Secondary and Cumulative Impacts Master Management Plan - 2014

TOWN OF MORRISVILLE

6.1.16 North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program The EEP was established as a non-regulatory program within NCDENR to:  Provide a systematic approach for meeting NCDOT’s compensatory mitigation requirements  Maximize the ecological benefit of compensatory mitigation projects  Reduce delays in the construction of transportation improvement projects associated with compensatory mitigation requirements The EEP also provides a compensatory mitigation option for permit applicants other than the NCDOT; administers the Mitigation Program for Protection and Maintenance of Existing Riparian Buffers in the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and Catawba River basins; and provides a repository for nutrient offset payments in the Neuse River basin. 6.1.17 Groundwater Protection Several regulations and programs exist at the State and local levels that protect groundwater from urban growth:  Wellhead Protection Program  Regulation of potential contamination sources  Management of groundwater contamination incidents  Ambient groundwater monitoring  Regulation of well construction These regulations and programs may afford some protection to groundwater wells from the most common forms of groundwater pollution—point sources, such as chemical manufacturing facilities, underground storage tanks and accidental spills. However, more diffuse and evasive groundwater pollutants from agricultural uses (livestock facilities and chemical application on crops) and urban land uses (over-application of fertilizers and improper use of toxic household chemicals) may not be well managed under these regulations and programs. 6.1.18 Neuse River Basin Nutrient Sensitive Waters (NSW) Rules The entire Neuse River basin was classified as NSW in 1988. As a result of the NSW classification, a nutrient management strategy was initially developed to manage phosphorus from point source dischargers, and nitrogen and phosphorus from nonpoint sources. At that time, most of the nutrient problems were occurring in the lower freshwater portion of the river, and phosphorus was considered the controlling nutrient. Increasing algal blooms and fish kills in the estuarine portion of the Neuse River, attributed to nitrogen over-enrichment, led to a revision of the NSW strategy to address nitrogen inputs to the estuary. The Neuse River NSW Strategy Rules became effective on August 1, 1998. New development and redevelopment that drains, in whole or in part, to NSW must implement stormwater BMPs that reduce nutrient loading. NCDENR has specified

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