PARENT SESSION
PM19 - Water Quality Criteria
Monday, 18 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall

(P394) A Water Quality Strategy and Tools for the Future.

Biksey, Thomas^*,1, ¹ Environmental Strategies Corporation, Moon Township, Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT- Because of need of renewed focus and priority-setting, and the changing nature of water pollution problems and frameworks for solutions, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing a strategy to redirect and enhance the water quality standards and criteria program that includes providing new tools to ensure the protection surface waters pursuant to the requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This strategy, with short-term and long-term steps, includes developing a customer-focused, long-term strategic vision and directions for the water quality standards and criteria program that will refine the existing tools as well as develop new tools for the future. EPA's recognized the five needs: clarify program requirements, enhance implementation guidance and integration, strengthen and maintain the scientific foundation, link standards to watershed approaches, and build capacity and share information. To meet these needs, the goal is to fully integrate the needs of the customers and the environmental programs that depend on the water quality standards and criteria as valid environmental endpoints. One priority is making useful, related information and tools available on the Internet including a water quality standards database and a repository of related documents, the Watershed Assessment and Tracking Environmental Results System (WATERS), and downloadable software on water quality standards and criteria and water-effect ratios for metals. Currently, designated uses and use attainability analyses guidance is scattered among several documents. Therefore, EPA scheduled a national symposium, Designating Attainable Uses for the Nation's Waters, for June 2002 in Washington, D.C. The symposium is designed to solicit diverse views on use attainability analyses, to resolve questions about designated uses, and to determine whether more guidance is needed to ensure that water quality standards and criteria are based on the best available information. The draft strategy was released on May 7, 2002, and updates provided in this presentation.

Key words: Water quality standards/criteria, Databases/Software, Use Attainability, Water-Effect Ratios