Final Recommended Aquatic Life Criteria and Benchmarks for Select PFAS, 81077-81079 [2024-23024]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Notices
• Quantity of material received for
reclamation
Per facility:
• Amount of HFC–23 generated
• Emissions of HFC–23
By regulated HFC:
• Amount destroyed
• Amount exported
• Total amount imported
• Amount imported and not used as
feedstock
• Total amount produced (gross)
• Amount produced for feedstock use
• Calculated consumption consistent
with the AIM Act
• Calculated consumption consistent
with reporting requirements under the
Montreal Protocol
• Total end of year inventory
Cynthia A. Newberg,
Director, Stratospheric Protection Division.
[FR Doc. 2024–23143 Filed 10–4–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OW–2022–0365 and EPA–HQ–
OW–2022–0366; FRL 8310–02–OW]
Final Recommended Aquatic Life
Criteria and Benchmarks for Select
PFAS
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
As part of the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) commitment
to safeguard the environment from perand polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),
the agency is announcing the
availability of national ‘‘Final
Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life
Ambient Water Quality Criteria and
Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life
Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid
(PFOA)’’ and ‘‘Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater
Aquatic Life Benchmarks for
Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS),’’
pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA).
The EPA is also announcing the
availability of Acute Freshwater Aquatic
Life Benchmarks for eight data-limited
perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS):
perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA),
perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA),
perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA),
perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA),
perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS),
perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS),
2H-perfluoro-2-decenoic acid (8:2
FTUCA), and 2H,2H,3H,3Hpefluorodecanoic acid (7:3 FTCA).
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
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These final CWA recommended criteria
and benchmarks provide information
that States and Tribes may consider
when adopting water quality standards.
Consistent with Clean Water Act
sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2), the EPA
expects to update these recommended
criteria and benchmark values from time
to time as new information becomes
available. This announcement is in
accordance with Clean Water Act
section 304(a)(3), which directs the EPA
to publish information developed under
sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2) in the
Federal Register and make it available
to States, Tribes, and the public.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How can I get copies of these
documents and other related
information?
The EPA has established a first docket
for the ‘‘Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute
Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid
(PFOA)’’ under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OW–2022–0365 and a second docket for
the ‘‘Final Recommended Freshwater
Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality
Criteria and Saltwater Acute
Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane
Sulfonate (PFOS)’’ under Docket ID No.
EPA–HQ–OW–2022–0366. Publicly
available docket materials are available
either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the EPA Docket Center, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The Docket
Center’s hours of operations are 8:30
a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
(except Federal holidays). For further
information on the EPA Docket Center
services and the current status, see:
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The ‘‘Final Recommended Freshwater
Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality
Criteria and Saltwater Acute
Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid
(PFOA)’’ document can be accessed on
the EPA’s website through the following
link: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/
documents/2024-09/pfoa-report2024.pdf. The ‘‘Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute
Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane
Sulfonate (PFOS)’’ document can be
accessed on the EPA’s website through
the following link: https://www.epa.gov/
system/files/documents/2024-09/pfosreport-2024.pdf. The ‘‘Final Acute
Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for
Eight Data-Limited PFAS: PFBA,
PFHxA, PFNA, PFDA, PFBS, PFHxS, 8:2
FTUCA, and 7:3 FTCA’’ document can
be accessed on the EPA’s website
PO 00000
Frm 00039
Fmt 4703
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81077
through the following link: https://
www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/
2024-09/pfas-report-2024.pdf.
II. What are PFAS, including PFOA and
PFOS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) are human-made organic
chemical compounds composed of a
carbon chain bound to multiple fluorine
atoms. PFAS have been manufactured
and used by a broad range of industries
since the 1940s, and there are estimated
to be thousands of PFAS present in the
global marketplace that are used in a
range of commercial and industrial
products. PFOA and PFOS are two of
the most widely used and studied
chemicals in the PFAS group. PFAS are
not naturally occurring and have no
biologically important functions or
beneficial properties to aquatic life.
PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS, can
persist in the environment and have
been detected in U.S. rivers, lakes, and
streams. At elevated concentrations,
PFAS can be toxic to fish and other
aquatic species.
III. What are CWA national ambient
water quality criteria and benchmarks
developed by the EPA?
CWA section 304(a) directs the EPA to
develop and publish water quality
criteria that reflect the latest scientific
knowledge. The EPA develops national
recommended ambient water quality
criteria for the protection of aquatic life
based on the highest numeric
concentrations of pollutants, with
specific recommendations on the
duration and frequency of those
concentrations, that are protective of
aquatic ecosystems as a whole. The
EPA’s section 304(a)(1) criteria
recommendations generally follow the
Guidelines methods (Guidelines for
Deriving Numerical National Water
Quality Criteria for the Protection of
Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses),
which recommend toxicity data for a
minimum of eight families of aquatic
animals be used in developing aquatic
life criteria to ensure criteria will
protect aquatic ecosystems as a whole.
Water quality criteria are based solely
on data and scientific judgments about
the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential
environmental effects. The EPA’s
recommended water quality criteria are
not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State’s
water quality standards. States must
adopt into their standards water quality
criteria that protect the designated uses
of their water bodies. States can
establish water quality criteria based on
the EPA’s recommended criteria, modify
E:\FR\FM\07OCN1.SGM
07OCN1
81078
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Notices
recommended criteria to reflect sitespecific conditions, or develop
proposed standards using on other
scientifically defensible methods. A
State’s or Tribe’s water quality criteria
are not legally effective under the Clean
Water Act until they have been adopted
into a State’s or Tribe’s water quality
standards and are approved by the EPA.
Aquatic life benchmarks, developed
under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA, are
informational values that the EPA
generates when there are limited high
quality toxicity data available and data
gaps exist for several aquatic organism
families. The EPA develops aquatic life
benchmarks to provide information that
States and Tribes may consider in their
water quality protection programs. In
developing aquatic life benchmarks,
data gaps may be filled using new
approach methods (NAMs), such as
computer-based toxicity estimation
tools (e.g., EPA’s Web-ICE; Version 3.3;
https://www.epa.gov/webice/) or other
new approach methods intended to
reduce reliance on additional animal
testing (https://www.epa.gov/chemicalresearch/epa-new-approach-methodswork-plan-reducing-use-vertebrateanimals-chemical), including the use of
read-across estimates based on other
chemicals with similar structures. The
EPA’s aquatic life benchmark values are
not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State’s
water quality standards.
IV. What are the EPA’s recommended
criteria for PFOA and PFOS in
freshwater for the protection of aquatic
life?
The EPA has developed separate
PFOA and PFOS criteria to protect
aquatic life from the effects of these
individual chemicals. The EPA
developed these final recommended
aquatic life ambient water quality
criteria following the general approach
outlined in the EPA’s Guidelines.1 The
EPA developed the final PFOA and
PFOS recommended criteria to protect
aquatic life designated uses established
for freshwaters. The final criteria
documents contain acute and chronic
water column criteria for freshwaters
(see Table 1 of this document). Acute
criteria protect aquatic species from
short-term exposures to high pollutant
concentrations while chronic criteria
protect aquatic species from long-term
and repeated pollutant exposures. The
final criteria also contain chronic
criteria expressed as PFOA and PFOS
concentrations in fish muscle tissue,
fish whole-body tissue, and in
invertebrate tissue (see Table 1 of this
document). Many States and Tribes
measure PFAS in fish tissues and these
tissue-based criteria values allow States
and Tribes to assess the health of fish
and invertebrates in their freshwaters.
The chronic freshwater and chronic
fish/invertebrate tissue-based criteria for
both chemicals are intended to be
independently applicable and no one
criterion takes primacy.
