Fact Sheet
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency |
Office of Water
4304 |
EPA-823-F-98-011
April 1998 |
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Water Quality Criteria and Standards Plan--Priorities
for the Future
The U.S. EPA, Office of Science and Technology in the Office
of Water announces a Plan for working together with the
States and Tribes to enhance and improve the water quality
criteria and standards program across the Country.
What is the Plan?
The Plan, called the "Water Quality Criteria and Standards
Plan--Priorities for the Future", describes six new
criteria and standards program initiatives that EPA and
the States and Tribes will take over the next decade.
The Plan presents a "vision" and strategy for meeting these
important new initiatives and improvements. The Plan will
guide EPA and the States and Tribes in the development and
implementation of criteria and standards and will provide
a basis for enhancements to the Total Maximum Daily Load
(TMDL) program, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permitting, nonpoint source control, wetlands
protection and other water resources management efforts.
The Plan helps to prepare the foundation for many of the
clean water initiatives announced in the President's Clean
Water Action Plan in February 1998.
The "Vision" of the Plan
The water quality criteria and standards program will fully
integrate biocriteria, nutrient criteria and microbial pathogen
control with improved chemical-specific and whole effluent
toxicity criteria into a water quality criteria and standards
program that better ensures the protection of human health
and the maintenance and improvement of the Nation's waters.
Possible future criteria initiatives for excessive sedimentation,
flow and wildlife will be investigated.
Priority Areas of the Plan
The Office of Water will emphasize and focus on the following
priority areas for the Criteria and Standards Program over
the next decade:
- Developing Nutrient Criteria and assessment
methods to better protect aquatic life and human health
- Developing criteria for Microbial Pathogens to
better protect human health during water recreation
- Completing the development of Biocriteria as
an improved basis for aquatic life protection
- Maintaining and strengthening the existing Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for water and sediments
- Evaluating possible criteria initiatives for Excessive
Sedimentation, Flow Alterations and Wildlife
- Developing improved water quality Modeling Tools
to better translate water quality standards into implementable
control strategies
- Ensuring Implementation of these new initiatives
and improvements by the States and Tribes in partnership
with EPA
Why is the Plan Necessary?
The National surface water quality protection program is
at an important juncture. The initiatives described in the
Plan are needed to better protect aquatic life and the recreational
uses of the Nation's waters. Over the past two decades,
State and Tribal water quality standards and water quality-based
management approaches have relied upon aquatic life use
designations and protective criteria based primarily upon
narrative, chemical-specific and whole effluent toxicity
methodologies. Using these approaches, outstanding progress
has been made. However, not all of the Nation's waters have
achieved the Clean Water Act goal of "fishable and swimmable",
and significant water pollution problems still exist. Approximately
40 percent of the Nation's waters still do not meet water
quality goals and about half of the Nation's 2000 major
watersheds have water quality problems.
Given these facts, there is an essential need for improved
water quality standards. Adding nutrient criteria and biological
criteria to the water quality criteria and standards program
ensures further improvements in maintaining and restoring
aquatic life. Improved human health criteria will better
protect against bioaccumulative pollutants and new microbial
pathogen controls will better protect human health (especially
that of children) during water related recreation. Better
tools also are needed for controlling excessive sedimentation,
flow alterations and for protecting wildlife. The new initiatives
discussed in the Plan also will help to promote water resources
management on a watershed basis in support of the President's
Clean Water Action Plan.
What Does the Plan Say?
The Plan briefly describes the water quality issues and
concerns that the new criteria initiatives will address.
For each initiative, the Plan explains the key objective(s)
to be accomplished, the critical activities necessary to
achieve the objectives, and the roles of the States and
Tribes in implementing the Plan. The Plan commits that all
objectives and activities will be accomplished by the end
of the decade.
More Information on the Plan
For more information on the Plan please contact:
William F. Swietlik
U.S. EPA - Office of Water
Office of Science and Technology
Health and Ecological Criteria Division (4304T)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20460
swietlik.william@epamail.epa.gov
or
Jennifer Wigal
U.S. EPA - Office of Water
Office of Science and Technology
Standards and Health Protection Division (4305T)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20460
wigal.jennifer@epamail.epa.gov
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