2016-28424: Revision of Certain Federal Water Quality Criteria Applicable to Washington

Summary

On September 14, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revisions to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) human health criteria applicable to waters under the State of Washington's jurisdiction to ensure that the criteria are set at levels that will adequately protect Washington residents, including tribes with treaty- reserved rights, from exposure to toxic pollutants. EPA promulgated Washington's previous criteria for the protection of human health in 1992 as part of the National Toxics Rule (NTR) (amended in 1999 for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)), using the Agency's recommended criteria values at the time. EPA derived those previously applicable criteria using a fish consumption rate (FCR) of 6.5 grams per day (g/ day) based on national surveys. The best available data now demonstrate that fish consumers in Washington consume much more fish than 6.5 g/ day. There are also new data and scientific information available to update the toxicity and exposure parameters used to calculate human health criteria. On August 1, 2016, the State of Washington adopted and submitted human health criteria for certain pollutants, reflecting some of these new data and information. Concurrent with this final rule, EPA is taking action under CWA 303(c) to approve in part, and disapprove in part, the human health criteria submitted by Washington. For those criteria that EPA disapproved, EPA is finalizing federal human health criteria in this final rule. EPA is not finalizing criteria in this final rule for those state- adopted criteria that EPA approved, or for certain criteria that EPA has determined involve scientific uncertainty, as explained below.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 1 part of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 40 CFR 131 Water Quality Standards