Water Pollution: EPA Needs to Set Priorities for Water Quality Criteria
Issues (Letter Report, 06/17/94, GAO/RCED-94-117).

GAO looked at progress by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
issuing technical information, known as water quality criteria, that
states consider in adopting water quality standards and setting
pollutant limits in discharge permits. GAO also looked at EPA's efforts
to broaden the scope of its criteria development. EPA has issued ambient
water quality criteria for 99 of the 126 pollutants designated by the
agency as priority under the Clean Water Act. While such criteria are
still needed for some of these priority pollutants, EPA plans to develop
other types of criteria necessary for protecting waste ecosystems.
However, EPA's limited resources will restrict what can be accomplished;
consequently, setting priorities will be a crucial step in dealing with
the significantly expanded scope of the agency's efforts to develop
criteria.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-94-117
     TITLE:  Water Pollution: EPA Needs to Set Priorities for Water 
             Quality Criteria Issues
      DATE:  06/17/94
   SUBJECT:  Water pollution
             Water pollution control
             Toxic substances
             Environmental policies
             Risk management
             Health hazards
             Environmental monitoring
             Prioritizing
             Water quality
             Evaluation criteria
IDENTIFIER:  EPA Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Data Base
             
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