The primary nonpoint source pollutants generated by agricultural activities are nutrients, sediment, animal wastes, salts, and pesticides. In addition, agricultural activities can potentially impact aquatic habitats through the physical disturbances by livestock or equipment, or through water management activities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified six sources of agricultural nonpoint pollution that affect coastal waters:

For more information on each of these sources, please refer to Chapter 2: Management Measures for Agricultural Sources of the EPA’s Guidance Specifying Management Measures for Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters.

How This Source Category Applies to Alaska
Agricultural land in Alaska is found in scattered locations in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the Kenai Peninsula, Southeast Alaska, Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Islands. In addition, nurseries and greenhouses are located in Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, and the Kenai Peninsula.

The Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program submitted by the State of Alaska pursuant to Section 6217(a) of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 (CZARA) found that Alaska had sufficient justification for a categorical exclusion of agriculture from its coastal nonpoint pollution control program. The justification for this exclusion was that crop farming, fertilizer application, and pesticide application occur on only a small amount coastal Alaska’s land, and no water quality impairments from agriculture sources were identified in the State's 305(b) water quality assessment. Only 100,000 acres of Alaska's 365 million acres have been identified as cropland. In addition, agricultural chemical usage in the state has been very limited.

Local Ordinances Relating to Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution
The local ordinances in Alaska that relate to sources of agricultural nonpoint pollution are linked to the following table.Each ordinance is identified by municipality, ordinance title and reference number. Many Alaskan municipalities have codes of ordinances which are available online. Whenever possible, a direct link is provided to the local ordinance online. Otherwise, the ordinance text is available in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. A free copy of the application required to view and print PDF files can be downloaded at Adobe Acrobat Reader.