Request for Scientific Views: Draft Updated Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater, 35198-35200 [2017-15968]
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35198
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 144 / Friday, July 28, 2017 / Notices
formally cooperate with us in the
preparation of the EA.4 Agencies that
would like to request cooperating
agency status should follow the
instructions for filing comments
provided under the Public Participation
section of this notice.
Consultations Under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act
In accordance with the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation’s
implementing regulations for section
106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, we are using this
notice to initiate consultation with the
applicable State Historic Preservation
Office (SHPO), and to solicit their views
and those of other government agencies,
interested Indian tribes, and the public
on the project’s potential effects on
historic properties.5 We will define the
project-specific Area of Potential Effects
(APE) in consultation with the SHPO as
the project develops. On natural gas
facility projects, the APE at a minimum
encompasses all areas subject to ground
disturbance (examples include
construction right-of-way, contractor/
pipe storage yards, compressor stations,
and access roads). Our EA for this
project will document our findings on
the impacts on historic properties and
summarize the status of consultations
under section 106.
Environmental Mailing List
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The environmental mailing list
includes federal, state, and local
government representatives and
agencies; elected officials;
environmental and public interest
groups; Native American Tribes; other
interested parties; and local libraries
and newspapers. This list also includes
all affected landowners (as defined in
the Commission’s regulations) who are
potential right-of-way grantors, whose
property may be used temporarily for
project purposes, or who own homes
within certain distances of aboveground
facilities, and anyone who submits
comments on the project. We will
update the environmental mailing list as
the analysis proceeds to ensure that we
send the information related to this
environmental review to all individuals,
organizations, and government entities
4 The Council on Environmental Quality
regulations addressing cooperating agency
responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
5 The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s
regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 800. Those regulations define
historic properties as any prehistoric or historic
district, site, building, structure, or object included
in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register
of Historic Places.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:50 Jul 27, 2017
Jkt 241001
interested in and/or potentially affected
by the proposed project.
If we publish and distribute the EA,
copies of the EA will be sent to the
environmental mailing list for public
review and comment. If you would
prefer to receive a paper copy of the
document instead of the CD version or
would like to remove your name from
the mailing list, please return the
attached Information Request (appendix
2).
Dated: July 24, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA
scoping process, you may want to
become an intervenor which is an
official party to the Commission’s
proceeding. Intervenors play a more
formal role in the process and are able
to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be
heard by the courts if they choose to
appeal the Commission’s final ruling.
An intervenor formally participates in
the proceeding by filing a request to
intervene. Instructions for becoming an
intervenor are in the Document-less
Intervention Guide under the e-filing
link on the Commission’s Web site.
Motions to intervene are more fully
described at https://www.ferc.gov/
resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp.
Request for Scientific Views: Draft
Updated Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria for Aluminum in
Freshwater
Additional Information
Additional information about the
project is available from the
Commission’s Office of External Affairs,
at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC Web
site at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary
link. Click on the eLibrary link, click on
General Search and enter the docket
number, excluding the last three digits
in the Docket Number field (i.e., CP17–
468). Be sure you have selected an
appropriate date range. For assistance,
please contact FERC Online Support at
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free
at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, contact
(202) 502–8659. The eLibrary link also
provides access to the texts of formal
documents issued by the Commission,
such as orders, notices, and
rulemakings.
In addition, the Commission offers a
free service called eSubscription which
allows you to keep track of all formal
issuances and submittals in specific
dockets. This can reduce the amount of
time you spend researching proceedings
by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings, document
summaries, and direct links to the
documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp.
Finally, public sessions or site visits
will be posted on the Commission’s
calendar located at www.ferc.gov/
EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along
with other related information.
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[FR Doc. 2017–15914 Filed 7–27–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OW–2017–0260; FRL–9965–39–
OW]
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is announcing the
availability of Draft Updated Aquatic
Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for
Aluminum in Freshwater for public
comment. EPA first released freshwater
criteria for aluminum in 1988 to protect
aquatic life from harmful effects of
aluminum toxicity. EPA is updating its
recommended aluminum criteria to
reflect the latest science and to provide
users the flexibility to develop sitespecific criteria based on site-specific
water chemistry. The draft document
provides a scientific assessment of
ecological effects and is not a regulation.
