Final 2009 RA Addendum
On behalf of the Tampa Bay Nitrogen Management Consortium co-chairs, attached to this post is the Final 2009 Reasonable Assurance Addendum: Allocation and Assessment Report. This document was approved for submittal to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection by the Consortium members by a vote of 32 to 0, with three abstaining (including FDEP and EPA) on September 11, 2009.
The full document is available for downloading using the PDF link below. Appendix D (datasets) is posted below as a zip file.
The collaborative efforts of the Consortium participants have resulted in proposed equitable nitrogen load allocations to 189 permitted and unpermitted sources throughout the watershed, collectively meeting the federally-recognized nitrogen TMDL for Tampa Bay. The document details the technical basis for these proposed allocations, monitoring and assessment methods to track results of the Consortium’s efforts, ongoing and future actions proposed by the Consortium members to continue to meet Tampa Bay water quality threshold values, and a framework for evaluating and addressing water quality problems as needed in the event that Tampa Bay’s ambient water quality does not meet accepted thresholds in future years.
Responses to FDEP comments on the original submission have been finalized and approved by the Consortium at the January 22, 2010 NMC meeting. On December 22nd, 2010, FDEP Secretary Drew signed a Final Order accepting and approving the 2009 Reasonable Assurance Addendum for Tampa Bay.