° UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD March 8, 2006 EPA-SAB-CON-06-004 U-S' Ef>* Headquarters Library ^a Code 3404T ^ The Honorable Stephen L. Johnson WawngDCS NW .A Administrator 202-566-0556 • ) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , ^ 1 200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Washington, D.C. 20460 Subject: EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Consultation on a Proposed Framework for Revising the Guidelines for Deriving Water Quality Criteria for Protection of Aquatic Life t ''- Dear Administrator Johnson: EPA's Aquatic Life Criteria Guidelines Committee has developed a proposed framework for revising and updating the Agency's 1 985 guidelines for deriving water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife ("Guidelines"). The water quality criteria provide guidance to states and tribes for adopting water quality standards. EPA's Office of Water requested that the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) conduct a consultation on the proposed framework for revising the Guidelines. Accordingly, the SAB Aquatic Life Criteria Guidelines Consultative Panel ("Panel") met in a public meeting held in Washington, D.C. on September 21 , 2005, to conduct a consultation. The Panel provided comments on: 1) the scope of the proposed framework for revising the Guidelines, and 2) the scientific validity and appropriateness of proposed approaches and methods for developing water-based, tissue-based, and taxon-specific water quality criteria. In general, the Panel was complimentary of the work undertaken by EPA, and expressed support for the Agency's efforts to incorporate kinetic modeling and a tissue- based approach into the Guidelines. The Panel provided a number of comments and suggestions to strengthen the Agency's proposed framework for revising the Guidelines. The Panel suggested that EPA consider using a tiered approach for completing parts of the proposed revision. The Panel also emphasized the importance of incorporating ecological realism, an exposure component, and field data into the revision process. There will be no formal report from the SAB since this was a consultation. Individual Panel member comments'and recommendations have been included in the minutes of the ------- meeting and provided to the Office of Water. We hope these comments and recommendations are helpful to EPA as the Agency continues the important work of revising the Guidelines. Sincerely, Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Chair EPA Science Advisory Board Dr. Kenneth Dickson, Chair Aquatic Life Criteria Guidelines Consultative Panel EPA Science Advisory Board U.S. EPA Headquarters Library Mail Code 3404T 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC 20460 202-566-0556 ------- |