Following closure of this 60-day public
comment period, EPA will consider the
comments, revise the draft document, as
appropriate, and then publish a final
document that will provide
recommendations for states and
authorized tribes to establish water
quality standards. The
recommendations found in this draft
document do not replace or supersede
EPA’s 1988 national recommended
criteria for aluminum in ambient water.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before September 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OW–2017–0260 to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or withdrawn. EPA may publish
any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
The written comment is considered the
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\28JYN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 144 / Friday, July 28, 2017 / Notices
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–2017–0260. Publicly
available docket materials are available
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
IV. What are section 304(a) water
quality criteria?
Section 304(a) water quality criteria
are recommendations developed by EPA
under authority of section 304(a) of the
Clean Water Act based on the latest
scientific information which examines
the effect of a particular constituent
concentration on an aquatic species
and/or human health.
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water
Act directs the EPA to develop and
publish and, from time to time, revise
criteria for water quality accurately
reflecting the latest scientific
knowledge. Water quality criteria
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:50 Jul 27, 2017
Jkt 241001
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 FDSys (https://
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
non-essential metal because fish and
other aquatic life do not need it to
function. Elevated levels of aluminum
can affect some species ability to
regulate ions and inhibit respiratory
functions. Aquatic plants are generally
less sensitive to aluminum than fish and
other aquatic life.
III. What are EPA’s updated
recommended levels of aluminum in
freshwater?
Aluminum is found in most soils and
rocks and is the third most abundant
element and the most common metal in
the earth’s crust. Aluminum can enter
the water via natural processes, like
weathering of rocks. Aluminum is also
released to water by mining, industrial
processes using aluminum, and waste
water treated with alum, an aluminum
compound. Aluminum is considered a
The recommended level of aluminum
in freshwater depends on a site’s water
quality parameters. Studies have shown
that three water chemistry parameters,
pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC),
and hardness, can affect the toxicity of
aluminum by affecting the
bioavailability of aluminum in the water
to aquatic species. Unlike the fixed
criteria values in EPA’s 1988 criteria
document, these updated draft criteria
use a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR)
model to normalize the data, and the
resulting criteria are based on site pH,
DOC, and hardness. This allows users to
develop site-specific aluminum criteria
for fresh waters that appropriately
reflect water quality parameters. See
Table 1 for a comparison of EPA’s
currently recommended and updated
draft criteria values.
developed under section 304(a) are
based solely on data and scientific
judgments 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 feasibility
of meeting pollutant concentrations in
ambient water.
Section 304(a) criteria provide
guidance to states and authorized tribes
in adopting water quality standards that
ultimately provide a basis for
controlling discharges of pollutants. The
criteria also provide guidance that EPA
considers when promulgating federal
regulations under section 303(c) when
such action is necessary. Under the
Clean Water Act and its implementing
regulations, states and authorized tribes
are to adopt water quality criteria to
protect designated uses (e.g., aquatic
life, recreational use). EPA’s water
quality criteria recommendations are
not regulations. Thus, EPA’s
recommended criteria do not constitute
legally binding requirements. States and
authorized tribes may adopt other
scientifically defensible water quality
criteria that differ from these
recommendations. As part of the WQS
II. What is Aluminum and how does it
affect aquatic life?
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Fmt 4703
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E:\FR\FM\28JYN1.SGM
28JYN1
EN28JY17.011
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. EPA will generally not consider
comments or comment contents located
outside of the primary submission (i.e.,
on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective
comments, please visit https://
www2.epa.gov/dockets/commentingepa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail
Code 4304T), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone:
(202) 566–1143; or email: eignor.diana@
epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
35199
35200
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 144 / Friday, July 28, 2017 / Notices
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. Consistent
with EPA’s regulations at 40 CFR
131.11(a), protective criteria must be
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 numeric criteria (40
CFR 131.11(b)).
V. Solicitation of Scientific Views
EPA is soliciting additional scientific
views, data, and information regarding
the science and technical approach used
in the derivation of the draft criteria.
Dated: July 17, 2017.
Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017–15968 Filed 7–27–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[ER–FRL–9034–4]
asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
Environmental Impact Statements;
Notice of Availability
Responsible Agency: Office of Federal
Activities, General Information (202)
564–7146 or https://www.epa.gov/nepa.
