[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 1674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-573]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6930-7]


Estuarine and Coastal Marine Waters: Bioassessment and 
Biocriteria Technical Guidance Document; Notice of Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of the Estuarine and 
Coastal Marine Waters: Bioassessment and Biocriteria Technical Guidance 
document developed and published pursuant to section 304(a)(8) of the 
Clean Water Act (CWA). This technical guidance document helps fulfill 
CWA section 101(a) which states, in summary, ``The objective of this 
Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological 
integrity of the Nation's waters.''
    To help protect the biological integrity of the Nation's waters, 
this technical guidance provides an extensive collection of methods and 
protocols for conducting bioassessments in estuarine and coastal marine 
waters and the procedures for deriving biocriteria from the results. 
Case studies illustrate the bioassessment process and biocriteria 
derivation procedures. The document outlines physical classification of 
estuaries and coastal marine waters, and discusses sampling methods and 
candidate metrics for four core groups of biological indicator 
assemblages: benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, aquatic macrophytes, and 
phytoplankton. Three sampling tiers are developed, increasing in 
sampling effort, precision, and diagnostic ability. Alternative data 
analysis methods are introduced for biological index development, and 
the document ends with eight case studies illustrating the 
implementation of the methods.
    Many natural resource agencies throughout the United States are 
using bioassessments and biocriteria for small rivers and streams and 
some States are beginning work in lakes and reservoirs. EPA issued 
guidance documents for these water bodies in 1996 and 1998, 
respectively (Biological Criteria: Technical Guidance for Streams and 
Small Rivers (EPA-822-B-96-001) and Lake and Reservoir Bioassessment 
and Biocriteria Technical Guidance Document (EPA 841-B-98-007)).
    With the use of this guidance State/Tribal and Federal water 
resource managers will be able to better protect and restore the 
biological integrity of coastal and estuarine resources. This guidance 
is not a regulation and does not impose legally-binding requirements on 
EPA, States, Territories, Tribes, or the public.
    Availability of Documents: The guidance is published with the 
following title and EPA document number; Estuarine and Coastal Marine 
Waters: Bioassessment and Biocriteria Technical Guidance, (EPA 822-B-
00-024), dated December 2000. The document and a summary Fact Sheet are 
available on the EPA website at www.epa.gov/ost/biocriteria/. Paper 
copies can be obtained from the U.S. EPA, Water Resource Center by 
phone at: (202) 260-7786, or by sending an e-mail to the Center at 
[email protected], or through conventional mail by sending 
a letter of request to U.S. EPA Water Resource Center, Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Swietlik at (202) 260-9569 or 
by e-mail at [email protected] or Laura Gabanski at (202) 260-
5868 or by e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated: December 22, 2000.
Geoffrey H. Grubbs,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 01-573 Filed 1-8-01; 8:45 am]
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