Current through Vol. 41, No. 13, March 15, 2024
(a) ODAFF's Forestry Services' water quality
program monitors the effects of forest practices on water quality, administers
silvicultural best management practices and provides training and education of
landowners, loggers and forest managers. Forestry's nonpoint source management
program consists of a variety of activities designed to raise awareness of the
need to use BMPs to prevent water quality problems in Oklahoma. Activities
include maintenance of the State's forestry BMP guidelines, including
evaluation of BMP effectiveness, and revision and development of BMPs;
workshops for loggers, foresters and landowners on the use of BMPs; development
of educational materials; a certification program for loggers who have
completed training, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Forestry Association;
exhibits, news releases, group presentations; BMP compliance monitoring;
demonstrations of the proper use of forestry BMPs and low-cost erosion control
techniques; complaint investigations; and support of water quality monitoring
studies.
(b) Compliance with
antidegradation requirements and protection of beneficial uses.
(1) Forestry's water quality programs are
generally preventive in nature. Raising awareness, promoting BMPs and
monitoring their use will help minimize water quality impacts from
silviculture. As the forest industry continues to emphasize BMP compliance,
through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and other means, potential threats
to water quality from forestry will further diminish. BMPs are continuously
reviewed and evaluated to determine their adequacy for protection of beneficial
uses.
(2) The primary potential
impacts of forestry activities on water quality involve sedimentation and
turbidity from practices such as road construction and maintenance, timber
harvesting, site preparation and other activities; and pollution from the use
of chemicals or fertilizers and equipment maintenance. Beneficial uses that
could be affected include:
(A) fish and
wildlife propagation, from turbidity or changes in water temperature;
(B) primary and secondary body contact
recreation, due to turbidity and suspended solids;
(C) aesthetics, due to turbidity and
suspended solids; and
(D) impacts
on public water supplies from pollutants associated with pesticide application
and fertilization activities.
(3) Forestry Services will use the State's
list of water bodies that specifies whether beneficial uses are supported,
threatened or not supported to guide follow up actions. In watersheds where
beneficial uses are not supported, Forestry will intensify its program efforts
in cooperation with industry and landowners to address ongoing problems related
to forestry, and will also increase efforts to inform landowners about the
benefits of using trees and forest vegetation to protect water quality,
regardless of land use, and to manage for maintenance of healthy forested
watersheds.
(c)
Application of USAP - Forestry Services discontinued its intensive in-stream
water quality monitoring program in the early 1990s. In the future, when ODAFF
Forestry Services commences water quality sampling and monitoring, the agency
will use USAP.
(d) Description of
programs affecting water quality - The Forestry Services Division is
responsible for administration of the state's silvicultural best management
practice program. Forestry Services maintains, develops and revises the State's
forestry BMP guidelines in cooperation with the industry, universities, private
landowners and other agencies. Forestry Services provides copies of BMP
materials to affected clients, and helps raise awareness about their
importance, and provides technical assistance to landowners and users of the
BMPs.
(e) Technical information and
procedures for implementation.
(1) The
elements of Forestry's water quality management program are directed toward
raising awareness and modifying behavior in order to prevent water quality
problems associated with forestry activities. Educational efforts, such as BMP
training, landowner workshops, logger tailgate sessions, use of the media,
development of publications and videos, exhibits and group presentations, are
intended to raise the awareness of landowners, loggers, foresters, forest
industry professionals, state personnel and others about best management
practices to minimize the impact of forestry on water quality. Proper road
practices and low-cost erosion control methods have been installed on
demonstration sites and are used for training. Loggers completing BMP training
may be certified by the Oklahoma Forestry Association as a Master Logger or Pro
Logger. This information will be provided to private landowners seeking the
services of a competent logger, thereby favoring the best
contractors.
(2) If a complaint
investigation shows that silvicultural activities may be impacting water
quality, Forestry Services will first provide information and assistance to the
landowners and other parties involved to implement corrective measures. In the
event that these measures are not undertaken, Forestry Services will request
follow-up assistance from the industry, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and
Department of Environmental Quality as necessary to resolve the problem. If the
landowners or other parties cannot be identified as causing pollution, Forestry
will request assistance from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and use an
appropriate USAP to determine whether beneficial uses are impaired.
(3) Forestry Services will follow the BMP
Compliance Monitoring Protocol developed by the 13 southern states. State BMP
guidelines are based upon research and practical experience, and use an
iterative approach to evaluate their effectiveness, develop new BMPs and make
refinements to existing BMPs. Forestry will use the Beneficial Use Monitoring
Program information developed by other agencies in assessing impacts on
beneficial uses caused by forestry activities. Where silvicultural impacts are
shown, USAPs will be used to determine impacts on beneficial uses.
(f) Integration of WQSIP into
water quality management activities - Forestry Services will establish policies
and procedures to integrate this Plan into agency programs and services. All
field offices will be provided a copy of the Plan and guidance for its use in
carrying out various program activities. Forestry BMP guidelines will be
continually evaluated, modified and developed as necessary to improve their
effectiveness and increase implementation.
(g) Compliance with mandated statewide water
quality requirements - Forestry Services will comply with other statewide water
quality requirements by participating in the update of Oklahoma's Water Quality
Standards, and in updates of the state's continuing planning process document,
water quality management plan and other planning efforts. Forestry Services
will continue to participate in the Nonpoint Source Working Group and will
cooperate with the Conservation Commission and others involved in NPS pollution
prevention programs. Forestry Services will participate in the TMDL
process.
(h) Public and interagency
participation.
(1) Forestry Services will
interact with other environmental agencies through the Water Quality Standards
Implementation Advisory Committee.
(2) Public participation requirements of the
Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act are followed in promulgating rules that
integrate water quality standards into this program area.
(i) Evaluation of effectiveness of agency
activities.
(1) Forestry Services initiated
its BMP compliance monitoring program in 2000 to document BMP implementation.
Forestry Services randomly selects sites that have been harvested or prepared
for planting during the past two years for an evaluation to determine the
extent to which BMPs were used. This program will be repeated about every two
years to track trends and compare results with other states. BMP compliance
monitoring over a several year period will establish trends in the use of BMPs
by industry and private landowners, and will help refine program
emphases.
(2) Forestry Services
will make use of Beneficial Use Monitoring Program data compiled in cooperation
with other state environmental agencies to modify its water quality program as
necessary.
Added at 18 Ok Reg 3409,
eff 6-28-01 (emergency); Added at 19 Ok Reg 951, eff 5-13-02; Amended at 25 Ok
Reg 1820, eff 7-1-08