[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35198-35200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15968]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0260; FRL-9965-39-OW]
Request for Scientific Views: Draft Updated Aquatic Life Ambient
Water Quality Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
availability of Draft Updated Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality
Criteria for Aluminum in Freshwater for public comment. EPA first
released freshwater criteria for aluminum in 1988 to protect aquatic
life from harmful effects of aluminum toxicity. EPA is updating its
recommended aluminum criteria to reflect the latest science and to
provide users the flexibility to develop site-specific criteria based
on site-specific water chemistry. The draft document provides a
scientific assessment of ecological effects and is not a regulation.
Following closure of this 60-day public comment period, EPA will
consider the comments, revise the draft document, as appropriate, and
then publish a final document that will provide recommendations for
states and authorized tribes to establish water quality standards. The
recommendations found in this draft document do not replace or
supersede EPA's 1988 national recommended criteria for aluminum in
ambient water.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2017-0260 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. EPA
may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the
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official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish
to make. EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents
located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460;
telephone: (202) 566-1143; or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0260. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in
hard copy at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA
Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number
for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number
for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal
Register'' listings FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. What is Aluminum and how does it affect aquatic life?
Aluminum is found in most soils and rocks and is the third most
abundant element and the most common metal in the earth's crust.
Aluminum can enter the water via natural processes, like weathering of
rocks. Aluminum is also released to water by mining, industrial
processes using aluminum, and waste water treated with alum, an
aluminum compound. Aluminum is considered a non-essential metal because
fish and other aquatic life do not need it to function. Elevated levels
of aluminum can affect some species ability to regulate ions and
inhibit respiratory functions. Aquatic plants are generally less
sensitive to aluminum than fish and other aquatic life.
III. What are EPA's updated recommended levels of aluminum in
freshwater?
The recommended level of aluminum in freshwater depends on a site's
water quality parameters. Studies have shown that three water chemistry
parameters, pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and hardness, can
affect the toxicity of aluminum by affecting the bioavailability of
aluminum in the water to aquatic species. Unlike the fixed criteria
values in EPA's 1988 criteria document, these updated draft criteria
use a Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model to normalize the data, and
the resulting criteria are based on site pH, DOC, and hardness. This
allows users to develop site-specific aluminum criteria for fresh
waters that appropriately reflect water quality parameters. See Table 1
for a comparison of EPA's currently recommended and updated draft
criteria values.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN28JY17.011
IV. What are section 304(a) water quality criteria?
Section 304(a) water quality criteria are recommendations developed
by EPA under authority of section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act based
on the latest scientific information which examines the effect of a
particular constituent concentration on an aquatic species and/or human
health.
Section 304(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act directs the EPA to develop
and publish and, from time to time, revise criteria for water quality
accurately reflecting the latest scientific knowledge. Water quality
criteria developed under section 304(a) are based solely on data and
scientific judgments on the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and environmental and human health effects. Section
304(a) criteria do not reflect consideration of economic impacts or the
technological feasibility of meeting pollutant concentrations in
ambient water.
Section 304(a) criteria provide guidance to states and authorized
tribes in adopting water quality standards that ultimately provide a
basis for controlling discharges of pollutants. The criteria also
provide guidance that EPA considers when promulgating federal
regulations under section 303(c) when such action is necessary. Under
the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations, states and
authorized tribes are to adopt water quality criteria to protect
designated uses (e.g., aquatic life, recreational use). EPA's water
quality criteria recommendations are not regulations. Thus, EPA's
recommended criteria do not constitute legally binding requirements.
States and authorized tribes may adopt other scientifically defensible
water quality criteria that differ from these recommendations. As part
of the WQS
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triennial review process defined in section 303(c)(1) of the CWA, the
states and authorized tribes are responsible for maintaining and
revising WQS. Standards consist of designated uses, water quality
criteria to protect those uses, a policy for antidegradation, and may
include general policies for application and implementation. Section
303(c)(1) requires states and authorized tribes to review and modify,
if appropriate, their WQS at least once every three years. States and
authorized tribes must adopt water quality criteria that protect
designated uses. Consistent with EPA's regulations at 40 CFR 131.11(a),
protective criteria must be based on a sound scientific rationale and
contain sufficient parameters or constituents to protect the designated
uses. Criteria may be expressed in either narrative or numeric form.
States and authorized tribes have four options when adopting water
quality criteria for which EPA has published section 304(a) criteria.
They may: (1) Establish numerical values based on recommended section
304(a) criteria; (2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria modified to reflect
site-specific conditions; (3) Adopt criteria derived using other
scientifically defensible methods; or (4) Establish narrative criteria
where numeric criteria cannot be established or to supplement numeric
criteria (40 CFR 131.11(b)).
V. Solicitation of Scientific Views
EPA is soliciting additional scientific views, data, and
information regarding the science and technical approach used in the
derivation of the draft criteria.
Dated: July 17, 2017.
Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-15968 Filed 7-27-17; 8:45 am]
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