Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium-2016, 19176-19178 [2016-07647]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2016 / Notices
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AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:03 Apr 01, 2016
Jkt 238001
Dated: March 23, 2016.
Lorie J. Schmidt,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016–07491 Filed 4–1–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0753; FRL 9944-46–
OW]
Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium—
2016
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is announcing the release
of recommended aquatic life water
quality criteria for cadmium. EPA has
updated its national recommended
ambient water quality criteria for
cadmium in order to reflect the latest
scientific information, and current EPA
policies and methods. EPA’s water
quality criteria for cadmium provides
recommendations to states and tribes
authorized to establish water quality
standards under the Clean Water Act. In
adopting water quality standards, states
set exposure protections for aquatic life;
acute exposure to cadmium results in
lethality, while chronic exposure to
cadmium negatively impacts growth,
development, behavior, reproduction,
and immune and endocrine systems in
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00065
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
aquatic life. Cadmium enters the
environment by natural and human
processes, however, human sources,
such as mining and urban processes, are
responsible for contributing
approximately 90 percent of the
cadmium found in surface waters.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mike Elias, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail
Code 4304T), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 566–0120; email address:
elias.mike@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How can I get copies of this
document and other related
information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a
docket for this action under Docket ID
No. EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0753. Publicly
available docket materials are available
either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Water Docket in the EPA Docket
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566–1744,
and the telephone number for the Water
Docket is (202) 566–2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access
this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government
Printing Office under the ‘‘Federal
Register’’ listings on FDSys (https://
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. What are EPA’s recommended water
quality criteria?
EPA’s recommended water quality
criteria are scientifically derived
numeric values that protect aquatic life
or human health from the deleterious
effects of pollutants in ambient water.
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act
(CWA) directs EPA to develop and
publish and, from time to time, revise
criteria for protection of aquatic life and
human health that accurately reflect the
latest scientific knowledge. Water
quality criteria developed under section
304(a) are based solely on data and the
latest scientific knowledge on the
relationship between pollutant
concentrations and environmental and
human health effects. Section 304(a)
criteria do not reflect consideration of
economic impacts or the technological
E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM
04APN1
19177
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2016 / Notices
feasibility of meeting pollutant
concentrations in ambient water.
EPA’s recommended section 304(a)
criteria provide technical information to
states and authorized tribes in adopting
water quality standards (WQS) that
ultimately provide a basis for assessing
water body health and controlling
discharges or releases of pollutants.
Under the CWA and its implementing
regulations, states and authorized tribes
are to adopt water quality criteria to
protect designated uses (e.g., public
water supply, aquatic life, recreational
use, or industrial use). EPA’s
recommended water quality criteria do
not substitute for the CWA or
regulations, nor are they regulations
themselves. EPA’s recommended
criteria do not impose legally binding
requirements. States and authorized
tribes have the discretion to adopt,
where appropriate, other scientifically
defensible water quality criteria that
differ from these recommendations.
III. What is cadmium and why is EPA
concerned about it?
Cadmium is a naturally occurring
metal found in mineral deposits and
distributed widely at low concentrations
in the environment. Cadmium’s primary
industrial uses are for the
manufacturing of batteries, pigments,
plastic stabilizers, metal coatings, alloys
and electronics. Recently, cadmium has
been used in manufacturing
nanoparticles (quantum dots) for use in
solar cells and color displays. Cadmium
is a non-essential metal with no
biological function in aquatic life. Acute
exposure causes mortality. Chronic
exposure leads to adverse effects on
growth, reproduction, immune and
endocrine systems, development and
behavior in aquatic organisms.
IV. Information on the Aquatic Life
Ambient Water Quality Criteria for
Cadmium
EPA prepared an update of the
chronic aquatic life criteria document
for cadmium based on the latest
scientific information and current EPA
policies and methods, including EPA’s
Guidelines for Deriving Numerical
National Water Quality Criteria for the
Protection of Aquatic Organisms and
Their Uses (1985) (EPA/R–85–100) and
Guidelines for Ecological Risk
Assessment (1998) (EPA/630/R–95/
002F). The 2016 updated criteria
include new data for 75 species and 49
genera not previously represented. The
freshwater acute criterion was derived
to be protective of aquatic species and
further lowered to protect the
commercially and recreationally
important rainbow trout, consistent
with procedures described in EPA’s
current aquatic life criteria guidelines.
