Water Quality Standards to Protect Fish, Wildlife,

and Human Health

 Water quality standards are the goals that states establish for their regulatory programs. These standards function as a measuring stick of whether water quality is protective of human health, fish, and wildlife. These standards are established by the states, and approved or disapproved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Standards are established for all types of pollution, including conventional pollutants such as temperature, pH, bacteria, and sediment; toxic pollutants and metals such as dioxin, DDT, and copper; and so-called non-conventional/ non-toxic pollutants such as ammonia.

Standards are often confused with criteria. The criteria are the numbers—such as “x” amount of a pollutant is considered acceptable—whereas the standards are much, much more. Standards are composed of the criteria along with other environmental protection requirements, described below.

Legal Requirements for Water Quality Standards

In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA) “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” through the reduction and eventual elimination of the discharge of pollutants into those waters. The foundation for the actions needed to achieve this eventual elimination are the water quality standards. The EPA provides states with substantial guidance in drafting water quality standards, and the states must submit the standards to EPA for review and approval. Water quality standards generally consist of three elements: 1) one or more designated “uses” of that waterway; 2) water quality “criteria” specifying the amount of various pollutants that may be present in those waters and still protect the designated uses, expressed as numeric concentration limits or narrative requirements; and 3) an anti-degradation provision limiting the degradation of certain waters.

Triennial Review of Water Qualtiy Standards

States are required to review and revise their water quality standards at least every three years, and submit any new or revised water quality standards to EPA for review and approval. EPA must notify the state within 60 days if it approves the new or revised standard as complying with the Act. If EPA disapproves the standard, it must then notify the state of required changes within 90 days. Should the state fail to remedy the defect(s) within an additional 90-day period, EPA is required to “promptly” establish a revised standard for the state. EPA is also required to establish a new or revised standard wherever the Administrator determines that a revised or new standard is necessary to meet the requirements of the Act. Overall, Congress set expectations that states would frequently update their standards and that EPA would act swiftly if the standards were not protective.

Because states have frequently failed to meet this Congressional requirement and EPA has frequently failed to step in as required, NWEA has frequently taken EPA to court. Only through citizen’s enforcement of the law have we been able to ensure that states have updated standards that protect the health of people and populations of fish and wildlife.