The PFOA and PFOS criteria establish
maximum concentrations (i.e.,
magnitude component), averaged over a
given time period (i.e., duration
component), that if not exceeded more
than the allowable number of times
during a specified time period (i.e.,
frequency component), are expected to
protect aquatic ecosystems as a whole.
The duration components of criteria are
set to be substantially shorter than the
length of toxicity tests used to derive the
criteria magnitude and restrict allowable
fluctuations in pollutant concentrations
over time. The frequency components of
aquatic life criteria ensure aquatic
communities have adequate time to
recover following a criteria exceedance
event. The EPA’s final recommended
PFOA and PFOS criteria magnitudes
combined with the associated duration
and frequency components are expected
to protect fish and other aquatic species
in freshwaters (see Table 1).
TABLE 1—FINAL RECOMMENDED FRESHWATER AQUATIC LIFE WATER QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PFOA AND PFOS
Criteria component
Acute water column
(CMC) 1
Chronic water column
(CCC) 2
Invertebrate
whole-body
Fish
whole-body
PFOA Magnitude ..........
PFOS Magnitude ..........
3.1 mg/L .......................................
0.071 mg/L ...................................
0.10 mg/L .....................................
0.00025 mg/L ...............................
1.18 mg/kg ww 4 .....
0.028 mg/kg ww 4 ...
6.49 mg/kg ww 4 .....
0.201 mg/kg ww 4 ...
Duration ........................
1-hour average .............................
4-day average ..............................
Instantaneous.3
Frequency .....................
Not to be exceeded more than Not to be exceeded more than Not to be exceeded.5
once in three years, on average.
once in three years, on average.
Fish muscle
0.133 mg/kg ww.4
0.087 mg/kg ww.4
1 Criterion
Maximum Concentration.
Continuous Concentration.
data provide instantaneous point measurements that reflect integrative accumulation of PFOA or PFOS over time and space in aquatic life population(s) at
a given site.
4 Wet-Weight.
5 PFOA and PFOS chronic freshwater tissue-based criteria should not be exceeded, based on measured tissue concentrations representing the central tendency of
samples collected at a given site and time.
2 Criterion
3 Tissue
Data limitations did not allow for
derivation of PFOA or PFOS national
recommended water quality criteria to
protect saltwater organisms. Therefore,
the EPA derived PFOA and PFOS
aquatic life benchmark values under
section 304(a)(2) of the CWA using the
best available data on the effects of
PFOA and PFOS to provide information
that States and Tribes may consider in
their water quality protection programs.
These benchmark values are based
solely on data and scientific judgments
about the relationship between
pollutant concentrations and potential
environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the
EPA’s acute PFOA and PFOS aquatic
life benchmark values for saltwater are
nonbinding and nonregulatory.
The EPA derived acute saltwater
benchmarks using available toxicity
data on PFOA and PFOS, supplemented
with data estimated using the EPA’s
Web-ICE tool. With data gaps addressed
using both laboratory and estimated
toxicity test data, the acute saltwater
benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS were
calculated following methods outline in
the EPA’s Guidelines.1 The EPA’s acute
saltwater benchmarks for PFOA and
PFOS values are the maximum
concentrations of these PFOA and PFOS
(individually, not in mixture), with
associated frequency and duration
specifications, that are expected to
support protection of aquatic life from
acute effects in saltwater (see Table 2).
1 The EPA’s Guidelines for Deriving Numerical
Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic
Organisms and Their Uses can be accessed through
the EPA web page at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/
default/files/2016-02/documents/guidelines-waterquality-criteria.pdf.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
V. What are the EPA’s saltwater acute
benchmarks for protecting aquatic life
from PFOA and PFOS?
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 194 / Monday, October 7, 2024 / Notices
TABLE 2—ACUTE SALTWATER AQUATIC LIFE BENCHMARKS FOR PFOA AND PFOS
Chemical
PFOA
PFOA
Magnitude ................................................................................................................................