The freshwater acute value is slightly
lower (i.e., more stringent) than the 2001
acute criterion for dissolved cadmium.
The freshwater chronic criterion is
slightly higher (i.e., less stringent)
compared to the 2001 criterion for
dissolved cadmium; this modest
increase is primarily due to the
inclusion of four new genera, and the
reanalysis of other data.
The estuarine/marine acute criterion
for dissolved cadmium is slightly more
stringent than the 2001 recommended
criterion, which is primarily due to the
addition of new sensitive genera.
Changes in suggested values between
2001 and 2016 can be found in Table 1
below.
TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF 2001 AND 2016 AQUATIC LIFE AWQC FOR CADMIUM
2016 AWQC update
2001 AWQC
Acute (1-hour,
dissolved Cd) c
Freshwater (Total Hardness = 100 mg/L as CaCO3) a .......................
Estuarine/marine ..................................................................................
Chronic (4-day,
dissolved Cd)
Acute (1-day,
dissolved Cd)
1.8 μg/Lb ...........
33 μg/L .............
0.72 μg/L ..........
7.9 μg/L ............
2.0 μg/Lb ...........
40 μg/L .............
Chronic (4-day,
dissolved Cd)
0.25 μg/L.
8.8 μg/L.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
a Freshwater acute and chronic criteria are hardness-dependent and were normalized to a hardness of 100 mg/L as CaCO to allow the pres3
entation of representative criteria values.
b Lowered to protect the commercially and recreationally important species (rainbow trout), as per the 1985 Guidelines, Stephen et al. (1985).
c The duration of the 2016 acute criteria was changed to 1-hour to reflect the 1985 Guidelines-based recommended acute duration.
V. What is the relationship between the
water quality criteria and state or tribal
water quality standards?
As part of the WQS triennial review
process defined in section 303(c)(1) of
the CWA, the states and authorized
tribes are responsible for maintaining
and revising WQS. Standards consist of
designated uses, water quality criteria to
protect those uses, a policy for
antidegradation, and may include
general policies for application and
implementation. Section 303(c)(1)
requires states and authorized tribes to
review and modify, if appropriate, their
WQS at least once every three years.
States and authorized tribes must
adopt water quality criteria that protect
designated uses. Protective criteria are
based on a sound scientific rationale
and contain sufficient parameters or
constituents to protect the designated
uses. Criteria may be expressed in either
narrative or numeric form. States and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:27 Apr 01, 2016
Jkt 238001
authorized tribes have four options
when adopting water quality criteria for
which EPA has published section 304(a)
criteria. They may:
(1) Establish numerical values based
on recommended section 304(a) criteria;
(2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria
modified to reflect site-specific
conditions;
(3) Adopt criteria derived using other
scientifically defensible methods; or
(4) Establish narrative criteria where
numeric criteria cannot be established
or to supplement numerical criteria (40
CFR 131.11(b)).
EPA’s regulation at 40 CFR 131.20(a)
provides that if a state does not adopt
new or revised criteria parameters for
which EPA has published new or
updated recommendations, then the
state shall provide an explanation when
it submits the results of its triennial
review to the Regional Administrator
consistent with CWA section 303(c)(1).
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The updated cadmium criteria
supersede EPA’s previous 304(a) criteria
for cadmium. Consistent with 40 CFR
131.21, new or revised water quality
criteria adopted into law or regulation
by states and authorized tribes on or
after May 30, 2000 are applicable water
quality standards for CWA purposes
only after EPA approval.
VI. Additional Information
EPA conducted a contractor-led and
independent external peer review of the
draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria for Cadmium document
in October 2015. This document was
released for 60 day public comment in
2016 and has been updated accordingly.
The document may be found at: https://
www.regulations.gov.
E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM
04APN1
19178
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 64 / Monday, April 4, 2016 / Notices
Dated: March 28, 2016.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of
Water.
[FR Doc. 2016–07647 Filed 4–1–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
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REVIEW COMMISSION
[BAC 6735–01]
Sunshine Act Notice
March 30, 2016.
10:00 a.m., Wednesday,
April 20, 2016.
