•S-EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water EPA- 820-F-11-012
4305T
September 2011
Final Withdrawal of Certain Federal Aquatic Life
Water Quality Criteria Applicable to Wisconsin
Summary
The EPA is withdrawing certain federal aquatic
life water quality criteria for copper, nickel,
endrin and selenium applicable to waters of the
Great Lakes System in Wisconsin. Wisconsin's
revised criteria adequately protect waters of the
State designated for aquatic life use at a level
consistent with the federal requirements. The
withdrawal will enable Wisconsin to implement
its EPA-approved aquatic life criteria for Clean
Water Act (CWA) purposes.
Regulatory Context
In 1995, the EPA published the final "Water
Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System"
(Guidance) as part of a comprehensive plan to
restore the health of the Great Lakes System.
Great Lakes states including Wisconsin, were
required to adopt provisions consistent with the
Guidance into their water quality standards and
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit programs within two
years of the Guidance publication (CWA
Section 118(c)(2)).
40 CFR 132.5(f) provides that, once the EPA
completes its review of a State's water quality
standards submission, it must either publish
notice of approval of the State's submission in
the Federal Register or issue a letter notifying
the State that the EPA has determined that all or
part of its submission is inconsistent with the
CWA and/or the Guidance, and identify any
changes needed to obtain EPA approval. In the
case of EPA disapproval, the State then had 90
days to make the necessary changes. If the State
failed to make the necessary changes, the EPA
was required to publish a document in the
Federal Register identifying the approved and
disapproved elements of the submission and a
final rule identifying the provisions of the
Guidance that will apply to the State.
Historical Background
In 1997, Wisconsin adopted revised water
quality standards to comply with the Guidance
requirements at 40 CFR Part 132. In October
2000, the EPA disapproved six of Wisconsin's
revised aquatic life criteria, including chronic
and acute criteria for copper and nickel, and
chronic criteria for endrin and selenium.
Subsequently the EPA published a final rule
effective February 5, 2001, making the
following aquatic life criteria in 40 CFR 132.6
effective for waters of the Great Lakes System
in the State of Wisconsin: 1) chronic and acute
copper and nickel in Tables 1 and 2 of 40 CFR
132.6(f); 2) chronic endrin in Table 2 of 40 CFR
132.6(f); and 3) chronic selenium in Table 2 of
40 CFR 132.6(g).
In December 2008, Wisconsin revised its water
quality standards to address the EPA's
disapproval. In July 2009, the EPA determined
that Wisconsin's revised criteria adequately
protect all waters of the State designated for
aquatic life uses at a level consistent with CWA
requirements, with the exception of the chronic
aquatic life criterion for selenium in waters
designated as Limited Forage Fish aquatic life
use. While the EPA approved Wisconsin's
revised chronic aquatic life criteria for endrin,
due to a transcription error the number published
in Wisconsin's regulations at NR 105.06 (0.05
(ig/L) for Warm Water Sportfish and Warm
Water Forage Fish is not identical to the revised
and EPA-approved criterion (0.036 (ig/L).
Therefore, the EPA is not withdrawing the
chronic endrin aquatic life use criterion for these
designated uses at this time.
About this Action
The EPA's approval of Wisconsin's revised
aquatic life criteria makes the federal criteria no
longer necessary for compliance with the CWA.
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Therefore, the EPA is withdrawing the following
federal aquatic life criteria applicable to waters
of the Great Lakes System in Wisconsin
designated for aquatic life use:
- chronic and acute copper and nickel,
- chronic endrin (with the exception of the
aquatic life criteria for waters of the Great Lakes
System in Wisconsin designated as Warm Water
Forage Fish and Warm Water Sportfish), and
- chronic selenium (with the exception of the
aquatic life criteria for waters of the Great Lakes
System in Wisconsin designated as Limited
Forage Fish).
The withdrawal of the federal criteria will enable
Wisconsin to implement its EPA-approved
aquatic life criteria for CWA purposes.
For More Information
For more information about this action, contact
Sara Fiilbrich (hilbrich.sara@epa.gov) at 202-
564-0441 or Francine Norling
(norling.francine@epa.gov) at 312-886-0271.
Read the full text of the Federal Register notice,
which provides information about how to review
the complete administrative record. The docket
is available online atwww.regulations.gov
(docket number EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0492).
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