7.0 mg/L
0.55 mg/L.
Duration ...................................................................................................................................
One hour average.
Frequency ................................................................................................................................
Not to be exceeded more than once in three years
on average.
VI. What are the EPA’s freshwater
acute benchmarks for protecting
aquatic life from eight additional
PFAS?
Toxicity data to support benchmarks
for these eight PFAS benchmarks were
limited relative to the data requirements
traditionally used to develop aquatic life
criteria. Therefore, the EPA derived
PFAS aquatic life benchmark values
under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA
using the best available data on the
effects of these PFAS to provide
information that States and Tribes may
consider in their water quality
protection programs. These benchmark
values are based solely on data and
scientific judgments about the
relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential
environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the
EPA’s eight separate acute aquatic life
benchmark values for eight different
data-limited PFAS in freshwater are
nonbinding and nonregulatory.
Compared to PFOA and PFOS, acute
freshwater data were more limited for
these eight PFAS that the EPA
evaluated. The EPA developed the
benchmarks by using the available
laboratory-based data on the effects of
those chemicals on freshwater
organisms, supplemented with data
estimated using the EPA’s Web-ICE tool,
following the same peer-reviewed
approach applied in development of the
acute saltwater benchmarks for PFOA
and PFOS. With data gaps addressed
using both laboratory and estimated
toxicity test data, the acute benchmarks
for these eight PFAS were calculated
following methods outline in the EPA’s
Guidelines.1
The EPA’s acute freshwater
benchmark values are the maximum
concentrations of these PFAS
(individually, not in mixture), with
associated frequency and duration
specifications, that are expected to
support protection of aquatic life from
acute effects in freshwaters (see Table 2
of this document). These acute
benchmarks for these eight PFAS (Table
3) provide information for States and
Tribes to consider as protective values
in their water quality protection
programs.
TABLE 3—ACUTE FRESHWATER AQUATIC LIFE BENCHMARKS FOR EIGHT PFAS
Chemical
PFBA
PFHxA
PFNA
PFDA
PFBS
PFHxS
8:2
FTUCA
7:3
FTCA
Magnitude 1 ......................................................
5.3
4.8
0.65
0.50
5.0
0.21
0.037
0.012
Duration ............................................................
One hour average.
Frequency ........................................................
Not to be exceeded more than once in three years on average.
1 Values
expressed as mg/L, or ppm.
Bruno Pigott,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024–23024 Filed 10–4–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2021–0669; FRL–9116–05–
OAR]
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons:
Notice of Final Administrative
Consequences Under the American
Innovation and Manufacturing Act
Affecting 2024 Allowances
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is providing notice of
Agency actions previously taken to
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:11 Oct 04, 2024
Jkt 262001
establish administrative consequences
for specific entities. These previously
finalized actions withheld, retired, or
revoked the identified entities’ calendar
year 2024 allowances in accordance
with the administrative consequence
regulatory provisions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Connor Henderson, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Stratospheric
Protection Division, telephone number:
202–564–2177; email address:
henderson.connor@epa.gov. You may
also visit EPA’s website at https://
www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction for
further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
hereby provides notice that it has taken
final actions establishing administrative
consequences for specific entities under
the American Innovation and
Manufacturing Act (AIM Act). Each
action, which EPA took through a letter
PO 00000
Frm 00041
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
issued to the relevant entity, is a
separate final action informing the
recipient entity of an administrative
consequence. The requirements
pertaining to administrative
consequences are codified in 40 CFR
84.35. Under this provision, EPA can
retire, revoke, or withhold the allocation
of allowances, or ban an entity from
receiving, transferring, or conferring
allowances. A retired allowance is one
that must go unused and expire at the
end of the year; a revoked allowance is
one that EPA takes back from an
allowance holder and redistributes to all
the other allowance holders; and a
withheld allowance is one that is
retained by the Agency until an
allowance holder that has failed to meet
a regulatory requirement comes back
into compliance, at which point EPA
allocates it to the allowance holder. A
withheld allowance could become a
revoked allowance if the allowance
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81077-81079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23024]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0365 and EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0366; FRL 8310-02-OW]
Final Recommended Aquatic Life Criteria and Benchmarks for Select
PFAS
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: As part of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
commitment to safeguard the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS), the agency is announcing the availability of
national ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for
Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)'' and ``Final Recommended Freshwater
Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic
Life Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS),'' pursuant to the
Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA is also announcing the availability of
Acute Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for eight data-limited
perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA),
perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA),
perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS),
perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), 2H-perfluoro-2-decenoic acid (8:2
FTUCA), and 2H,2H,3H,3H-pefluorodecanoic acid (7:3 FTCA). These final
CWA recommended criteria and benchmarks provide information that States
and Tribes may consider when adopting water quality standards.
