WATER%20QUALITY%20REGULATIONS

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WATER QUALITY REGULATIONS

• Module 22, part A Regulations

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Objectives

• Students will be able to
• differentiate between government bills, acts and
  U.S. codes.
• explain the role that states play in
  environmental water laws.
• describe the goals of the Clean Water Act 1972.
• explain how Water Quality Standards relate to the
  Anitdegredation Policy.
• determine designated uses for various bodies of
  water.
• explain methods used to monitor and assess water
  quality.
• describe major components of the Safe Water
  Drinking Act.
• provide examples of other environmental laws
  enacted by congress.

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Water regulations

• Government Process
• Major Water Related Acts
• Other Environmental Acts

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Government process bill to code

• Bill Formally introduced legislation.
• Act Passed legislation that becomes law.
• U.S. Code Official record of all federal laws.

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Law to reality

• In order to make the laws work, congress
  authorizes certain government agencies to create
  regulations that specify what is and is not
  legal.

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Law to reality - a public process

• Regulations proposed
• Public comment period
• Revisions
• Final Rule

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Code of Federal Regulation (CFR)

• Codification of the general and permanent rules
  published in the federal register by the
  executive departments and agencies of the federal
  government.
• Divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas
  subject to federal regulation.

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Where do states enter the picture?

• Most federal environmental laws are "delegated"
  to State governments where the laws are
  implemented and administered.
• A state may seek to have EPA delegate all (or
  part) of an environmental program to it.
• When a program is delegated to a state, the state
  conducts most of the permitting, inspection, and
  enforcement activities, with EPA maintaining a
  back-up or oversight role.

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Major water-related acts

• Much of the water quality and environmental
  regulations appear in Titles 33 and 42.
• Clean Water Act (Title 33, CFR)
• Safe Drinking Water Act (Title 42, CFR)

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SDWA vs CWA
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Clean Water Act (CFR - Title 33)

• The objective of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is to
  restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and
  biological integrity of the Nations waters so
  that they can support "the protection and
  propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and
  recreation in and on the water."

Desotelle Consulting, PLC
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Federal Water Pollution Control Act to Clean
Water Act

• 1st passed in 1972 as the Federal Water Pollution
  Control Act
• As amended in 1977, this law became commonly
  known as the Clean Water Act.
• Over the years, many other laws have changed
  parts of the Clean Water Act.

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CWA goals

• Eliminate pollutant discharges
• Provide interim water quality goals
• Prohibit discharge of toxicants
• Provide financial assistance
• Provide for a plan
• Develop technologies
• Provide for pollution programs

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CWA point source to nonpoint source

• At first focus mainly on point source pollution
  related to chemical integrity.
• Municipal sewage plans
• Industrial facilities
• Last 10 plus years attention given to physical
  and biological integrity.

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CWA a watershed perspective

• Evolution of CWA programs
• shift in philosophy
• Equal emphasis on protecting
  healthy waters as well as
  restoring impaired ones.

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Major CWA programs

• Water quality standards
• Designated uses
• Water quality criteria
• Antidegradation policy
• Waterbody monitoring and assessment
• Reports on condition of the nations waters
• Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)

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Water Quality Standards (WQS)

• Translates statutory goals into measurable
  objectives.
• Employ antidegradation policies when all WQS met.
• Develop strategies to meet WQS when all WQS are
  not met.

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Waters of the United States

• Applies only to surface watersrivers, lakes,
  estuaries, coastal waters, and wetlands.
• The exact dividing line between "waters of the
  United States" and other waters can be hard to
  determine.

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Designating WQS

• WQS should be set for all waters defined as
  "waters of the U.S."
• The CWA does not require WQS for ground water.
• Standards for additional surface waters including
  ground water can be adopted, however.

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Designated Uses (DUs)

• The uses the community wants or might want to
  place on a particular waterbody.
• Examples of DUs with subcategories in parenthesis
  include
• drinking water (treated/untreated)
• water-based recreation (noncontact, short or long
  term)
• fishing/eating
• aquatic life (warm or cold water species/habitat)
  
• agriculture water supply
• industrial water supply

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Designated Uses (DUs)

• Generally waterbodies, and different portions of
  a given waterbody, are assigned various
  combinations of DUs.
• Economic factors can be considered when setting
  the DU

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Water Quality Criteria (WQC)

• WQC are levels of individual pollutants or water
  quality characteristics, or descriptions of
  conditions of a waterbody that, if met, will
  generally protect the DU of the water.
• For a given DU, there are likely to be a number
  of WQC.
• Only scientific considerations can be taken into
  account.

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Antidegradation policy

• The purpose of this policy is to keep clean
  waters clean. States, tribes, and territories
  usually cover this program as part of their water
  quality standards regulations.
• A waterbody could have antidegradation apply to
  some uses and criteria, whereas a cleanup
  strategy, such as a Total Maximum Daily Load
  (TMDL) would be needed, for others.

