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[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19176-19178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07647]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0753; FRL 9944[dash]46-OW]

Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for 
Cadmium--2016

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
release of recommended aquatic life water quality criteria for cadmium. 
EPA has updated its national recommended ambient water quality criteria 
for cadmium in order to reflect the latest scientific information, and 
current EPA policies and methods. EPA's water quality criteria for 
cadmium provides recommendations to states and tribes authorized to 
establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. In 
adopting water quality standards, states set exposure protections for 
aquatic life; acute exposure to cadmium results in lethality, while 
chronic exposure to cadmium negatively impacts growth, development, 
behavior, reproduction, and immune and endocrine systems in aquatic 
life. Cadmium enters the environment by natural and human processes, 
however, human sources, such as mining and urban processes, are 
responsible for contributing approximately 90 percent of the cadmium 
found in surface waters.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Elias, Health and Ecological 
Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail Code 4304T), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 566-0120; email address: elias.mike@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

    1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0753. Publicly available docket materials 
are available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in 
hard copy at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA 
West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA 
Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number 
for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number 
for the Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
    2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal 
Register'' listings on FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).

II. What are EPA's recommended water quality criteria?

    EPA's recommended water quality criteria are scientifically derived 
numeric values that protect aquatic life or human health from the 
deleterious effects of pollutants in ambient water. Section 304(a)(1) 
of the Clean Water Act (CWA) directs EPA to develop and publish and, 
from time to time, revise criteria for protection of aquatic life and 
human health that accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge. 
Water quality criteria developed under section 304(a) are based solely 
on data and the latest scientific knowledge on the relationship between 
pollutant concentrations and environmental and human health effects. 
Section 304(a) criteria do not reflect consideration of economic 
impacts or the technological

[[Page 19177]]

feasibility of meeting pollutant concentrations in ambient water.
    EPA's recommended section 304(a) criteria provide technical 
information to states and authorized tribes in adopting water quality 
standards (WQS) that ultimately provide a basis for assessing water 
body health and controlling discharges or releases of pollutants. Under 
the CWA and its implementing regulations, states and authorized tribes 
are to adopt water quality criteria to protect designated uses (e.g., 
public water supply, aquatic life, recreational use, or industrial 
use). EPA's recommended water quality criteria do not substitute for 
the CWA or regulations, nor are they regulations themselves. EPA's 
recommended criteria do not impose legally binding requirements. States 
and authorized tribes have the discretion to adopt, where appropriate, 
other scientifically defensible water quality criteria that differ from 
these recommendations.

III. What is cadmium and why is EPA concerned about it?

    Cadmium is a naturally occurring metal found in mineral deposits 
and distributed widely at low concentrations in the environment. 
Cadmium's primary industrial uses are for the manufacturing of 
batteries, pigments, plastic stabilizers, metal coatings, alloys and 
electronics. Recently, cadmium has been used in manufacturing 
nanoparticles (quantum dots) for use in solar cells and color displays. 
Cadmium is a non-essential metal with no biological function in aquatic 
life. Acute exposure causes mortality. Chronic exposure leads to 
adverse effects on growth, reproduction, immune and endocrine systems, 
development and behavior in aquatic organisms.

 IV. Information on the Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for 
Cadmium

    EPA prepared an update of the chronic aquatic life criteria 
document for cadmium based on the latest scientific information and 
current EPA policies and methods, including EPA's Guidelines for 
Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection 
of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses (1985) (EPA/R-85-100) and 
Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment (1998) (EPA/630/R-95/002F). 
The 2016 updated criteria include new data for 75 species and 49 genera 
not previously represented. The freshwater acute criterion was derived 
to be protective of aquatic species and further lowered to protect the 
commercially and recreationally important rainbow trout, consistent 
with procedures described in EPA's current aquatic life criteria 
guidelines. The freshwater acute value is slightly lower (i.e., more 
stringent) than the 2001 acute criterion for dissolved cadmium. The 
freshwater chronic criterion is slightly higher (i.e., less stringent) 
compared to the 2001 criterion for dissolved cadmium; this modest 
increase is primarily due to the inclusion of four new genera, and the 
reanalysis of other data.
    The estuarine/marine acute criterion for dissolved cadmium is 
slightly more stringent than the 2001 recommended criterion, which is 
primarily due to the addition of new sensitive genera. Changes in 
suggested values between 2001 and 2016 can be found in Table 1 below.

                                             Table 1--Summary of 2001 and 2016 Aquatic Life AWQC for Cadmium
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                                                                 2016 AWQC update                                         2001 AWQC
                                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Acute (1-hour, dissolved  Chronic (4-day, dissolved   Acute (1-day, dissolved        Chronic (4-day,
                                                        Cd) \c\                      Cd)                        Cd)                   dissolved Cd)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freshwater (Total Hardness = 100 mg/L as       1.8 [micro]g/L\b\........  0.72 [micro]g/L..........  2.0 [micro]g/L\b\........  0.25 [micro]g/L.
 CaCO[ihel3]) \a\.
Estuarine/marine.............................  33 [micro]g/L............  7.9 [micro]g/L...........  40 [micro]g/L............  8.8 [micro]g/L.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Freshwater acute and chronic criteria are hardness-dependent and were normalized to a hardness of 100 mg/L as CaCO[ihel3] to allow the presentation
  of representative criteria values.
\b\ Lowered to protect the commercially and recreationally important species (rainbow trout), as per the 1985 Guidelines, Stephen et al. (1985).
\c\ The duration of the 2016 acute criteria was changed to 1-hour to reflect the 1985 Guidelines-based recommended acute duration.

V. What is the relationship between the water quality criteria and 
state or tribal water quality standards?

    As part of the WQS triennial review process defined in section 
303(c)(1) of the CWA, the states and authorized tribes are responsible 
for maintaining and revising WQS. Standards consist of designated uses, 
water quality criteria to protect those uses, a policy for 
antidegradation, and may include general policies for application and 
implementation. Section 303(c)(1) requires states and authorized tribes 
to review and modify, if appropriate, their WQS at least once every 
three years.
    States and authorized tribes must adopt water quality criteria that 
protect designated uses. Protective criteria are based on a sound 
scientific rationale and contain sufficient parameters or constituents 
to protect the designated uses. Criteria may be expressed in either 
narrative or numeric form. States and authorized tribes have four 
options when adopting water quality criteria for which EPA has 
published section 304(a) criteria. They may:
    (1) Establish numerical values based on recommended section 304(a) 
criteria;
    (2) Adopt section 304(a) criteria modified to reflect site-specific 
conditions;
    (3) Adopt criteria derived using other scientifically defensible 
methods; or
    (4) Establish narrative criteria where numeric criteria cannot be 
established or to supplement numerical criteria (40 CFR 131.11(b)).
    EPA's regulation at 40 CFR 131.20(a) provides that if a state does 
not adopt new or revised criteria parameters for which EPA has 
published new or updated recommendations, then the state shall provide 
an explanation when it submits the results of its triennial review to 
the Regional Administrator consistent with CWA section 303(c)(1). The 
updated cadmium criteria supersede EPA's previous 304(a) criteria for 
cadmium. Consistent with 40 CFR 131.21, new or revised water quality 
criteria adopted into law or regulation by states and authorized tribes 
on or after May 30, 2000 are applicable water quality standards for CWA 
purposes only after EPA approval.

VI. Additional Information

    EPA conducted a contractor-led and independent external peer review 
of the draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium 
document in October 2015. This document was released for 60 day public 
comment in 2016 and has been updated accordingly. The document may be 
found at: http://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 19178]]

    Dated: March 28, 2016.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2016-07647 Filed 4-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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