Consistent with Clean Water Act sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2), the EPA
expects to update these recommended criteria and benchmark values from
time to time as new information becomes available. This announcement is
in accordance with Clean Water Act section 304(a)(3), which directs the
EPA to publish information developed under sections 304(a)(1) and
(a)(2) in the Federal Register and make it available to States, Tribes,
and the public.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How can I get copies of these documents and other related
information?
The EPA has established a first docket for the ``Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater
Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)'' under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0365 and a second docket for the ``Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater
Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)'' under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0366. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard
copy at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The Docket Center's hours of
operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except
Federal holidays). For further information on the EPA Docket Center
services and the current status, see: https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic
Acid (PFOA)'' document can be accessed on the EPA's website through the
following link: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfoa-report-2024.pdf. The ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life
Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute Benchmarks for
Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)'' document can be accessed on the
EPA's website through the following link: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfos-report-2024.pdf. The ``Final Acute
Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Eight Data-Limited PFAS: PFBA,
PFHxA, PFNA, PFDA, PFBS, PFHxS, 8:2 FTUCA, and 7:3 FTCA'' document can
be accessed on the EPA's website through the following link: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfas-report-2024.pdf.
II. What are PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made organic
chemical compounds composed of a carbon chain bound to multiple
fluorine atoms. PFAS have been manufactured and used by a broad range
of industries since the 1940s, and there are estimated to be thousands
of PFAS present in the global marketplace that are used in a range of
commercial and industrial products. PFOA and PFOS are two of the most
widely used and studied chemicals in the PFAS group. PFAS are not
naturally occurring and have no biologically important functions or
beneficial properties to aquatic life. PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS,
can persist in the environment and have been detected in U.S. rivers,
lakes, and streams. At elevated concentrations, PFAS can be toxic to
fish and other aquatic species.
III. What are CWA national ambient water quality criteria and
benchmarks developed by the EPA?
CWA section 304(a) directs the EPA to develop and publish water
quality criteria that reflect the latest scientific knowledge. The EPA
develops national recommended ambient water quality criteria for the
protection of aquatic life based on the highest numeric concentrations
of pollutants, with specific recommendations on the duration and
frequency of those concentrations, that are protective of aquatic
ecosystems as a whole. The EPA's section 304(a)(1) criteria
recommendations generally follow the Guidelines methods (Guidelines for
Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses), which recommend toxicity data for
a minimum of eight families of aquatic animals be used in developing
aquatic life criteria to ensure criteria will protect aquatic
ecosystems as a whole. Water quality criteria are based solely on data
and scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. The EPA's
recommended water quality criteria are not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State's water quality standards. States
must adopt into their standards water quality criteria that protect the
designated uses of their water bodies. States can establish water
quality criteria based on the EPA's recommended criteria, modify
[[Page 81078]]
recommended criteria to reflect site-specific conditions, or develop
proposed standards using on other scientifically defensible methods. A
State's or Tribe's water quality criteria are not legally effective
under the Clean Water Act until they have been adopted into a State's
or Tribe's water quality standards and are approved by the EPA.
