Ambient Water Quality Criteria Recommendations

By Environmental Protection Agency

Book Id: WPLBN0000018066
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.3 MB
Reproduction Date: 2007

Title:	Ambient Water Quality Criteria Recommendations
Author:	Environmental Protection Agency
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Ecology, Natural resource issues, Environemtal protection
Collections:	Environmental Awareness Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States Environmental Protection Agency


Citation APA MLA Chicago Protection Agency, B. E. (n.d.). Ambient Water Quality Criteria Recommendations. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Excerpt: This document presents EPA’s nutrient criteria for Wetlands in Nutrient Ecoregion XIII. These criteria provide EPA’s recommendations to States and authorized Tribes for use in establishing their water quality standards consistent with section 303(c) of CWA. Under section 303(c) of the CWA, States and authorized Tribes have the primary responsibility for adopting water quality standards as State or Tribal law or regulation. The standards must contain scientifically defensible water quality criteria that are protective of designated uses. EPA’s recommended section 304(a) criteria are not laws or regulations – they are guidance that States and Tribes may use as a starting point for the criteria for their water quality standards.

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Notice of Document Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii List of Tables and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x 1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2.0 Best Use of this Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.0 Area Covered by This Document (waterbody type and ecoregion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3.1 Description of Aggregate Ecoregion XIII --Southern Florida Coastal Plain . . . . 5 3.2 Geographical Boundaries of Aggregate Ecoregion XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.3 Level III Ecoregions within Aggregate Ecoregion XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4.0 Data Review for Wetlands in Aggregate Ecoregion XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.1 Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.2 Historical Data from Aggregate Ecoregion XIII (TP, Soil P, and Vegetation) . . 8 4.3 Data for all Wetlands within Aggregate Ecoregion XIII .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.4 Classification of Wetland Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.0 Reference Sites and Conditions for Wetlands in Aggregate Ecoregion XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6.0 Models Used to Predict or Verify Response Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7.0 Framework for Refining Recommended Nutrient Criteria for Wetlands in Aggregate Ecoregion XIII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7.1 Example Worksheet for Developing Aggregate Ecoregion and Subecoregion Nutrient Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7.2 Setting Seasonal Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 7.3 Site-specific Criteria Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 8.0 Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 9.0 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14