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Antidegradation application
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Waterbody monitoring and assessment

• Monitor to determine whether the WQS are being
  met.
• Responsibility falls primarily on the states.
• EPA does not operate a large national network of
  water quality monitoring stations.

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Reports on condition of the nations waters

• States, tribes, and territories are required to
  provide the results of their monitoring efforts
  in the form of two reports, submitted to EPA and
  made available to the public.
• 305(b) Report - National Water Quality Inventory
• 303(d) Threatened and Impaired Waters List
• Consolidated Reports

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What do the reports tell us?

• Information represents the number of waterbodies
  for which the listed stressors were cited as a
  cause of impairment.
• Three most frequently encountered causes of
  impairment are nutrients (nitrogen and
  phosphorus), pathogens and sediments.

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Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

• When a waterbody or segment is impaired by one or
  more pollutants, a strategy must be developed
  leading to attainment of the WQS.
• TMDLs are to be developed only for waters
  affected by pollutants where implementation of
  the technology-based controls imposed upon point
  sources would not result in achievement of WQS.

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TMDLs

• Pollutant budgets" for a specific waterbody or
  segment, that if not exceeded, would result in
  attainment of WQS.
• Done pollutant by pollutant for each waterbody or
  segment
• if there are two or more pollutants, the TMDLs
  for each pollutant could be done simultaneously.
• flow alterations and physical habitat
  modifications are included in addition to all
  pollutants.

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Watershed framework for TMDLs

• TMDLs should be completed on a "watershed basis"
  in order to realize program efficiencies and
  foster more holistic analysis.
• Ideally, TMDLs are incorporated into
  comprehensive watershed strategies to
• address protection of high quality waters
  (antidegradation) as well as restoration of
  impaired segments (TMDLs).
• address the full array of activities affecting
  the waterbody.
• provide a collaborative effort framework among a
  variety of stakeholders.

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Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)(CFR - Title 42)

• To protect the quality of drinking water in the
  U.S.
• Originally passed in 1974
• Amended 1996

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Drinking water facts

• Our society uses almost an average of 100 gallons
  of drinking water per person per day.
• Of the drinking water supplied by public water
  systems, only a small portion is actually used
  for drinking.

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Application and responsibility

• Every public water system in the U.S. (about
  170,000).
• Must have at least 15 service connections or
  serve at least 25 people per day for 60 days per
  year.
• Responsibility is divided among EPA, states,
  tribes, water systems, and the public.
• SDWA provides framework for parties to work
  together
• EPA sets national standards based on sound
  science to protect against health risks.

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Setting primary drinking water standards

• Identify drinking water contaminants that may
  adversely affect public health.
• Determine a maximum contaminant level (MCL) goal
  for regulated contaminants.
• Specify an enforceable MCL.

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Other environmental laws enacted by congress -
EPA carries out its efforts

• 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
• 1947 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
  Rodenticide Act
• 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (also
  known as Clean Water Act)
• 1955 Clean Air Act
• 1965 Shoreline Erosion Protection Act
• 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act
• 1970 National Environmental Policy Act
• 1970 Pollution Prevention Packaging Act
• 1970 Resource Recovery Act
• 1971 Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act
• 1972 Coastal Zone Management Act

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Other environmental laws enacted by congress -
EPA carries out its efforts

• 1972 Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
  Act
• 1972 Ocean Dumping Act
• 1973 Endangered Species Act
• 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act
• 1974 Shoreline Erosion Control Demonstration Act
• 1975 Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
• 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
• 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act
• 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
• 1978 Uranium Mill-Tailings Radiation Control Act
• 1980 Asbestos School Hazard Detection Control
  Act

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Other environmental laws enacted by congress -
EPA carries out its efforts

• 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Act
• 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act
• 1984 Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act
• 1986 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act
• 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right to
  Know Act
• 1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act
• 1988 Lead Contamination Control Act
• 1988 Medical Waste Tracking Act
• 1988 Ocean Dumping Ban Act
• 1988 Shore Protection Act
• 1990 National Environmental Education Act

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References

• Local Government Environmental Assistance
  Network. Regulatory Information. International
  City/County Management Association.
  http//www/lgean.org/html/regs.cfm.
• U.S. Federal Government. Electronic Code of
  Federal Regulations. Sept. 28, 2004.
  http//www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr/
• Environmental Pollution Control Agency.
  Understanding the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA
  810-F-99-008. December 1999. http//www.epa.gov/sa
  fewater/sdwa/pdfs/25ann/fs_sdwa_understand_25.pdf
• Environmental Pollution Control Agency. Watershed
  Academy Web Introduction to the Clean Water
  Act. April 19, 2003. http//www.epa.gov/watertrain
  /
• Environmental Pollution Control Agency. Drinking
  Water Academy. April 23, 2004. http//www.epa.gov/
  safewater/dwa/electronic/introsdwa.html