?/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
EPA 820-F-16-003
April 2016
Proposal of Certain Federal Water
Quality Standards Applicable to Maine
Summary
EPA is proposing new and revised federal Clean
Water Act water quality standards (WQS) that would
apply to waters under the state of Maine's
jurisdiction. First, EPA proposes human health
criteria (HHC) for waters in Indian lands and waters
subject to sustenance fishing rights. Further, EPA
proposes six additional WQS for waters in Indian
lands in Maine, two WQS for all waters in Maine
including waters in Indian lands, and one WQS for
waters in Maine outside of Indian lands.
Background
Section 101(a)(2) of the Clean Water Act 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.
States must establish WQS for waters under their
jurisdiction that protect these goals, including
designated uses and criteria to protect the uses. EPA
periodically publishes criteria recommendations
under Clean Water Act section 304(a) for states to
consider using to protect their designated uses.
In decisions issued in February, March, and June
2015, EPA disapproved a number of Maine WQS as
not adequately protective of human health or
aquatic life. Most of the disapprovals only applied to
waters in Indian lands; however, a few applied to all
Maine waters. The Clean Water Act requires EPA to
promptly promulgate replacement WQS to remedy
such disapprovals unless the state adopts and EPA
approves protective WQS.
If Maine adopts and submits new or revised water
quality standards (WQS) and EPA approves them
before finalizing this proposed rule, EPA would not
proceed with the final rulemaking for those waters
and/or pollutants for which EPA approves Maine's
new or revised standards. If EPA finalizes this
proposed rule, and Maine subsequently adopts and
submits new or revised WQS that EPA finds meet
Clean Water Act requirements, EPA proposes that
once EPA approves Maine's WQS, they would
become effective for Clean Water Act purposes, and
EPA's corresponding promulgated WQS would no
longer apply.
Fish consumption and tribal sustenance
fishing use
There are four federally recognized Indian tribes in
Maine represented by five governing bodies. State
and federal settlement acts that resolved litigation
between Maine and the tribes create a unique
arrangement granting the state of Maine authority
to set WQS for waters in Indian lands. EPA concluded
that the settlement acts protect sustenance fishing
practices in those waters; that under the Clean
Water Act sustenance fishing is a designated use;
and that criteria must be adequate to protect that
use.
Maine's human health criteria are based on a fish
consumption rate of 32.4 grams per day of fish. The
best available information indicates that the human
health criteria to protect tribal sustenance fishers in
Maine should be based on a much higher fish
consumption rate. Because the state of Maine has
not addressed the WQS disapprovals stemming from
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the above, EPA is proposing federal human health
criteria applicable to waters in Indian lands,
incorporating new data and scientific information on
exposure and pollutant toxicity.
Scope of the proposed rule
EPA is proposing human health criteria for 96
pollutants that would apply to waters in Indian
lands. EPA is proposing six additional WQS for waters
in Indian lands:
• Recreational and shellfishing bacteria criteria to
protect human health
• Tidal temperature, pH, and ammonia criteria to
protect aquatic life;
• A mixing zone policy; and
• Clarification that natural conditions provisions
cannot be applied to human health criteria.
EPA is proposing two WQS for all waters in Maine
including waters in Indian lands:
• Dissolved oxygen criteria for Class A waters to
protect aquatic life; and
• Clarification that the Clean Water Act does not
allow the commissioner of the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection to
waive compliance with WQS in case of oil spills.
Finally, EPA is proposing one WQS for waters in
Maine outside of Indian lands:
• Phenol criteria to protect human health
EPA disapproved all of these WQS in 2015 because
they were not based on the latest science or
protective of designated uses.
Basis for the proposed human health
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; 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 reference dose.
In deriving criteria for waters in Indian lands in
Maine, in general, 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 used in its most recent Clean
Water Act section 304(a) recommended human
health criteria. To protect tribal sustenance fishers in
Maine, EPA proposes to derive the criteria using a
fish consumption rate of 286 g/day. This rate
accounts for information in an
anthropological/historical study of the tribes'
traditional cultural practices and reflects input from
affected tribes.
Public hearings on the proposed rule
EPA is offering two virtual public hearings on the
proposed rule so that interested parties may provide
oral comments. The first hearing will be on Tuesday,
June 7, 2016 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm Eastern Time.
The second hearing will be on Thursday, June 9,
2016 from 9:00am to ll:00am Eastern Time.
Where can I find more information?
Contact Jennifer Brundage at (202) 566-1265,
brundage.jennifer@epa.gov or Jeanne Voorhees at
(617) 918-1686, voorhees.ieanne@epa.gov.
To access the proposed rule, federal register notice,
supporting documents, and hearing registration
information, visit EPA's Water Quality Standards
website at: http://www.epa.gov/wqs-
tech/proposed-rule-maine-water-quality-standards
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