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Clean Water Report
Copyright 2002 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT 2002 Business
Publishers, Inc.
Monday, August 12, 2002
ISSN: 0009-8620; Volume 40; Issue 16
EPA in process of shifting policy away from fishable/swimmable designations.
(Slants & Trends).
FULL TEXT
Designated uses of water could be downgraded, making it easier for
states and the regulated industry to meet water quality standards, if a
rule being discussed by EPA is implemented.
The agency held an open symposium in early June in Washington, D.C.,
to receive comments from stakeholders on waterbodies' designated uses. The
proceedings of the two-day event, with abstracts from some of the
200 people who attended, were made available last week.
Many of those who attended the meeting told CWR that EPA may
eventually issue new guidance to attain designated uses, as one of the
outcomes from the symposium.
The Clean Water Act, which became law in 1972, requires states to
establish water quality standards for waterbodies, taking into
consideration their use and value for a variety of purposes, including
public water supplies, navigation, propagation of fish and wildlife, and
recreation.
When the Clean Water Act was passed, officials issued blanket
designated uses for waterbodies as fishable and swimmable without much
research, Alex Barron, a coordinator for biological and sediment
monitoring for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ),
told CWR. As time went on, regulators began to realize that more
appropriate classifications should have been made. But those
designations have not been carried out.
For example, if a waterbody in Houston is used as a shipping channel,
should those waters be considered swimmable, asked Chris Hornbeck, a
biosolids official with the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies (AMSA). Designating those waters swimmable is probably not
appropriate.
Change Means Avoiding Responsibilities?
Environmental groups are afraid a change in policy would give the
regulated industry and states an excuse to evade their responsibility
for cleaning up waters.
"The polluter interest group is looking for a roadmap in how to
redesignate water uses so they don't have to meet water designations and
avoid TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads)," Albert Ettinger, senior staff
attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) for the
Midwest, told CWR. "Our concern is that EPA is heading in the same
direction."
Ten of the largest environmental groups last month asked EPA
Administrator Christie Whitman not to develop new rules and instead
focus on making existing rules work. But Ben Grumbles, deputy assistant
administrator for water, has said the agency disagrees with that
approach. The goal of looking at new ways to designate uses is to find a
more cost-effective way of managing the water quality program.
Under the Clean Water Act, states have to list waterways that do not
meet minimum water quality standards. TMDLs are one tool to reach those
standards. Midway through 2000, the Clinton administration proposed
expanding the water quality program by reducing pollutants from
storm-water and agricultural runoff. Congress stopped the proposal from
taking effect, and the Bush administration has upheld that decision.
EPA gets support for its new policy on designation uses from advice
given last year by the National Academy of Sciences, which called for a
more science-based approach to cleaning up the nation's waterways. More
evidence was needed to ensure the proper waterways were being targeted.
Regulating agencies indicate they would like to see a change in EPA's
designated uses policy. For example, New York is evaluating the causes
of nonattainment of designated uses and has made large capital
expenditures on combined sewer overflows. Still, "full attainment of
beneficial uses may not be achievable in most cases," said Warren Kurtz,
an official with New York City's Department of Environmental Protection.
"Fishable and swimmable everywhere, all the time, may not be necessary
to achieve these goals. Pollution controls should be considered
satisfactory in some cases if basic water uses are protected."
It is not true that states are trying to shirk their responsibilities
of designating impaired waterways, Barron said. States becoming
lackadaisical is a common argument when there is any discussion about
water quality standards. "One side says there are so many restrictions
and the other side says there is going to be a big rush to the bottom.
My experience and my colleagues' in other states is that states are
always trying to do the right thing." They recognize that there are a
lot of differences between waterbodies, and their uses should reflect
those differences.
Virginia is trying its best to correctly classify those uses, "but
it's a resource issue," Barron said. The state needs more staff to
conduct biological monitoring and take an inventory of the 50,000 miles
of waterways.
Change Means an Outcry?
Nevertheless, regulatory agencies are met with public resistance when
they attempt to downgrade waters' designated uses, Ettinger said. "If
you go into a community and say, 'Sorry folks, we give up. We're not
going to take the measures to clean up the water enough to make it
swimmable,' you're going to have a riot on your hands in some places."
He fears that because of community outcry, the guidance that comes out
of the designated uses process may allow a rulemaking that does not
require public comment.
The proceedings from the symposium are available on the Web at
www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/symposium/index.html.