[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45285-45287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16585]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019; FRL 9949-02-OW]


Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criterion for 
Selenium in Freshwater

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
release of a final updated Clean Water Act (CWA) section 304(a) 
recommended national chronic aquatic life criterion for the pollutant 
selenium in fresh water. The final criterion supersedes EPA's 1999 CWA 
section 304(a) recommended national acute and chronic aquatic life 
criteria for selenium. The 2016 recommended criterion reflects the 
latest scientific information, which indicates that selenium toxicity 
to aquatic life is primarily based on organisms consuming selenium-
contaminated food rather than direct exposure to selenium dissolved in 
water. Draft versions of the criterion underwent public review in 2014 
and 2015 and external peer review in 2015. EPA considered all public 
comments and peer reviewer comments in the development of the 2016 
final selenium criterion document. EPA's water quality criterion for 
selenium provides recommendations to states and tribes authorized to 
establish water quality standards under the CWA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Beaman, Health and Ecological 
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue

[[Page 45286]]

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0420; email 
address: [email protected].

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-2004-0019. Publicly available docket materials 
are available either electronically through http://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 (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).

II. What are EPA's 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. Section 304(a)(1) 
of the CWA directs EPA to develop and publish and, from time to time, 
revise criteria for protection of aquatic life and human health that 
accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge. Water quality 
criteria developed under section 304(a) are based on data and the 
latest scientific knowledge 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 section 304(a) recommended criteria provide technical 
information to states and authorized tribes in adopting water quality 
standards (WQS) 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. 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 is selenium and why is EPA concerned about it?

    Selenium is a naturally occurring element that can be released into 
water resources by natural sources via weathering and by anthropogenic 
sources, such as surface mining, coal-fired power plants, and irrigated 
agriculture. Selenium is nutritionally essential for animals in small 
amounts, but toxic at higher concentrations. Selenium bioaccumulates in 
the aquatic food chain, and toxicity in fish occurs primarily through 
maternal transfer to the eggs. Chronic maternal exposure in fish and 
aquatic invertebrates can cause reproductive impairments (e.g., larval 
deformity or mortality); other aquatic effects include impacts on 
juvenile growth and mortality.

IV. Information on the Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criterion

    EPA has updated the aquatic life criterion document for selenium 
based on the latest scientific knowledge and current EPA policies and 
methods, including EPA's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National 
Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and 
Their Uses (1985) (EPA/R-85-100) and Guidelines for Ecological Risk 
Assessment (1998) (EPA/630/R-95/002F). Toxicity data and other 
information on the effects of selenium were subjected to both internal 
and external peer review. In 2004, EPA published the first draft of the 
updated recommended selenium criterion using fish-tissue 
concentrations. In 2009, EPA helped organize an international expert 
workshop on selenium and initiated collaboration with the U.S. 
Geological Survey to develop a selenium bioaccumulation model. EPA then 
revised the 2004 draft criterion to include fish tissue and water 
column concentrations. In 2014, EPA released the draft recommended 
criterion for public comment and external peer review. EPA revised the 
draft recommended criterion accordingly and in 2015 released the draft 
for a second round of public comment. EPA has considered all public 
comments and peer reviewer comments in the development of the 2016 
final selenium criterion document.
    The 2016 selenium criterion document recommends that states and 
authorized tribes adopt a multi-media criterion into their water 
quality standards. The criterion has four elements, and EPA recommends 
that states include all four elements in their standards. Because 
adverse reproductive effects are most closely linked to selenium 
concentrations in fish tissue, the 2016 chronic criterion is based 
primarily on concentrations in fish egg-ovary tissues and is translated 
into whole body, muscle, and water column concentrations for lakes/
reservoirs and rivers/streams to create the four elements of the 
chronic criterion (two fish tissue and two water column). EPA 
recommends that when implementing the criterion, the fish tissue 
elements take precedence over the water column elements, except in 
certain circumstances. For example, water column values are the 
applicable criterion element in the absence of fish tissue 
measurements, such as waters where fish have been extirpated or where 
physical habitat and/or flow regime cannot sustain fish populations, or 
in waters with new discharges of selenium where steady state has not 
been achieved between water and fish tissue at the site. The previous 
1999 acute and chronic recommended criteria were water column 
concentrations only. The table below compares the 2016 criterion with 
the 1999 criteria.

                                              Comparison of Final 2016 Selenium Criterion to 1999 Criteria
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                             Chronic                                                   Short-term
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Egg-Ovary \1\  Whole Body \1\    Muscle \1\      Water,\1\ Lentic       Water,\1\ Lotic
        Criterion version            (mg/kg dw)       (mg/kg dw)     (mg/kg dw)        ([micro]g/L)          ([micro]g/L)         Water  ([micro]g/L)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 Final Update................            15.1             8.5            11.3  1.5 (30 d)..........  3.1 (30 d)..........  Intermittent exposure
                                                                                                                                equation.

[[Page 45287]]

 
1999 Selenium Criteria...........             N/A             N/A             N/A  5 (4 d).............  5 (4 d).............  Acute Equation based on
                                                                                                                                water column
                                                                                                                                concentration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ A note on hierarchy of table: when fish egg/ovary concentrations are measured, the values supersede any whole-body, muscle, or water column elements
  except in certain situations. Whole body or muscle measurements supersede any water column element when both fish tissue and water concentrations are
  measured, except in certain situations (see examples in text above). Water column values are derived from fish tissue concentrations.

    The criterion document does not include an acute criterion (based 
on water-only exposure) because selenium is bioaccumulative and 
toxicity primarily occurs through dietary exposure. EPA derived an 
intermittent exposure criterion element from the 30-day average water 
column criterion element for situations where elevated inputs of 
selenium could result in bioaccumulation in the ecosystem and potential 
chronic effects in fish (e.g., new discharges).

V. What is the relationship between the water quality criterion and 
your state or tribal water quality standards?

    As part of the WQS 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 numerical criteria (40 CFR 131.11(b)).
    EPA's regulation at 40 CFR 131.20(a) provides that if a state does 
not adopt new or revised criteria parameters for which EPA has 
published new or updated recommendations, then the state shall provide 
an explanation when it submits the results of its triennial review to 
the Regional Administrator consistent with CWA section 303(c)(1). The 
updated section 304(a) selenium criteria supersede EPA's previous 
304(a) recommended criteria for selenium. 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 
applicable water quality standards for CWA purposes only after EPA 
approval.

VI. Additional Information

    EPA is developing a set of technical support documents to assist 
states. These materials will include fish tissue monitoring guidance as 
well as FAQs and fact sheets addressing flexibilities for states and 
authorized tribes in implementing the criteria, assessing and listing 
water body impairments, and wastewater permitting.

     Dated: June 30, 2016.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2016-16585 Filed 7-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P