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Chapter 4: Table of Contents

Section 4-2: Agency Coordination

The state understands the importance of seeking input from interested parties in determining program direction. Some processes and programs for determining those watersheds in need of restoration, protection, or maintenance are located at IDEM, but the state strives to involve federal, state, local, and private partners to restore and protect Indiana’s water resources. The activities carried out by these programs include funding prioritization (Chapter 3.0), monitoring (Chapter 5.1), and planning, assessment, and public education. These activities, to be effective, need to be integrated throughout all levels of societal and geographic settings: surface and ground water, lakes and streams, and hydrology and landscape.

To satisfy the requirements of Key Element No. 2 in the NPS Program and Grants Guidance, IDEM is actively strengthening partnerships with appropriate federal and state agencies, regional and local entities, and private sector and citizens’ groups. One of IDEM’s objectives for this program is to build partnerships that address NPS pollution in Indiana. IDEM will achieve this objective by:

  • conducting meetings with U.S. EPA to evaluate IDEM’s NPS program and obtain comments regarding needed improvements and program successes;
  • identifying opportunities with the IDNR Coastal Management Program to assist with the approval of a final coastal zone plan;
  • developing collaborative grant processes and funding priorities to support NPS restoration projects in the coastal zone that will improve water quality;
  • focusing NPS financial and technical resources in watersheds with approved TMDLs by working closely with local watershed groups, to address planning and implementation issues in those watersheds;
  • developing partnerships through the establishment of formal NPS monitoring strategies;
  • developing watershed-based approaches to the evaluation of permits, policy, and rules related to NPS water pollution;
  • revising, as needed, the comprehensive IDEM Watershed Specialist strategy;
  • implementing an advisory group of state and federal agencies and local/regional coordinators to assist with priority setting and policy and procedure refinement;
  • strengthening the existing NPS team by adding representatives from permitting programs that have an impact on NPS pollution;
  • assisting internal and external partners with NPS planning and implementation activities;
  • creating a NPS management plan workgroup to conduct annual evaluations and recommend revisions to the state NPS management plan;
  • working with other states that share watersheds with Indiana to develop consistent approaches to addressing NPS pollution;
  • establishing a formal process to maintain an inventory of active watershed groups, organizations, and governmental entities whose primary purpose is study, planning, or management of NPS pollution and related activities;
  • incorporating or cross-referencing existing baseline requirements established by other applicable federal or state laws to the extent they are relevant; and,
  • working more closely with the SRF program to provide technical assistance to their NPS financing program.

The integration of state NPS management programs with other environmental programs provides a vehicle for cooperative design and implementation of watershed-based plans in a coordinated manner that employs the resources, authorities, and expertise of all relevant programs. A comprehensive list of key partner agencies, including their functions, is included in Appendix B.

To address Key Element No. 7 in the NPS Program and Grants Guidance, IDEM must develop a process for working with federal land-holding agencies within Indiana to ensure that federal activities are consistent with state NPS program objectives. There are 510,660 acres in Indiana that are owned and/or operated by the following Federal agencies:

  • U.S Department of Defense: 167,065 acres
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 118,869 acres
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 13,626 acres
  • U.S. Forest Service: 198,358 acres
  • The National Park Service: 12,742 acres

Federal lands comprise only 2.2 percent of Indiana’s land area, but these areas contain many sensitive aquatic resources, such as dune and swale wetland habitat in the Lake Michigan watershed. Currently, IDEM has no formal process for working with these agencies, except on an ad hoc basis through individual actions that require permits or other state authorizations. IDEM will establish formal processes with each of the identified agencies before the next NPS plan update. Key components will include a review of overall practices on federal lands, identification of future activities, establishment of communication and consultation processes, U.S. EPA review, and long-term coordination of priorities that could be formalized through individual agreement documents. The U.S. Forest Service has begun a process that mirrors many of these objectives which could, with further consultation and revision, serve as a template for IDEM’s federal consistency program.

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