National Best Management Practices for Water …

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

FS-990a

April 2012

National Best Management Practices for Water Quality Management on National Forest System Lands

Volume 1: National Core BMP Technical Guide

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

FS-990a

April 2012

National Best Management Practices for Water Quality Management on National Forest System Lands

Volume 1: National Core BMP Technical Guide

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Front cover photo: Taylor Fork Creek, Gallatin National Forest, near Big Sky, MT, by David Scovell, engineer, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Photo taken in August 2005 in the Madison Range, just west of Yellowstone National Park.

Acknowledgments

This document is the culmination of an effort that has spanned many years. Countless numbers of Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, resource personnel at all levels of the agency, including National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, and Research and Development, have participated to make the vision of a National Best Management Practices (BMP) Program a reality. Thank you to all those who provided guidance as part of the steering committee, those who participated in the teams that drafted the initial version of the BMPs, those who developed the BMP monitoring protocols, and the many people across the agency who reviewed drafts of this

document and provided comments. Particular thanks goes to Joan Carlson of the Rocky Mountain Regional Office for her dedication to the development and completion of this document.

Thank you also to our partners--the Association of Clean Water Administrators (formerly the Association of State and Inter-State Water Pollution Control Administrators), the Intertribal Timber Council, the National Association of State Foresters, the National Congress of American Indians, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--who reviewed the document and provided helpful comments.

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Preface

This technical guide is the first volume of guidance for the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Best Management Practices (BMP) Program. The National BMP Program was developed to improve agency performance and accountability in managing water quality consistent with the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and State water quality programs. Current Forest Service policy directs compliance with required CWA permits and State regulations and requires the use of BMPs to control nonpoint source pollution to meet applicable water quality standards and other CWA requirements.

The Forest Service has a long history of working with States and other partners to carry out BMP programs, including agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many States to use and monitor BMPs. Each Forest Service region has a BMP guidance document consistent with its respective State BMP programs. Most national forests and grasslands monitor and report on BMPs. The regional or forest BMP programs, however, are not standardized to allow efficient crossregional application, evaluation, or reporting. The National BMP Program, which includes the National Core BMPs detailed in this guide, will enable the agency to readily document compliance with the nonpoint source management strategy at national or regional scales. The National BMP Program is modeled after a successful 20-year-old regional BMP program in the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region (Region 5).

A standardized National BMP Program is needed as an effective tool for the agency to accomplish the following:

? Improve water quality to restore impaired waters--National

Forest System (NFS) lands in the United States contain 3,126 CWA 303(d) listed waterbodies; nearly every Forest Service administrative unit (96 percent) has at least one impaired waterbody within its boundaries. BMPs identified in Total Maximum Daily Load restoration plans will improve water quality conditions in impaired waters.

? Improve relationships with EPA, States, and the public--Im-

proved Forest Service BMP program performance and accountability will better demonstrate compliance with CWA permit requirements and State nonpoint source programs and build trust between the agency and our partners and stakeholders.

? Improve the agency's ability to demonstrate results in wa-

tershed management--The Forest Service has made a commitment to implement several accountability tools, including

a National BMP Program, to document improvements in watershed condition as a result of management and restoration actions.

? Improve the agency's ability to use adaptive management

in land management plan implementation--The National BMP Program will provide a consistent, credible, and affordable agencywide BMP monitoring program with coordinated data collection; monitoring information that can be aggregated at any scale; a database accessible to all Forest Service users; and reports that will be shared with EPA, States, and other partners. This type of monitoring program provides a continuous feedback loop for a successful adaptive management process.

? Improve National Environmental Policy Act analyses and

compliance with other Federal laws--Improved accountability for water quality management will lead to improved National Environmental Policy Act analysis and documentation and better demonstration of compliance with other Federal laws, such as Endangered Species Act habitat protections for aquatic threatened and endangered species. The agency's ability to respond successfully to water-qualityrelated appeals and lawsuits will be improved, and management flexibility in decisionmaking will be maintained.

The National BMP Program will provide consistency among Forest Service administrative units to efficiently administer the program and demonstrate improvements in performance and accountability at multiple scales. The National BMP Program consists of four main components: (1) a set of National Core BMPs, (2) a set of standardized monitoring protocols to evaluate implementation and effectiveness of those BMPs, (3) a data management and reporting structure, and (4) corresponding national direction.

The National Core BMPs integrate individual State and Forest Service regional BMPs under one umbrella to facilitate an agencywide BMP monitoring program. The national core set provides general, nonprescriptive BMPs for the broad range of activities that occur on NFS lands. Nearly every BMP in the national core set already exists in current regulations, guidance, or procedures. Adopting a standard national core set of BMPs may change what some national forests and grasslands refer to as their BMPs, but it will not change the substance of site-specific BMP prescriptions. Those prescriptions will continue to be based on State BMPs, regional Forest Service guidance, land management plan standards and guidelines,

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BMP monitoring information, and professional judgment. Standardization will improve consistency, ensure that Forest Service resource professionals use best available science to develop site-specific BMP prescriptions, and, ultimately, improve water quality on and downstream of NFS lands.

The national BMP monitoring protocols will be used to supplement existing national forest or grassland BMP monitoring programs for those units that already have programs and provide a foundation for those units that do not. Each national forest and grassland will complete a small number of national BMP monitoring evaluations each year for each of the national core BMPs implemented on the unit. This information will be aggregated over time to provide national- and regional-scale evaluations of BMP performance. Identified deficiencies in either BMP implementation or effectiveness will be used to adjust land and

resource management activities and the BMPs to improve water quality protection.

In summary, the Forest Service National BMP Program is the agency's nonpoint source pollution control program for achieving and documenting water resource protection. The National BMP Program demonstrates the agency's commitment to land stewardship and protection of water quality consistent with the CWA, State regulations, and other requirements. The National BMP Program is not intended in any way to circumvent or interfere with State and tribal CWA programs, rather it is intended to support and assist the States and tribes in their efforts to ensure compliance on NFS lands. The ultimate goal is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters located within or near the national forests and grasslands.

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List of Abbreviations

AMP--Allotment Management Plan AMZ--Aquatic Management Zone AOI--Annual Operating Instructions BAER--Burned Area Emergency Response BLM--Bureau of Land Management BMP--Best Management Practice CFR--Code of Federal Regulations COE--U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CWA--Clean Water Act CWE--cumulative watershed effects DSR--Damage Survey Report EPA--U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ERFO--emergency relief for federally owned roads FERC--Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FY--fiscal year

FSH--Forest Service Handbook FSM--Forest Service Manual IDT--interdisciplinary team IMT--incident management team MVUM--Motor Vehicle Use Map NEPA--National Environmental Policy Act NFS--National Forest System NPDES--National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NRCS--Natural Resources Conservation Service RMOs--Road Management Objectives ROS--Recreation Opportunity Spectrum SPCC--Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures TMDL--total maximum daily load USDA--U.S. Department of Agriculture USGS--U.S. Geological Survey

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