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On November 15, 1990, in response to mounting evidence that air
pollution contributes to water pollution, Congress amended the Clean
Air Act and included provisions that established research and reporting
requirements related to the deposition of hazardous air pollutants
to the "Great Waters." The waterbodies designated by these provisions
are the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Chesapeake Bay, and certain
other coastal waters (identified by their designation as sites in
the National Estuarine Research Reserve System or the National Estuary
Program).
 The EPA's Great Waters Program is developing a national toxics deposition
monitoring metadatabase. Its purpose is to identify activities related to monitoring
of atmospheric deposition of toxic air pollutants. This link is to a
pilot website
designed for the review and testing of the database. You can comment on the database
under the feedback section of the pilot website.
EPA documents relating
to the Great Waters Program:
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Frequently Asked Questions
about Atmospheric Deposition:
A Handbook for Watershed Managers, September 2001
This handbook answers basic questions about air deposition
and sources, how the significance of air deposition can be
assessed through existing information, monitoring and modeling,
and how the information can be used in a management strategy.
It also provides extensive references for additional resources.
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Air-Water
Interface Work Plan, January 2001 (PDF 107K)
This work plan outlines a schedule of specific activities
that EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation and Office of Water
are committing to undertake using the authorities of both the
Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. This collaborative effort
will help to coordinate these Offices’ programs and to
track EPA’s progress in assessing and reducing, as needed,
atmospheric deposition of toxics and nitrogen to all waterbodies
in the United States. |
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Deposition of Air Pollutants to the
Great Waters, Third Report to Congress, June 2000
The third Great Waters Report to Congress provides
updated scientific information on the trends in emissions,
transport, deposition, fate and effects of toxic pollutants
of concern on the Great Waters. It also discusses the many
programs EPA, states, tribes and others are implementing to
address the pollutants of concern to the Great Waters. The
report describes recent advancements in scientific research
and tools used to improve our understanding of atmospheric
deposition to the Great Waters.
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Deposition of Air Pollutants
to the Great Waters, Second Report to Congress, June 1997
The Great Waters Report to Congress provides a very
detailed discussion about the scientific understanding of atmospheric
deposition and the health and environmental effects of toxic
pollution (as of 1996), as well as EPA's programs to protect
human health and the environment. |
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An Introduction
to the Issues and the Ecosystems April 1994 |
| Related Information
Links to other sites with information about atmospheric deposition
and aquatic ecosystems.
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