Aquatic life benchmarks, developed under section 304(a)(2) of the
CWA, are informational values that the EPA generates when there are
limited high quality toxicity data available and data gaps exist for
several aquatic organism families. The EPA develops aquatic life
benchmarks to provide information that States and Tribes may consider
in their water quality protection programs. In developing aquatic life
benchmarks, data gaps may be filled using new approach methods (NAMs),
such as computer-based toxicity estimation tools (e.g., EPA's Web-ICE;
Version 3.3; https://www.epa.gov/webice/) or other new approach methods
intended to reduce reliance on additional animal testing (https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/epa-new-approach-methods-work-plan-reducing-use-vertebrate-animals-chemical), including the use of read-
across estimates based on other chemicals with similar structures. The
EPA's aquatic life benchmark values are not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State's water quality standards.
IV. What are the EPA's recommended criteria for PFOA and PFOS in
freshwater for the protection of aquatic life?
The EPA has developed separate PFOA and PFOS criteria to protect
aquatic life from the effects of these individual chemicals. The EPA
developed these final recommended aquatic life ambient water quality
criteria following the general approach outlined in the EPA's
Guidelines.1 The EPA developed the final PFOA and PFOS
recommended criteria to protect aquatic life designated uses
established for freshwaters. The final criteria documents contain acute
and chronic water column criteria for freshwaters (see Table 1 of this
document). Acute criteria protect aquatic species from short-term
exposures to high pollutant concentrations while chronic criteria
protect aquatic species from long-term and repeated pollutant
exposures. The final criteria also contain chronic criteria expressed
as PFOA and PFOS concentrations in fish muscle tissue, fish whole-body
tissue, and in invertebrate tissue (see Table 1 of this document). Many
States and Tribes measure PFAS in fish tissues and these tissue-based
criteria values allow States and Tribes to assess the health of fish
and invertebrates in their freshwaters. The chronic freshwater and
chronic fish/invertebrate tissue-based criteria for both chemicals are
intended to be independently applicable and no one criterion takes
primacy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The EPA's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical Water Quality
Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses can
be accessed through the EPA web page at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-02/documents/guidelines-water-quality-criteria.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The PFOA and PFOS criteria establish maximum concentrations (i.e.,
magnitude component), averaged over a given time period (i.e., duration
component), that if not exceeded more than the allowable number of
times during a specified time period (i.e., frequency component), are
expected to protect aquatic ecosystems as a whole. The duration
components of criteria are set to be substantially shorter than the
length of toxicity tests used to derive the criteria magnitude and
restrict allowable fluctuations in pollutant concentrations over time.
The frequency components of aquatic life criteria ensure aquatic
communities have adequate time to recover following a criteria
exceedance event. The EPA's final recommended PFOA and PFOS criteria
magnitudes combined with the associated duration and frequency
components are expected to protect fish and other aquatic species in
freshwaters (see Table 1).
Table 1--Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for PFOA and PFOS
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Acute water column Chronic water
Criteria component (CMC) \1\ column (CCC) \2\ Invertebrate whole-body Fish whole-body Fish muscle
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PFOA Magnitude.................. 3.1 mg/L........... 0.10 mg/L.......... 1.18 mg/kg ww \4\....... 6.49 mg/kg ww \4\....... 0.133 mg/kg ww.\4\
PFOS Magnitude.................. 0.071 mg/L......... 0.00025 mg/L....... 0.028 mg/kg ww \4\...... 0.201 mg/kg ww \4\...... 0.087 mg/kg ww.\4\
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Duration........................ 1-hour average..... 4-day average...... Instantaneous.\3\
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Frequency....................... Not to be exceeded Not to be exceeded Not to be exceeded.\5\
more than once in more than once in
three years, on three years, on
average. average.
