303(d) List: Under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, states are required to evaluate all available water quality-related data and information to develop a list of waters that do not meet established water quality standards (WQS) (called impaired) and those that currently meet WQS but may exceed it in the next reporting cycle (called threatened). Water quality standards include (1) designated uses for aquatic life, recreation, water supply, and harvesting (fish consumption) and (2) criteria, usually numeric and narrative, to protect those uses. Waterbodies on the 303(d) list must be cleaned up by pollution-control programs or a TMDL must be developed. Every two years, states are required to update the list of waterbodies that do not meet water quality standards. For Washington, Ecology maintains the 303(d) list.
AKART: An acronym that stands for “All Known, Available and Reasonable Treatment” methods to prevention and control pollutants associated with a discharge.
Clean Water Act (CWA): Originally passed in 1972, the intent of the federal CWA is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” It regulates discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulates surface water standards. States are required to set WQS for all waters within their jurisdiction according to three elements: 1) define the water bodies designated use(s), e.g.—recreation or aquatic life, 2) establish the various pollutants or pollutant parameters that may be present without impairing the designated use, and 3) adopt an antidegradation policy to assess if actions may lower the water quality of a water body.
The focal point of the CWA is two potential sources of pollution: point and nonpoint. Point sources come from a single point such as a manufacturing facility or sewage treatment plant. Nonpoint sources represent runoff from diffuse sources, e.g.— drainage from agricultural fields or stormwater from streets. The National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) is used to regulate point source discharger activities. It is unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters without receiving an NPDES permit.
Designated Uses: Designated uses are human uses and ecological conditions, e.g.—fishing, swimming, and trout spawning and rearing, that states recognize officially in their water quality standards. States must designate one or more uses for each water body, e.g.– public water supplies, fish and wildlife protection, and recreation.
Fish Advisory: State or local department of health advice about fish consumption for specific waterbodies where chemicals (pollutants) found in certain fish species may harm citizen health.
Highest Attainable Condition (HAC): A quantifiable expression of the best water quality condition of a pollutant that can be achieved during the term of the variance.
National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES): NPDES permits address water pollution by regulating point sources discharging pollutants into water of the United States. Permits contain limits on what and how much can be discharged, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure water quality or people’s health. They must be renewed every five years.
Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution: NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants that are eventually transported to lakes, rivers and other waters of the United States. It is defined by the CWA as any source of water pollution that does not meet the legal definition of ‘point source.’
Narrative Criteria: Narrative criteria describe water quality goals such as the desirable biological condition or general conditions for what should or should not exist, e.g.— free from substances that may cause adverse effects to aquatic life or human health.
Numeric Criteria: Numeric criteria are measurable water quality benchmarks. They serve as the basis for developing pollutant limits for discharge permits.
PCBs: Human consumption of fish and wildlife with PCBs can cause skin rashes, reproductive disorders, and neurological and behavioral problems. They are also a probable human carcinogen.
Scientists refer to PCBs as a persistent bio-accumulative pollutant because they remain in the environment for several decades and they accumulate in the lipids (fats) of fish and other animals.
PCBs were first produced in 1927, became commercially manufactured in 1929, and banned in 1979. They are a human-made compound used in transformers, capacitors, paint additives, lubricants, adhesives, and many other applications. PCBs were commonly used in these products because they do not burn, break down or conduct electricity.
There are 209 individual forms of PCBs, known as congeners. In the U.S., PCBs were produced almost exclusively as Aroclors. Although banned, “inadvertent PCBs” are still produced as by-products or contaminants from manufacturing other products, e.g.—pigments in packaging and newsprint, oil and caulking. The National Toxicology Program, a division of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is currently evaluating PCB -11 for potential toxicity.
Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs): Chemicals that are persistent in the environment, bioaccumulate in people and/or wildlife, and are toxic are called PBTs.
Point Source: Under the CWA, point sources are “any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged” but not “agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture.”
Pollution Minimization Plans (PMPs): Actions dischargers will take to reduce a pollutant in its effluent and thus make progress toward the underlying water quality standard. These may include source identification and investigation, mitigation and reduction of PCBs, coordination with other entities, and reporting and monitoring.
State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA): For Washington State, this process identifies and analyzes environmental impacts associated with governmental decisions. These decisions may be related to issuing permits for private projects, constructing public facilities, or adopting regulations, policies, and plans. If environmental impacts are considered significant, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be undertaken to assess alternatives and mitigation measures to minimize these impacts or enhance environmental quality. SEPA can be used to modify or deny a proposal to avoid, reduce, or compensate for probable impacts.
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): TSCA provides EPA with the authority to require reporting, set testing requirements, and restrict chemical substances and/or mixtures. Chemical substances regulated by TSCA include the production, importation, use, and disposal of PCBs and lead-based paint. Certain substances such as cosmetics and pesticides are generally excluded from TSCA.
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL): A TMDL is the calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant allowed to enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will meet and continue to meet water quality standards for that pollutant. A TMDL determines a pollutant reduction target and allocates load reductions necessary to the source(s) of the pollutant.
Use Attainability Analysis (UAA): A scientific assessment of the factors affecting the attainment of uses of a water body, such as swimming, fishing, and drinking. The UAA tool evaluates the potential to remove non-existing and non-attainable designated uses, or to establish subcategories of uses. The results must be adopted into the water quality standards and be approved by EPA as meeting the federal Clean Water Act (CWA).
Variance: A water quality standard (WQS) variance modifies the designated uses and water quality criteria for a waterbody for a limited time. This allows NPDES permit holders to focus on making incremental progress to meet WQS rather than pursuing a downgrade to the WQS by using a use attainability analysis to justify a designated use change. The variance stands in place of the existing WQS by using the highest attainable condition for a specific pollutant being discharged. The end goal is to achieve full compliance with the WQS. Once the variance term has ended or discontinued, the underlying WQS is reinstated.
Water Quality Criteria: Water quality criteria are descriptions of the chemical, physical, and biological conditions necessary to achieve and protect designated uses.
Water Quality Standards (WQS): The purposes of WQS are to protect public health and welfare, enhance the quality of water, and comply with the Clean Water Act. A WQS is comprised of three components: (1) designated use(s); (2) criteria to protect the designated uses; and (3) an anti-degradation policy. They establish the goals for a waterbody and serve as the regulatory basis for treatment controls and strategies.
States are required, subject to federal oversight, to adopt water quality standards for each waterbody or waterbody segment within the state’s boundaries. Those not meeting standards are considered “impaired” and are added to a 303(d) list.
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