PLACE: The Richard V. Backley Hearing
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STATUS: Open.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The
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[FR Doc. 2016–07690 Filed 3–31–16; 11:15 am]
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FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
REVIEW COMMISSION
[BAC 6735–01]
Sunshine Act Notice
March 30, 2016.
10:00 a.m., Thursday,
April 21, 2016.
PLACE: The Richard V. Backley Hearing
Room, Room 511N, 1331 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004
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MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The
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the following in open session: Secretary
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
TIME AND DATE:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:03 Apr 01, 2016
Jkt 238001
of Labor v. The American Coal
Company, Docket Nos. LAKE 2011–701,
et al. (Issues include whether the Judge
erred by not requiring that the Secretary
prove by a preponderance of the
evidence that the amounts of proposed
penalties based on special assessments
were appropriate.)
Any person attending this meeting
who requires special accessibility
features and/or auxiliary aids, such as
sign language interpreters, must inform
the Commission in advance of those
needs. Subject to 29 CFR 2706.150(a)(3)
and 2706.160(d).
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFO:
Emogene Johnson (202) 434–9935/(202)
708–9300 for TDD Relay/1–800–877–
8339 for toll free.
Sarah L. Stewart,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016–07691 Filed 3–31–16; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 6735–01–P
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PO 00000
Frm 00067
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19176-19178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07647]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0753; FRL 9944[dash]46-OW]
Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for
Cadmium--2016
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
release of recommended aquatic life water quality criteria for cadmium.
EPA has updated its national recommended ambient water quality criteria
for cadmium in order to reflect the latest scientific information, and
current EPA policies and methods. EPA's water quality criteria for
cadmium provides recommendations to states and tribes authorized to
establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. In
adopting water quality standards, states set exposure protections for
aquatic life; acute exposure to cadmium results in lethality, while
chronic exposure to cadmium negatively impacts growth, development,
behavior, reproduction, and immune and endocrine systems in aquatic
life. Cadmium enters the environment by natural and human processes,
however, human sources, such as mining and urban processes, are
responsible for contributing approximately 90 percent of the cadmium
found in surface waters.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Elias, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: (202) 566-0120; email address: elias.mike@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0753. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in
hard copy at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA
Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number
for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number
for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal
Register'' listings on FDSys (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. What are EPA's recommended water quality criteria?
EPA's recommended water quality criteria are scientifically derived
numeric values that protect aquatic life or human health from the
deleterious effects of pollutants in ambient water. Section 304(a)(1)
of the Clean Water Act (CWA) directs EPA to develop and publish and,
from time to time, revise criteria for protection of aquatic life and
human health that accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge.
Water quality criteria developed under section 304(a) are based solely
on data and the latest scientific knowledge on the relationship between
pollutant concentrations and environmental and human health effects.
Section 304(a) criteria do not reflect consideration of economic
impacts or the technological
[[Page 19177]]
feasibility of meeting pollutant concentrations in ambient water.
EPA's recommended section 304(a) criteria provide technical
information to states and authorized tribes in adopting water quality
standards (WQS) that ultimately provide a basis for assessing water
body health and controlling discharges or releases of pollutants. Under
the CWA and its implementing regulations, states and authorized tribes
are to adopt water quality criteria to protect designated uses (e.g.,
public water supply, aquatic life, recreational use, or industrial
use). EPA's recommended water quality criteria do not substitute for
the CWA or regulations, nor are they regulations themselves. EPA's
recommended criteria do not impose legally binding requirements. States
and authorized tribes have the discretion to adopt, where appropriate,
other scientifically defensible water quality criteria that differ from
these recommendations.
III. What is cadmium and why is EPA concerned about it?
Cadmium is a naturally occurring metal found in mineral deposits
and distributed widely at low concentrations in the environment.
Cadmium's primary industrial uses are for the manufacturing of
batteries, pigments, plastic stabilizers, metal coatings, alloys and
electronics. Recently, cadmium has been used in manufacturing
nanoparticles (quantum dots) for use in solar cells and color displays.
Cadmium is a non-essential metal with no biological function in aquatic
life. Acute exposure causes mortality. Chronic exposure leads to
adverse effects on growth, reproduction, immune and endocrine systems,
development and behavior in aquatic organisms.
