Proposed Withdrawal of Federally Promulgated Human Health Water Quality Criteria in Washington


XV EPA
Office of Water
United States
Environmental Protection	Juiy20i9
Agency
Proposed Withdrawal of Federally Promulgated
Human Health Water Quality Criteria in
Washington
Summary
EPA is proposing a rule that would withdraw certain
federal human health water quality criteria that are
no longer needed due to EPA's May 10, 2019
approval of corresponding state human health
criteria after the Agency reconsidered its 2016
disapproval.
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 public water supplies ("water
only") and in fish and shellfish ("water plus
organism"), states must establish human health
criteria for their waters that are designated for such
uses. EPA periodically publishes ambient water
quality criteria recommendations under CWA section
304(a) for states to consider adopting into their
water quality standards to protect these uses.
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
section 303(c)(2)(B).
On November 28, 2016, EPA promulgated a final rule
titled "Revision of Certain Federal Water Quality
Criteria Applicable to Washington" at 40 CFR
131.45.1 This rule revised certain human health
criteria applicable to Washington's waters that EPA
had initially promulgated for Washington in 1992 as
part of the NTR. EPA promulgated the November
2016 rule after partially disapproving certain human
health criteria the state had submitted to EPA.
In February 2017, EPA received a petition from
several organizations to reconsider the Agency's
November 2016 partial disapproval. In August 2018,
EPA decided to reconsider its 2016 partial
disapproval of Washington's human health criteria.
Upon reconsideration, EPA determined that
Washington's 2016 human health criteria were
scientifically sound and protective of the applicable
designated uses in the state. On May 10, 2019, EPA
reversed its 2016 partial disapproval of certain
human health criteria (excluding arsenic).
Proposed Withdrawal
Because EPA approved the corresponding water
quality criteria adopted by Washington that meet
the requirements of the CWA and EPA's
implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 131, the
EPA is now proposing a rulemaking to withdraw
1 Revision of Certain Water Quality Standards Applicable to
Washington, 81 FR 85417 (November 28, 2016).

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certain corresponding federal criteria applicable to
Washington. The withdrawal, once finalized, will
enable Washington to implement its EPA-approved
human health criteria, submitted on August 1, 2016,
and approved on May 10, 2019, as applicable criteria
for CWA purposes.
This action proposes to amend the federal
regulations to withdraw all federal human health
criteria promulgated for Washington in November
2016 with the exception of criteria for arsenic,
methylmercury, and bis(2-chloro-l-methylethyl)
ether. On May 10, 2019, EPA reaffirmed its
November 2016 disapproval of the two criteria that
Washington submitted for arsenic (one for waters
designated for public water supply plus fishing and
shellfish harvesting, and another for waters
designated only for fishing and shellfish harvesting),
and therefore the federal arsenic criteria for
Washington at 40 CFR 131.45 will remain in place.
For methylmercury and bis(2-chloro-l-methylethyl)
ether, Washington did not submit criteria for those
pollutants and therefore the federally promulgated
criteria are the only criteria in effect for those
pollutants in the state. Although EPA is proposing to
maintain the federally promulgated criteria for these
pollutants, the Agency is also soliciting comment on
whether to withdraw the federally promulgated
criteria for methylmercury and bis(2-chloro-l-
methylethyl) ether.
Public Hearings and Soliciting Comments on
EPA's Proposed Rule
EPA welcomes comments concerning the proposed
rule and requests any additional information for
consideration by the Agency.
In addition to accepting written comments from the
public, EPA is offering two online public hearings on
the proposed rule so that interested parties may
provide oral comments. The first hearing will be on
August 27, 2019 from 4pm to 6pm Pacific Time. The
second hearing will be on August 28, 2019 from 9am
to 11am Pacific Time. EPA is also working toward
establishing an in-person public hearing component
for this process; details will follow on EPA's Water
Quality Standards website.
Where can I find more information?
Contact Erica Fleisig at (202) 566-1057,
fleisig.erica@epa.gov or Matthew Szelag at (907) 271-
1208, szelag.matthew@epa.gov. To access the
proposed rule, Federal Register notice, and supporting
documents, visit EPA's Water Quality Standards
website at:
https://www.epa.gov/wqs-tech/water-quality-
standards-regulations-washington.

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