1. John A. DeLashmit, P.E.
USEPA Region 7
REGFORM Water Conference
September 5, 2013

2. The List
 Recreational Criteria Recommendations
 Ammonia Criteria Recommendations
 Proposed WQS Regulation Clarifications

3. Recreational Criteria
Recommendations
 Published in the Federal Register on November 29,
2012 (per Consent Decree and Settlement Agreement)
 Two sets of recommended criteria; EPA will accept
either from states and tribes
 Criteria expressed as a geometric mean (GM) and a
“statistical threshold value” (STV)
 Freshwater may use E. coli or enterococci as indicator
 Criteria are for primary contact recreation, known in
MO as Whole Body Contact Recreation

4. Recreational Criteria
Recommendations (cont.)
 Averaging interval should not be greater than 30 days
 Water body GM should not exceed GM criterion
during any 30-day interval
 Should not be greater than 10% excursion frequency of
STV during a 30-day interval
 Single-sample maximum (SSM) concentrations will no
longer be used
 States are expected to address these recommendations
in their next triennial review

5. Recreational Criteria
Recommendations (cont.)

6. http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/health/recreation/index.cfm

7. Ammonia Criteria
Recommendations
 Published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2013
 Supersedes recommended criteria from 1976, 1985, and 1999
 Revision necessary because EPA became aware of new toxicity
studies showing the relative sensitivity of freshwater mussels to
ammonia
 Since publication of draft criteria in 2009, additional studies
have validated sensitivity of unionid mussels and gill-breathing
snails to ammonia
 New criteria are more stringent than 1999 recommendations
 Duration components remain the same – a one-hour average for
the acute criterion and a 30-day average for the chronic criterion
 States are expected to address these recommendations in their
next triennial review

8. Criterion
Duration
1999
Criteria
2009
Draft
Updated
Criteria
2013
Final
Updated
Criteria
Acute (1-hour
average)
24 19 17
Chronic (30-
day rolling
average)
4.5* 0.91* 1.9*
*Not to exceed 2.5 times the criterion continuous
concentration as a 4-day average within a 30-day
period.
Criteria frequency not to be exceeded more than once
in three years on average.
Criteria magnitudes are expressed as total ammonia
nitrogen (mg TAN/L) at pH 7 and 20°C.

9. http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/aqlife/ammonia/index.cfm

10. Proposed WQS Regulation Changes
 Core of current rules in place since 1983
 Proposed rules were published in the Federal Register
yesterday
 EPA is considering changes to the following:
 Administrator’s determinations that new or revised WQS are
necessary
 Designated uses
 Triennial reviews
 Antidegradation
 Variances to water quality standards
 Compliance schedule authorizing provisions

11. Proposed WQS Regulation Changes
(cont.)
 The Administrator’s determination update clarifies
what constitutes an Administrator’s determination
under 303(c)(4)(B) of the Clean Water Act
 The designated uses update clarifies the EPA’s
minimum expectations for designated uses
 The triennial reviews update strengthens the triennial
review requirements

12. Proposed WQS Regulation Changes
(cont.)
 Antidegradation update clarifies that implementation
methods are to be adopted in rule and specifies the
minimum requirements.
 Variances update establishes regulatory expectations
for variances to support consistent, appropriate,
transparent and enforceable implementation
 Compliance schedule authorizing provisions update
specifies that compliance schedule authorizing
provisions must be adopted as part of a state or tribe’s
water quality standards, and therefore must be
submitted to EPA for review and action

13. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opei/rulegate.nsf/byRIN/2040-AF16
http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/wqs_index.cfm

14. That’s all,
folks!
John A. DeLashmit, P.E.
USEPA Region 7
11201 Renner Blvd.
Lenexa, KS 66219
(913)551-7821
delashmit.john@epa.gov