?/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
EPA820-F-15-005
August 2015
Proposed Revision of Federal Human
Health Criteria Applicable to
Washington
Summary
EPA is proposing a rule that revises the current
federal human health criteria applicable to
Washington's waters to ensure that the criteria are
set at levels that will protect fish consumers in
Washington from exposure to toxic pollutants.
Background
Clean Water Act (CWA) section 101(a)(2) establishes
the national goal that water quality should provide
for the protection and propagation offish, shellfish,
and wildlife, and recreation in and on the water. To
protect people from cancer and non-cancer effects
from pollutants in drinking water and fish and
shellfish, states must establish human health criteria
for their waters that are designated for such uses.
EPA periodically publishes criteria recommendations
under CWA section 304(a) for states to consider
using to meet these CWA section 101(a)(2) goals.
CWA section 303(c)(2)(B) requires states to adopt
numeric water quality criteria for all priority toxic
pollutants for which EPA has published CWA section
304(a) criteria recommendations. In 1992, EPA
promulgated the National Toxics Rule (NTR) at 40
CFR 131.36, establishing chemical-specific numeric
criteria for 14 states and territories, including
Washington, that were not in compliance with CWA
303(c)(2)(B). Since Washington has not yet adopted
its own water quality criteria to protect human
health, the federal human health criteria in the NTR
remain applicable to Washington's waters.
EPA derived the human health criteria in the NTR
based on available national data at the time, which
indicated that people ate, on average, 6.5 grams per
day (g/day) offish. The best available data now
demonstrate that fish consumers in Washington,
including tribes with treaty-protected rights,
consume much more fish than 6.5 g/day. Therefore,
to protect fish consumers in Washington from the
adverse effects of toxic pollutants, EPA is updating
the federal human health criteria applicable to
Washington, using the best available science on
pollutant toxicity and exposure.
Fish Consumption and Tribal Reserved
Rights
When setting criteria to protect human health in
Washington, EPA considered the requirements in the
CWA and EPA's regulations at 40 CFR 131, as well as
other applicable laws, including federal treaties. In
Washington, many tribes hold reserved rights to
take fish for subsistence, ceremonial, religious, and
commercial purposes, including treaty-reserved
rights to fish at all usual and accustomed fishing
grounds and stations in waters under state
jurisdiction. A majority of waters under
Washington's jurisdiction are covered by these
reserved rights. EPA is proposing to consider the
tribal population exercising their reserved fishing
rights in Washington as the target population for the
purposes of deriving protective criteria that allow
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the tribes to harvest and consume fish consistent
with their reserved rights.
Scope of the Proposed Rule
EPA now has CWA 304(a) criteria recommendations
for 99 priority toxic pollutants (85 for which EPA
established criteria in the NTR, plus 14 additional
pollutants). In accordance with the requirements of
CWA section 303(c)(2)(B), EPA is proposing new and
revised Washington-specific human health criteria
for these 99 priority toxic pollutants, to apply to
waters under Washington's jurisdiction.
How EPA Derived the Proposed Criteria
EPA derives human health criteria for carcinogenic
effects using the following inputs: cancer slope
factor, cancer risk level, body weight, drinking water
intake rate, fish consumption rate (FCR), and a
bioaccumulation factor (or factors). For non-
carcinogenic and nonlinear carcinogenic effects, EPA
uses a reference dose in place of a cancer slope
factor and cancer risk level, as well as a relative
source contribution, which is intended to ensure
that an individual's total exposure from all sources
does not exceed the criteria.
To derive Washington-specific criteria, EPA is
proposing to use the same cancer slope factors,
cancer risk level, body weight, drinking water intake
rate, bioaccumulation factors, reference doses and
relative source contribution factors that the Agency
uses in its current 304(a) recommended human
health criteria. To protect fish consumers in
Washington, including tribes with treaty-protected
rights, EPA proposes to derive the criteria using a
FCR of 175 g/day. This rate accounts for local data,
reflects input from tribes in Washington, and
protects fish consumers downstream in Oregon,
where the state has also used a FCR of 175 g/day to
derive its human health criteria.
How EPA's Proposal Relates to the State of
Washington's Efforts to Develop Criteria and
Revise Implementation Tools
The state of Washington proposed human health
criteria and revisions to certain implementation
tools (e.g., variances and compliance schedules) in
January 2015. However, in July 2015, Governor
Inslee directed the Department of Ecology to
reconsider its proposed human health criteria and
implementation tool revisions given the 2015
Legislature's failure to pass proposed legislation and
funding for stronger controls on toxics. Therefore,
EPA is moving forward with its proposal to provide
for timely, protective updates to the criteria
applicable in the state. EPA's proposal does not
revise Washington's existing EPA-approved
implementation provisions or affect the state's
ability to use those tools when implementing the
federal criteria.
If the state of Washington submits final criteria to
EPA for approval under the Clean Water Act before
EPA finalizes the federal human health water quality
criteria, EPA will review and act upon the state's
submission in a timely manner and prior to any final
action on the federal criteria. If EPA approves criteria
submitted by the state, the corresponding federal
criteria will not be finalized. The state can update its
implementation tools and could include those
updates in a future submittal along with final human
health criteria. Implementation tools can provide a
means of making reasonable progress in improving
water quality while protecting the economic viability
of state industries and communities.
Where can I find more information?
Contact Erica Fleisig at (202) 566-1057,
fleisig.erica@epa.gov or Matthew Szelag at (206)
553-5171, szelag.matthew@epa.gov. To access the
proposed rule, federal register notice, and
supporting documents, visit EPA's Water Quality
Standards website at:
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards
/wqswa.cfm
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