[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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