EPA's Proposed Aquatic Life Designated Use Criteria

Join us for a lunchtime webinar to learn more about the proposed EPA criteria, the latest science on the target species (the endangered sturgeon), and implications for your treatment regime.  

The EPA has released proposed aquatic life designated use and dissolved oxygen (DO) water quality criteria for Zone 3, Zone 4, and the upper portion of Zone 5 of the Delaware Rive (in total, river miles 108.4 to 70.0; approximately from Philadelphia, PA to Wilmington, DE). The EPA is proposing this rule, Water Quality Standards to Protect Aquatic Life in the Delaware River, to ensure that the aquatic life designated uses and dissolved oxygen criteria protect all life stages of oxygen-sensitive species in those zones of the Delaware River, including two species of sturgeon that are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. 

Comments on EPA's proposed aquatic life designated use & DO criteria are due February 20th.

This is a no cost event exclusively for WRA members.  Thank you to our Annual Sponsors, NYCDEP, AECOM, PSEG, Landis Sewerage Authority, and Vicinity Energy for supporting our programs throughout the year. 

Does This Apply to Me?

Per the EPA: A range of individuals and entities could be affected by this rulemaking, if finalized. For example, entities that discharge pollutants to certain waters under the jurisdiction of the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—such as industrial facilities and municipalities that manage stormwater, separate sanitary, or combined sewer systems—could be indirectly affected by this rulemaking because Federal water quality standards (WQS) promulgated by the EPA would be the applicable WQS for these waters for CWA purposes. Specifically, these WQS would be the applicable standards that must be used in CWA regulatory programs, such as permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) under CWA section 402  and identifying impaired waters under CWA section 303(d). In addition, individuals and entities who rely on or benefit from aquatic life in those waters may be indirectly affected.

Proposed Crtiteria

The EPA is proposing dissolved oxygen criteria for three seasons based on early life stages of oxygen-sensitive aquatic species:

1) Spawning and Larval Development (March 1 – June 30);

2) Juvenile Development (July 1 – October 31); and

3) Overwintering (November 1 – February 28/29)