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Good water quality is essential to public health and the environment. To ensure that Maryland waters meet their specific water quality standards, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) together with local governments routinely monitor the state’s drinking and recreational waters.
This year, in order to integrate the latest state and federal requirements and to maintain consistency with the most recent scientific and technical knowledge, MDE plans to revisit its water quality standards. This process is required every three years by the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and is often referred to as the Triennial Review process.
Water Quality Standards
Maryland Water Quality Standards are part of the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). The purpose of such standards is to protect, maintain, and improve the quality of Maryland’s waters. They are used to identify water quality problems and under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program serve as the basis for regulating the discharge of pollutants into surface waters.
The Maryland water quality standards program is a joint effort between MDE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under the federal Clean Water Act, states are responsible for adopting and implementing water quality standards, which then need to be approved by the EPA. While the Clean Water Act provides the statutory basis for water quality standards programs, the regulatory requirements governing them are spelled out in the subsequent federal and state water quality regulations.
Three Components of Water Quality Standards Regulation
Water quality standards are made up of three interrelated components:
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Designated use – the particular goal and function for a waterbody. Examples of designated uses include water recreation, coldwater fishery (e.g., trout), drinking water supply, or support of aquatic life.
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Criteria – the chemical or physical characteristics needed to support a specific designated use. Examples of criteria include dissolved oxygen sufficient to support aquatic life, temperatures low enough to support trout, or bacteria concentrations low enough to safely allow swimming or other types of water contact recreation. Criteria can be numeric (e.g., 5 mg/l of dissolved oxygen) or narrative (e.g., waters of this state may not be polluted by: any material, including floating debris, oil, grease, scum, sludge).
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Antidegradation policy – a policy to maintain the quality of those waters that are better than the minimum requirements provided by a specific criteria.
Anticipated Updates
MDE staff currently reviewing the existing human health criteria plan to propose a number of changes during this Triennial Review. These changes involve updating the standards to be consistent with the recently modified EPA guidance documents. Also, MDE is planning to propose aquatic life criteria for copper, aluminum, and chloropyrifos (an insecticide). Pending a publication of a criteria addendum by the Chesapeake Bay Program, changes to the Chesapeake Bay criteria might also be proposed. Finally, MDE anticipates that new Tier II waters (i.e., high quality waters) will be identified.
Public Participation
Public participation is a crucial component of the Triennial Review process, and MDE plans to provide both informal and formal opportunities to submit relevant comments and questions. This summer, prior to proposing its regulations, MDE will hold an informational meeting where the public will be able to ask questions and provide verbal or written feedback.
The specific date and time of the meeting will be announced in the Special Documents section (as opposed to the regulatory actions section) of the Maryland Register and on MDE’s website. During the meeting, MDE will present the major issues to be addressed by the Triennial Review and will solicit comments.
Upon review of the preliminary comments, MDE will prepare a formal regulatory package that will be reviewed by the Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review Committee (AELR) and then published in the Maryland Register. A formal public hearing will be held to solicit comments on the proposed regulation. Based on the comments received, MDE will determine if the proposed regulations should be promulgated (putting a law into effect by formal public announcement) as proposed or further modified.
All comments and appropriate responses will be documented in an official Comment Response Document. If the Secretary of the Environment determines to promulgate the regulations, she will publish a “Notice of Final Action” in the Maryland Register specifying which regulatory proposals were accepted as proposed and note any minor modifications.
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