United States
                 Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
4303T
EPA821-F-02-017
August 2002	
CvEPA  Fact  Sheet
           Effluent Guidelines Program Plan  for 2002/2003

  Summary
  EPA is publishing a plan and schedule for developing and revising effluent guidelines.  These
  regulations will improve water quality by controlling discharges from industrial sources.
  Background on Effluent Guidelines  Program
  Plan

  EPA publishes an Effluent Guidelines Program
  Plan every other year.  The Plan is required by
  Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

  Background on Effluent  Guidelines

  Effluent guidelines are national regulations that
  control the discharge of pollutants to surface waters
  and to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).
  Effluent guidelines are specific to an industry. EPA
  develops  effluent  guidelines   for  all  types of
  industrial discharges  -  including manufacturing,
  agricultural, and service industries.

  The effluent guidelines  program is one of EPA's
  most   successful   environmental  protection
  programs. Effluent guidelines have helped reverse
  the water quality degradation that  accompanied
  industrialization in this country. These regulations
  reduce the discharge of pollutants that have serious
  environmental impacts, including pollutants that:

  - kill or impair fish and other aquatic organisms;
  - cause health problems through contaminated
    water, fish, or shellfish;  and
  - degrade aquatic ecosystems.

  EPA has already issued effluent guidelines for more
  than  50  industries.  These  regulations  have
  prevented the discharge of over 1 billion pounds of
  toxic pollutants each year.
EPA's Effluent  Guidelines  Program  Plan for
2002/2003  describes  the  effluent  guidelines
program and the effluent guidelines underway. The
Plan also gives a brief update on the status of
EPA's draft" Strategy for National Clean Water Act
Regulations," which EPA may use to develop
future  biennial  plans.    As  a first  step  in
implementing the Strategy, the Agency invites the
public to identify existing effluent guidelines that
EPA should consider revising, and to identify any
industrial categories for which the Agency should
consider developing new effluent guidelines.

Further Information

For additional information concerning this action,
you can contact Pat Harrigan at (202) 566-1666 or
Jan Matuszko at (202)  566-1035  at  the  U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water,
Engineering and Analysis Division (4303T),  1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.; or
you can send e-mail to:  harrigan.patricia@epa.gov
or  matuszko.jan@epa.gov.  You can  view  or
download the complete text of the Federal Register
notice    on    the    Internet   at
http://www.epa. gov/waterscience/guide/plan.html.
  Summary of Plan

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