IV. Information on the Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for
Cadmium
EPA prepared an update of the chronic aquatic life criteria
document for cadmium based on the latest scientific information and
current EPA policies and methods, including EPA's Guidelines for
Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses (1985) (EPA/R-85-100) and
Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment (1998) (EPA/630/R-95/002F).
The 2016 updated criteria include new data for 75 species and 49 genera
not previously represented. The freshwater acute criterion was derived
to be protective of aquatic species and further lowered to protect the
commercially and recreationally important rainbow trout, consistent
with procedures described in EPA's current aquatic life criteria
guidelines. The freshwater acute value is slightly lower (i.e., more
stringent) than the 2001 acute criterion for dissolved cadmium. The
freshwater chronic criterion is slightly higher (i.e., less stringent)
compared to the 2001 criterion for dissolved cadmium; this modest
increase is primarily due to the inclusion of four new genera, and the
reanalysis of other data.
The estuarine/marine acute criterion for dissolved cadmium is
slightly more stringent than the 2001 recommended criterion, which is
primarily due to the addition of new sensitive genera. Changes in
suggested values between 2001 and 2016 can be found in Table 1 below.
Table 1--Summary of 2001 and 2016 Aquatic Life AWQC for Cadmium
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 AWQC update 2001 AWQC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acute (1-hour, dissolved Chronic (4-day, dissolved Acute (1-day, dissolved Chronic (4-day,
Cd) \c\ Cd) Cd) dissolved Cd)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freshwater (Total Hardness = 100 mg/L as 1.8 [micro]g/L\b\........ 0.72 [micro]g/L.......... 2.0 [micro]g/L\b\........ 0.25 [micro]g/L.
CaCO[ihel3]) \a\.
Estuarine/marine............................. 33 [micro]g/L............ 7.9 [micro]g/L........... 40 [micro]g/L............ 8.8 [micro]g/L.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Freshwater acute and chronic criteria are hardness-dependent and were normalized to a hardness of 100 mg/L as CaCO[ihel3] to allow the presentation
of representative criteria values.
\b\ Lowered to protect the commercially and recreationally important species (rainbow trout), as per the 1985 Guidelines, Stephen et al. (1985).
\c\ The duration of the 2016 acute criteria was changed to 1-hour to reflect the 1985 Guidelines-based recommended acute duration.
V. What is the relationship between the water quality criteria and
state or tribal water quality standards?
As part of the WQS triennial review process defined in section
303(c)(1) of the CWA, the states and authorized tribes are responsible
for maintaining and revising WQS. Standards consist of designated uses,
water quality criteria to protect those uses, a policy for
antidegradation, and may include general policies for application and
implementation. Section 303(c)(1) requires states and authorized tribes
to review and modify, if appropriate, their WQS at least once every
three years.
States and authorized tribes must adopt water quality criteria that
protect designated uses. Protective criteria are based on a sound
scientific rationale and contain sufficient parameters or constituents
to protect the designated uses. Criteria may be expressed in either
narrative or numeric form. States and authorized tribes have four
options when adopting water quality criteria for which EPA has
published section 304(a) criteria. They may:
(1) Establish numerical values based on recommended section 304(a)
criteria;
(2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria modified to reflect site-specific
conditions;
(3) Adopt criteria derived using other scientifically defensible
methods; or
(4) Establish narrative criteria where numeric criteria cannot be
established or to supplement numerical criteria (40 CFR 131.11(b)).
EPA's regulation at 40 CFR 131.20(a) provides that if a state does
not adopt new or revised criteria parameters for which EPA has
published new or updated recommendations, then the state shall provide
an explanation when it submits the results of its triennial review to
the Regional Administrator consistent with CWA section 303(c)(1). The
updated cadmium criteria supersede EPA's previous 304(a) criteria for
cadmium. Consistent with 40 CFR 131.21, new or revised water quality
criteria adopted into law or regulation by states and authorized tribes
on or after May 30, 2000 are applicable water quality standards for CWA
purposes only after EPA approval.
VI. Additional Information
EPA conducted a contractor-led and independent external peer review
of the draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium
document in October 2015. This document was released for 60 day public
comment in 2016 and has been updated accordingly. The document may be
found at: https://www.regulations.gov.
[[Page 19178]]
Dated: March 28, 2016.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2016-07647 Filed 4-1-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P