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\1\ Criterion Maximum Concentration.
\2\ Criterion Continuous Concentration.
\3\ Tissue data provide instantaneous point measurements that reflect integrative accumulation of PFOA or PFOS over time and space in aquatic life
population(s) at a given site.
\4\ Wet-Weight.
\5\ PFOA and PFOS chronic freshwater tissue-based criteria should not be exceeded, based on measured tissue concentrations representing the central
tendency of samples collected at a given site and time.
V. What are the EPA's saltwater acute benchmarks for protecting aquatic
life from PFOA and PFOS?
Data limitations did not allow for derivation of PFOA or PFOS
national recommended water quality criteria to protect saltwater
organisms. Therefore, the EPA derived PFOA and PFOS aquatic life
benchmark values under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA using the best
available data on the effects of PFOA and PFOS to provide information
that States and Tribes may consider in their water quality protection
programs. These benchmark values are based solely on data and
scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the EPA's acute PFOA and PFOS
aquatic life benchmark values for saltwater are nonbinding and
nonregulatory.
The EPA derived acute saltwater benchmarks using available toxicity
data on PFOA and PFOS, supplemented with data estimated using the EPA's
Web-ICE tool. With data gaps addressed using both laboratory and
estimated toxicity test data, the acute saltwater benchmarks for PFOA
and PFOS were calculated following methods outline in the EPA's
Guidelines.\1\ The EPA's acute saltwater benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS
values are the maximum concentrations of these PFOA and PFOS
(individually, not in mixture), with associated frequency and duration
specifications, that are expected to support protection of aquatic life
from acute effects in saltwater (see Table 2).
[[Page 81079]]
Table 2--Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS
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Chemical PFOA PFOA
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Magnitude................................................... 7.0 mg/L 0.55 mg/L.
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Duration.................................................... One hour average.
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Frequency................................................... Not to be exceeded more than once in three years
on average.
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VI. What are the EPA's freshwater acute benchmarks for protecting
aquatic life from eight additional PFAS?
Toxicity data to support benchmarks for these eight PFAS benchmarks
were limited relative to the data requirements traditionally used to
develop aquatic life criteria. Therefore, the EPA derived PFAS aquatic
life benchmark values under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA using the best
available data on the effects of these PFAS to provide information that
States and Tribes may consider in their water quality protection
programs. These benchmark values are based solely on data and
scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the EPA's eight separate acute
aquatic life benchmark values for eight different data-limited PFAS in
freshwater are nonbinding and nonregulatory.
Compared to PFOA and PFOS, acute freshwater data were more limited
for these eight PFAS that the EPA evaluated. The EPA developed the
benchmarks by using the available laboratory-based data on the effects
of those chemicals on freshwater organisms, supplemented with data
estimated using the EPA's Web-ICE tool, following the same peer-
reviewed approach applied in development of the acute saltwater
benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS. With data gaps addressed using both
laboratory and estimated toxicity test data, the acute benchmarks for
these eight PFAS were calculated following methods outline in the EPA's
Guidelines.\1\
The EPA's acute freshwater benchmark values are the maximum
concentrations of these PFAS (individually, not in mixture), with
associated frequency and duration specifications, that are expected to
support protection of aquatic life from acute effects in freshwaters
(see Table 2 of this document). These acute benchmarks for these eight
PFAS (Table 3) provide information for States and Tribes to consider as
protective values in their water quality protection programs.
Table 3--Acute Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Eight PFAS
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Chemical PFBA PFHxA PFNA PFDA PFBS PFHxS 8:2 FTUCA 7:3 FTCA
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Magnitude \1\........................................... 5.3 4.8 0.65 0.50 5.0 0.21 0.037 0.012
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Duration................................................ One hour average.
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Frequency............................................... Not to be exceeded more than once in three years on average.
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\1\ Values expressed as mg/L, or ppm.
Bruno Pigott,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-23024 Filed 10-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
