H 1099, the bill setting a Jan. 15, 2011 deadline for Falls Lake's cleanup plan, passed the state Senate Wednesday.

Now, the bill goes to a Senate-House conference to reconcile the Senate's version with an earlier version the House passed in May.

The house bill set the deadline at July 1, 2010 for the state Division of Water Quality to prepare a "nutrient management strategy" to curb nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the lake. DWQ had asked for a November 2011 deadline to allow more time for the complex research, modeling and rule-making process.

Once those regulations are written, they must be approved by the state Environmental Management Commission and Rules Review Commission and, possibly, the legislature. That process would take about six months and possibly more than a year.

The Senate version gives DWQ six and a half more months to prepare its regulations, but also provides that those regulations would take temporary effect as soon as they are presented to the EMC in January, according to DWQ engineer John Huisman. They would be rescinded and replaced by the permanent rules when the permanent rules receive the necessary approvals and any revisions.

The bill up for a vote today also incorporates four sedimentation-control measures for the Falls watershed that are outside the nutrient-reduction plan's scope, and would take effect Jan. 1 of this year.

A bill setting a Jan. 15, 2011 deadline for draft regulations to clean and protect Falls Lake won approval by the state Senate's environment committee this morning.

The bill also provides for temporary regulations to take effect on the same date, and strengthened erosion-control measures taking effect Dec. 1 of this year.

Wake County Sen. Josh Stein said the much-revised bill, H 1099, is a "win-win" proposition, giving the state Division of Water Quality the extra time it wanted to devise a pollution-reduction plan while providing interim protection for the lake that provides 435,000 Wake County residents with drinking water.

The bill is due for a hearing by the Senate finance committee before going to the floor for a vote. While an earlier version passed the state House in May, due to subsequent revisions a final form must be settled in conference and approved by both houses.

Stein said both Durham and Raleigh had "signed off" on the version of H 1099 heard this morning. The two communities had previously favored different deadlines for the permanent rules, which were ordered by legislative action in 2005 and originally due for Environmental Management Commission review in 2008.