319 Projects Underway

Congress amended the Clean Water Act in 1987 to establish the section 319 Nonpoint Point Source (NPS) Management Program. This program recognized the need for greater federal leadership to help focus state and local NPS control efforts. Under section 319, each state follows a two-step process to qualify for grant money. First, a NPS assessment report, identifying NPS water quality problems must be completed. Second, NPS management programs must be developed describing what will be done to address nonpoint water quality problems.

Since 1990, EPA Regional offices have funded projects under section 319(h) to supplement ongoing NPS management programs and to implement NPS management programs in each state. These funds support a wide variety of activities including nonregulatory or regulatory programs for enforcement, technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects, and monitoring to assess the success of specific NPS implementation projects.

In Tennessee, section 319 funds are administered by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA). The University of Extension has a number of projects underway which were funded through TDA grants, and several of these are in the Oostanaula Creek and Pond Creek Watersheds.