AMSA Regulatory Alert (RA 02-13)

To: Members & Affiliates, Water Quality Committee
From: National Office
Date: June 19, 2002
Subject: EPA PUBLISHES DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCE FOR AMBIENT WATER QUALITY CRITERIA FOR BACTERIA – REQUEST FOR MEMBER COMMENT
Reference: RA 02-13

Action Please By:
July 22, 2002

On June 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a revised draft of its Implementation Guidance for Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria (Draft Guidance). EPA began work on the document in 1999 in response to the 1999 Action Plan for Beaches and Recreational Waters and issued an earlier draft in February 2000. The revised draft includes additional information to help states transition from the use of total coliform and fecal coliform counts to E. coli and enterococci as indicators of unhealthy levels of bacteria in recreational waters. The Draft Guidance also incorporates guidance on implementing provisions of the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act), which requires coastal and Great Lakes states, by April 2004, to adopt EPA’s recommended water quality criteria for bacteria or other criteria that are as protective as the Agency’s criteria.

EPA will consider any comments on the Draft Guidance received by August 2, 2002. AMSA will work through its Water Quality Committee to compile comments on the Draft Guidance. Comments should be submitted to Will Pettit, AMSA at wpettit@amsa-cleanwater.org. Please respond by Monday, July 22, so that we may include your input in AMSA’s comments. The Draft Guidance is available on EPA’s web site at: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/bacteria.

Related AMSA Positions and Past Comment
Over the past year, AMSA commented on two separate EPA actions directly related to the draft guidance. On October 1, 2001, AMSA commented on the Agency’s Draft National Beach Guidance and Performance Criteria for Recreation Waters (66 Fed. Reg. 39510; July 31, 2001). AMSA’s comments highlighted the need for additional study of E. coli and enterococci as indicator organisms before any wholesale changes were made to water quality standards. AMSA also noted a number of flaws in the studies cited by EPA to support the use of the new indicators and cautioned the Agency to acknowledge sources of bacterial contamination other than humans (i.e., wildlife). On October 29, 2001, AMSA commented on EPA’s proposal of test methods for the enumeration of E. coli and enterococci. The test
methods were designed for ambient water quality monitoring purposes, not for evaluating pathogen levels in effluent. EPA specifically limits the applicability of the methods to ambient water. AMSA commented that any switch in indicator organism would be complicated by the lack of test methods to evaluate the new parameters in effluent. AMSA also noted that there is no evidence that POTWs meeting limits based on fecal coliform are causing any in-stream or downstream compliance, health, or environmental problems.

The Draft Guidance
Despite EPA’s previous attempts to encourage states to adopt E. coli and/or enterococci as indicators of bacterial contamination into their water quality standards, to date only 18 states, three territories, and six authorized tribes have made the change. The revised draft of the Draft Guidance addresses those issues identified by states as impeding their progress towards adopting the recommended criteria. The Draft Guidance also reiterates much of the information that was presented in the Draft National Beach Guidance and the proposal of test methods for E. coli and enterococci. The following provides a summary of the content of the Draft Guidance:

For fresh water:
1) The criteria are based on an illness rate equal to or less than 14 illnesses per 1000; and
2) Both a geometric mean and a single sample maximum are used.

For marine waters:
1) The criteria are based on an illness rate equal to or less than 19 illnesses per 1000; and
2) Both a geometric mean and a single sample maximum are used.

If you have any questions regarding the Draft Guidance or AMSA’s efforts to prepare comments, please contact Chris Hornback, AMSA at 202/833-9106 or chornback@amsa-cleanwater.org.