Weekly receipt of Environmental Impact
Statements (EISs) Filed 07/17/2017
Through 07/21/2017 Pursuant to 40
CFR 1506.9.
Notice
Section 309(a) of the Clean Air Act
requires that EPA make public its
comments on EISs issued by other
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:50 Jul 27, 2017
Jkt 241001
Federal agencies. EPA’s comment letters
on EISs are available at: https://
www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/
eisdata.html.
EIS No. 20170134, Final, FHWA, IL,
Interstate 290 Eisenhower
Expressway, Contact: Catherine A.
Batey 217–492–4600, Under MAP–21
Section 1319, FHWA has issued a
single FEIS and ROD. Therefore, the
30-day wait/review period under
NEPA does not apply to this action.
EIS No. 20170135, Draft, NPS, WA,
Olympic National Park Draft
Mountain Goat Management Plan,
Comment Period Ends: 09/26/2017,
Contact: Christina Miller 360–565–
3004.
EIS No. 20170136, Draft, BIA, WA,
Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation Integrated Resource
Management Plan 2015, Comment
Period Ends: 09/11/2017, Contact:
Anna Schmidt 503–231–6808.
EIS No. 20170137, Draft Supplement,
Caltrans, CA, I–710 Corridor Project,
Comment Period Ends: 09/22/2017,
Contact: Jason Roach 213–897–0357.
EIS No. 20170138, Final, FERC, VA,
Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Supply
Header Project, Review Period Ends:
08/28/2017, Contact: Kevin Bowman
202–502–6287.
EIS No. 20170139, Final, FHWA, IL, US
30 from IL 136 to IL 40 Whiteside Co.,
Contact: Catherine A. Batey 217–492–
4600, Under MAP–21 Section 1319,
FHWA has issued a single FEIS and
ROD. Therefore, the 30-day wait/
review period under NEPA does not
apply to this action.
EIS No. 20170140, Draft, USFS, WY,
North Savery Project, Comment
Period Ends: 09/12/2017, Contact:
Paula Guenther 307–326–2507.
EIS No. 20170141, Draft, AFS, MT,
Starry Goat, Comment Period Ends:
09/11/2017, Contact: Lisa Osborn
406–295–7558.
EIS No. 20170142, Adoption, Final,
FAA, CA, ADOPTION—Land
Acquisition and Airspace
Establishment to Support Large-Scale
Marine Air Ground Task Force LiveFire and Maneuver Training at Marine
Corps Air Ground Combat Center,
Review Period Ends: 09/04/2017,
Contact: Paula Miller 202–267–7378.
The U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) has adopted
the U.S. Department of Navy’s FSEIS
#20160327, filed 12/30/2016 with
EPA. FAA was a cooperating agency
on the project and recirculation of the
document is not necessary under
Section 1506.3(c) of the CEQ
Regulations.
PO 00000
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Amended Notices
EIS No. 20170106, Draft, NMFS, OR,
Analyze Impacts of NOAA’s National
Marine Fisheries Service joining as a
signatory to a new U.S. v. Oregon
Management Agreement for the Years
2018–2027, Comment Period Ends:
08/21/2017, Contact: Jeromy Jording
360–753–9576. Revision to the FR
Notice Published 06/23/2017;
Extending the Comment Period from
08/07/2017 to 08/21/2017.
Dated: July 25, 2017.
Dawn Roberts,
Management Analyst, NEPA Compliance
Division, Office of Federal Activities.
[FR Doc. 2017–15966 Filed 7–27–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9965–40–OA]
Notification of a Public Teleconference
of the Chartered Clean Air Scientific
Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the
CASAC Secondary National Ambient
Air Quality Standards Review Panel for
Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The EPA Science Advisory
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a
public teleconference of the Chartered
Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC) and CASAC
Secondary National Ambient Air
Quality Standards Review Panel for
Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur to discuss
the CASAC draft review of the EPA’s
Integrated Science Assessment for
Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur,
and Particulate Matter—Ecological
Criteria (First External Review Draft—
February 2017).
