few technologies at known discharge points, integrated coastal management considers all possible interventions, from growth management to pollution prevention to end-of-pipe treatment to ocean discharge options.
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