[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27303-27304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10963]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135; FRL--9910-81-OW]


Updated National Recommended Water Quality Criteria for the 
Protection of Human Health

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of draft updated national 
recommended water quality criteria for the protection of human health 
for the purpose of obtaining public comments. EPA has updated its 
national recommended water quality criteria for human health for 
ninety-four chemical pollutants to reflect the latest scientific 
information and current EPA policies. This draft update is based on 
EPA's current methodology for deriving human health criteria as 
described in ``Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria 
for the Protection of Human Health (2000)'' and does not establish new 
policy. EPA's recommended water quality criteria provide technical 
information for States and authorized Tribes to establish water quality 
standards under the Clean Water Act to protect human health.

DATES: The public comment period begins on May 13, 2014 and ends on 
July 14, 2014. Technical comments should be submitted to the public EPA 
docket by July 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2014-0135, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, 
28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135.
     Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, EPA WJC 
West Building Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC, 
20004, Attention Docket EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135. Deliveries to the docket 
are accepted only during their normal hours of operation: 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For access 
to docket materials, call (202) 566-2426, to schedule an appointment.
     Email: [email protected]; Attention Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2014-0135. To ensure that EPA can properly respond to comments, 
commenters should cite the section(s) or chemical(s) in draft updates 
to which each comment refers. Commenters should use a separate 
paragraph for each issue discussed, and must submit any references 
cited in their comments. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA 
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in 
the body of your comment. Electronic files should avoid any form of 
encryption and should be free of any defects or viruses.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-
0135. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment 
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Water Docket, EPA/DC, EPA 
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi Bethel at U.S. EPA, Office of 
Water, Health and Ecological Criteria Division (Mail Code 4304T), 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 566-
2054; or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    In preparation for submitting comments for EPA on this action, 
please review the draft chemical-specific support documents EPA is 
publishing (1) in the public docket for this action under Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0135, or (2) on EPA's Web site http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/current/hhdraft.cfm. Provide EPA 
with comments regarding scientific views related to the draft updated 
national recommended water quality criteria for protecting human 
health. Include any recommended references for data or other scientific 
information to be considered by EPA.

II. What are 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.

[[Page 27304]]

    Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires EPA to 
develop and publish and, from time to time, revise, criteria for 
protection of water quality and human health that accurately reflect 
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.
    EPA's recommended Section 304(a) criteria provide technical 
information to States and authorized Tribes in adopting water quality 
standards 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. Thus, 
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 are the updated criteria?

    Today, EPA is publishing draft updated national recommended water 
quality criteria for the protection of human health for ninety-four 
chemical pollutants. These revisions are based on EPA's current 
methodology for deriving human health criteria (See: Methodology for 
Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human 
Health (2000), EPA-822-B-00-004, October 2000). The methodology 
describes EPA's current approach for deriving national recommended 
water quality criteria for the protection of human health.
    The revision of these criteria represents a systematic update of 
EPA's national recommended 304(a) criteria. EPA has previously 
described its process for publishing revised criteria [see National 
Recommended Water Quality Criteria--Correction (64 FR 19781; or EPA 
822-Z-99-001) or the Federal Register Notice for EPA's 2000 Methodology 
(65 FR 66444)]. EPA is announcing the availability of the updated human 
health criteria in today's Notice in order to solicit scientific views. 
EPA has updated the draft human health criteria using information 
sources and models that have previously undergone external peer review. 
A fact sheet and a summary of updated input parameters (e.g., cancer 
slope factor, reference dose, and bioaccumulation factors) used to 
derive the updated criteria was prepared to assist reviewers. EPA has 
also developed chemical-specific support documents for each of the 
ninety-four chemical pollutants. The support documents detail the 
latest scientific information supporting the updated draft human health 
criteria, particularly the updated toxicity and exposure input values. 
All of these documents are available in the docket (EPA-HQ-OW-2014-
0135) and on EPA's Web site http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/current/hhdraft.cfm.

IV. What is the relationship between the draft national recommended 
water quality criteria and your state or tribal water quality 
standards?

    As part of the water quality standards triennial review process 
defined in section 303(c)(1) of the CWA, the States and authorized 
Tribes are responsible for maintaining and revising water quality 
standards. Water quality 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 water quality standards 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 can:
    (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 
determined (40 CFR 131.11).
    EPA believes that it is important for States and authorized Tribes 
to consider any new or updated 304(a) criteria as part of their 
triennial review to ensure that state or tribal water quality standards 
reflect current science and protect applicable designated uses. These 
updated criteria recommendations may change based on scientific views 
shared in response to this notice, but once final they would supersede 
EPA's previous recommendations.
    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 in effect for CWA purposes only after EPA 
approval.

    Dated: April 29, 2014.
Nancy K. Stoner,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2014-10963 Filed 5-12-14; 8:45 am]
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