DATES: The teleconference will be held
on August 31, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to
5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
ADDRESSES: The public teleconference
will be held by telephone only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any
member of the public wishing to obtain
information concerning the public
meeting may contact Dr. Thomas
Armitage, Designated Federal Officer
(DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board
Staff Office (1400R), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; by
telephone at (202) 564–2155 or at
armitage.thomas@epa.gov. General
information about the CASAC, as well
as any updates concerning the meeting
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\28JYN1.SGM
28JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35198-35200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15968]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0260; FRL-9965-39-OW]
Request for Scientific Views: Draft Updated Aquatic Life Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
availability of Draft Updated Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality
Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater for public comment. EPA first
released freshwater criteria for aluminum in 1988 to protect aquatic
life from harmful effects of aluminum toxicity. EPA is updating its
recommended aluminum criteria to reflect the latest science and to
provide users the flexibility to develop site-specific criteria based
on site-specific water chemistry. The draft document provides a
scientific assessment of ecological effects and is not a regulation.
Following closure of this 60-day public comment period, EPA will
consider the comments, revise the draft document, as appropriate, and
then publish a final document that will provide recommendations for
states and authorized tribes to establish water quality standards. The
recommendations found in this draft document do not replace or
supersede EPA's 1988 national recommended criteria for aluminum in
ambient water.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2017-0260 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA
may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the
[[Page 35199]]
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish
to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents
located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 566-1143; or email: eignor.diana@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-2017-0260. 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 FDSys (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. What is Aluminum and how does it affect aquatic life?
Aluminum is found in most soils and rocks and is the third most
abundant element and the most common metal in the earth's crust.
Aluminum can enter the water via natural processes, like weathering of
rocks. Aluminum is also released to water by mining, industrial
processes using aluminum, and waste water treated with alum, an
aluminum compound. Aluminum is considered a non-essential metal because
fish and other aquatic life do not need it to function. Elevated levels
of aluminum can affect some species ability to regulate ions and
inhibit respiratory functions. Aquatic plants are generally less
sensitive to aluminum than fish and other aquatic life.
III. What are EPA's updated recommended levels of aluminum in
freshwater?
The recommended level of aluminum in freshwater depends on a site's
water quality parameters. Studies have shown that three water chemistry
parameters, pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and hardness, can
affect the toxicity of aluminum by affecting the bioavailability of
aluminum in the water to aquatic species. Unlike the fixed criteria
values in EPA's 1988 criteria document, these updated draft criteria
use a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model to normalize the data, and
the resulting criteria are based on site pH, DOC, and hardness. This
allows users to develop site-specific aluminum criteria for fresh
waters that appropriately reflect water quality parameters. See Table 1
for a comparison of EPA's currently recommended and updated draft
criteria values.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN28JY17.011
IV. What are section 304(a) water quality criteria?
Section 304(a) water quality criteria are recommendations developed
by EPA under authority of section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act based
on the latest scientific information which examines the effect of a
particular constituent concentration on an aquatic species and/or human
health.
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act directs the EPA to develop
and publish and, from time to time, revise criteria for water quality
accurately reflecting the latest scientific knowledge. Water quality
criteria developed under section 304(a) are based solely on data and
scientific judgments 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 feasibility of meeting pollutant concentrations in
ambient water.
Section 304(a) criteria provide guidance to states and authorized
tribes in adopting water quality standards that ultimately provide a
basis for controlling discharges of pollutants. The criteria also
provide guidance that EPA considers when promulgating federal
regulations under section 303(c) when such action is necessary. Under
the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations, states and
authorized tribes are to adopt water quality criteria to protect
designated uses (e.g., aquatic life, recreational use). EPA's water
quality criteria recommendations are not regulations. Thus, EPA's
recommended criteria do not constitute legally binding requirements.
States and authorized tribes may adopt other scientifically defensible
water quality criteria that differ from these recommendations. As part
of the WQS
[[Page 35200]]
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. Consistent with EPA's regulations at 40 CFR 131.11(a),
protective criteria must be 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 numeric
criteria (40 CFR 131.11(b)).
V. Solicitation of Scientific Views
EPA is soliciting additional scientific views, data, and
information regarding the science and technical approach used in the
derivation of the draft criteria.
Dated: July 17, 2017.
Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-15968 Filed 7-27-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P