&EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
                      Total  Maximum  Daily Load (TMDL) Based Water Quality
                      Standards and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
The focus of water quality management is now shifting
to the  use  of the TMDLs  to identify water quality
management needs.  The Clean Water State Revolving
Fund (CW SRF) is an ideal  funding source to provide
financing for the many  water  quality management
projects that will result from the TMDL process. This
fact sheet provides an overview of TMDLs and the use
of CW SRFs to fund project needs.

What is a TMDL?
A TMDL (total maximum daily loading) is a calculation
of the total maximum amount of a pollutant that a body
of water can receive each  day  and still meet  water
quality standards,  (i.e., a pollution budget).

Water quality standards are set by states, territories,  and
tribes.  They identify the uses for each waterbody such
as drinking water supply, contact recreation (swimming),
and aquatic life support (fishing), and  the  scientific
criteria to support that use.

A TMDL is the sum of the allowable loads of a single
pollutant from all contributing point and nonpoint sources
in a given watershed. The calculation must  include a
margin of safety to ensure that the waterbody can be
used for the purposes the state has designated.  The
calculation must also account for projected population
growth  and development around the waterbody,  and
seasonal variation in water quality.

When   a   TMDL  is  ready  for  implementation,
stakeholders decide  which pollution sources must be
restricted to meet water quality standards.  The  end
result is the identification of a number of water quality
management  projects  or  activities  that must  be
undertaken to meet the TMDL.

The TMDL List
The Clean Water Act (CWA), Section 303(d), requires
that every other year states, territories, and tribes submit
to EPA a prioritized list of all waterbodies in their area
                               not meeting  water  quality standards and  for which
                               TMDLs  must be developed.  EPA will approve the list,
                               or modify and add waterbodies to the list if it deems it
                               incomplete.

                               Such waterbodies  are  included when the following
                               pollution  control  requirements are not  effective  in
                               meeting water quality standards for the TMDL such as:
                                   •  technology-basedeffluentlimitations required by
                                      the CWA
                                   •  more stringent effluent limitations required by
                                      the state, territory, or tribe
                                   •  other pollution control requirements,  such as
                                      best management practices
                               After a TMDL list is drafted  by the governing agency,
                               it  goes through a  public comment  process  before
                               submission to EPA.

                               The Clean Water State Revolving Fund
                               One financial resource that can be used to fund projects
                               or activities that will implement a TMDL is the Clean
                               Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). Each of the 50
                               states and Puerto Rico operate a CWSRF to make low
                               interest rate  loans  for water quality  improvement
                               projects.  Nationally, the CWSRF has in excess of $34
                               billion in assets and has issued more than 9,000 loans
                               since 1988. Many of the loans are used for traditional
                               wastewater systems, but others go to diverse nonpoint
                               source and estuary projects.  The CWSRF funds over
                               $3 billion worth of water quality projects annually.

                               Who May Qualify
                               Many different  parties are eligible to receive CWSRF
                               loans. Recipients have included municipalities, utilities,
                               community  groups,  private  individuals,  companies,
                               conservation districts, and nonprofit organizations. Since
                               the CWSRF is managed by the states, project funding
                               varies according to the priorities, policies, and  laws
                               within each state.  Eligibility also varies by state.

-------
Using the Clean  Water State Revolving Fund to
Finance TMDL Implementation
Many of the projects or activities identified to meet  a
TMDL  will  be eligible to receive CWSRF  funds,
including:

    •   planning, design, and construction of municipal
       wastewater treatment systems
    •   repair and replacement of septic systems
    •   agricultural best management practices
    •   animal waste control systems
    •   erosion and sediment control systems
    •   waterways sediment removal
    •   landfill closures and leachate management
    •   land acquisition to protect water resources
    •   remediation of  leaking underground  storage
       tanks

Each of these types of projects  and others are currently
being financed by CWSRFs around the country. As the
TMDL process progresses,  there will be no  major
difference in the types of projects funded, but there will
be  a difference in how priorities are set to identify
projects in need of funding.

Funding High Priority Projects
Each year CWSRF managers develop an Intended Use
Plan (IUP) that describes  the projects the program
plans to fund that year.  Since the CWSRF cannot fund
every water quality project, states prioritize to determine
which projects to fund.  States use different methods to
identify and evaluate the projects to be included in the
IUP, and as part of incorporating the TMDL process
into their  planning,  increasingly   realize  the  role
comprehensive  watershed  management  plays  in
identifying priority  projects with important water quality
benefits for funding by the CWSRF.

As the breadth of projects being considered for inclusion
in lUPs increases, the complexity of evaluating priorities
also increases.   TMDL's  will play an increasingly
important  role  in  informing  states' priority setting
processes in the future.

Challenges Ahead
EPA encourages states to use their CWSRF resources
to finance the  widest variety  of high  priority water
quality projects.  Those interested in obtaining funding
for projects or activities that will implement a TMDL
should seek  out their CWSRF programs, gain an
understanding of how their state program works, and
participate in the annual process that determines which
projects are funded.

Examples of Projects
Minnesota farmers find agricultural loan program
helps  them achieve environmental  goals.  Via a loan
from the state CWSRF program, Minnesota Department
of Agriculture has set up a low interest loan program to
help  farmers correct runoff problems.  The program
knits together state, local government units (county soil
and water conservation districts), and private lenders to
get the money to qualified applicants. A real "win-win"
situation - farmers get the help they need and the state
gets  what it wants, in the form of reduced nonpoint
source pollution.

For more information on the CWSRF program,
                 please contact:

      Clean Water State Revolving  Fund Branch
       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
           1201 Constitution Avenue, NW
            EPA East Bldg, MC 4204M
              Washington, D.C. 20004
     Phone: (202) 564-0752  Fax: (202) 501-2403
    Internet:http://www. epa.gov/OWM/fman.htm

    For more information on TMDLs please
                     contact:

        Total Maximum Daily Load Program
      Office of Water, Oceans and Watersheds
       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
            Ariel Rios Bldg, MC 4503 F
              Washington, D.C. 20460
    Phone: (202) 260-7074   Fax: (202) 260-7024
      Internet: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/
                   Office of Water
                    March 2001
                  EPA832-F-01-001
                 Clean Water
                 Sliili1 LlevdvitiiJ Tumi

-------