UNITED Sl Tf:~ .:NVIR'"'NMENTJ.. OTEC ~ N AGENCY 

~tC;:p llPn u . Grn~'""•· ·, Diroct,....,r 

~ure~·J ~ • ~tPr ')Un.li ty co .. •t.rol 

IY '"'"'rt.l~"lt r.f' 1"norjrot .,t .... l Prot~tion 

!--tate 11t:J_J ... ' r !-itat i0n · f 17 

}It) Jl!St.l'l. 04JjJ 

'l'h::tru<. }'"""' tor y'?Llr .lt•tt~·r ~Jt P;.·ril l, J.:11r), ct:spoY,i'> to d~l tJWi.r0f·lG·:\:, t ·'1"<>-

t octlon 1\ '"nc, 1 a (U>A) cc.. " '·a on your -~ter quall t; ·tano;;.t'I:;J.-: l • Jl . ., ·~liti VI:' 

":..rq.,o<;al. ~nil~ .:. ~r or iSf - ilct'.re tY>f'n resol't:E:d, ~ contiru<l > l.x~J 1ev~ 

th~t .,...,..,.. Chan arc n~&art in or r t.Ot' , ., i.~~> 1 ~ ~lr'",:lOS • fc'tat.utc tt, t 'f.J ln 

<X-ntor::oanco wit h l' r.ll re-~uir~m:s. i11 -r'di tlon .. ~J t:ur c11 · a.·nt~ i:>eJ.'""'', •...u a~:+-· 

<:ncl O"' ll'l<J thu EPA Hc&XJuarcars ~nts <.m yo• ·r r ..... · 

l.a. t:.t?A H1U6t iJtJ oosur I inwritJ.""* tl• t tiK' tnrl ''Cl1oL·acten&tlcW' i8 ;.e~ ull.t· 

intorprcted 3S "uxist imJ un "'. •· 

J • b . (i'( 

l.c. •..., -nli ve Ulat the ~·a in' Cont iruin;J Plan;;i rg 1-' ·oc .. sr; i-:; t.he llt ~ ropd t.t .. 

~ nt for tM Pc:>ellinJ out r, tt..e lntergo".JUriiM?ntal arll'S IAli.>l k 

[>3rticipation l r...,....~see . 

1.n. '*'" 

:z. ·~~ <'~'l""~e in w?t·1i nq ...-:>uld roet f.:P" ohJ"'C"*"iv ·s hlt Mety r.K ruPrl·r ·v•v·~r· 1 n 

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!;). • .......... ntint.J? tD , • e · • th<n: our lilTlJ\'a 

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~:/ ~ "\ I _L_ 

SURNAME 

DATE 

EPA F orm 1320-l (12-70) OF FfCIA1 
-~-"" 

. OJ<.. 

J.U. ~Q ~A iieBdQuart~rs CC.:O:OOHtv arrl littachea Harm 15, l~t>~. ' 'lT~fKjt.r.., tHll 

4U' I'ti to tOO Re\llOOS. 

11. Mail must develq) a MiXii'\1 '?.or fp.Licy 1n 1ts re,aulation or Ln ttv C.."'PP. 

CtJr.t ntly 1"" • '1 ... "0 f • , ... ...- >1 tor r.lXlrt;; ~ de.llnPat ion or ~vd ot 

~'rcrect ion within tM. mhil)l.J ;;o.'10. 

Sinoorely yours, 

Davtn A. ~'ierra. Director 

~t,..r ti 1'\ gcmnt Division 

FDA U)R/PSS:Putler~ '"'nJ:S/6/85 Disk 2 l-3\tt.lr'"!r, Doc. 87 
snn,H.'CT: HcadqurJrten"l .Rovi•~w of Nain..,•s Prnnos<='d 

Water Quality Standards 

FROM: Patrie~ M. Tobin, Dir~ctor 

Criteria & Stand~r~~ DivisinTO: Davii A. Fierra, Oi r Pctor 

Wator Man?1 -~nt Division 

Wo h vo r~viewrd MAinr's PronoBPd Water Quality St~ndard~ 

O!QS) , the Rcqion's cor ..... ('ntR thPr.oon, ancJ the State's n~buttaJ. 

Our co~~ ntR follo • 

1. a) W~ concur with your C01'1M'"nt r('oarding "'rot..,.f'tion ot cxir,tinn 

use-. It is not ~~ all clear that pr0t~ction 0£ "craractnrist!cs• iroJies prot f'tion of existin0 uses. ~h~ t~rr 

•characteristic"'!" is too voQue. 'T".,,.. n•(,ion -,u::.t o•··t a 

wr itten opinion fr0, tre State that ch?r,c~eri ~ics will ~ 

interpr~ted as Pxi ~inn us~ • 

h) Your Asesqnpnt of t~is sPrtion of ~aine's anti~~or1datio~ 

policy alsn l;a;:: r<'rit. ~if" \'OUlc~ 1 ih~ to rakf' clc;ar that 

prC"I._ ction of hif'h o·1a lity water'"' ic.; rPrruir~~ only For 

those Pxceedina fishable-s~ir~ahle auality. This ApoPars, 

ho• v<>r, to I"'(> t!"le ca<>e in ~11 ~1.ain~ wa.t~.~rs. ':he ·at:er 

aual ity of hic:h C'uality wav~,.. .,ust t-e rr1aintaineri r<"gard'.C's<:: 

of its ability to attain a hi.qhor uc;e. If a hiqter. u::;c js 

attained, it should h~ so ~P$lgn~tP1. Maine is in·err0r 

\'"ltl'n it statP-s that tris i!:i, in pffP~""t, ann <"iC'ch;'lrnn 

nolicy. It is a limited d?qradatiol'l ;:>olif')' onvt:r.rwd ,)V 

40 CPF 131.12(a)(2). 

c) Althoun~ it is orefera~)P to hava this ianquaro in t~e 

statute, inteTOOVOrP,..,,ntal end nuhlic p,qrticir);,tion 01"''1-

c~~~n~ ~~v he d~rr qse~ hy r oul,tion. P~IPVPr, th~ 

P~~i"~ s~oul~ wit~hol1 ap~roval of t~is ~~rt until such 

ti-~ as a satisfactory rPqulation is in tore~. 

CONCURRENCES 
d) Th~ state l~nq to arl~rcss cost effnctive Dnd r~auon~!,l ~ 

bPst mao;:v"" -""' t pri'ict\C'f'\<'" for noP-T"Ci"'t. $OUr<;'~ C<:nt.r-ol i.P 

t he ir hiennial 305( 1) rt"""~Ort . 1h l s 1s u·~~c::-c...,tc:o.,lo in ,c 

far "H3 t~e 3 0 5{b) reno rt jc;. n0t an cnforC'..,?t'lr-~ ~n m,,.nt. 

Prot~~tion ~ou d hP Rfforded in thn ~t ~tJt0 ~ut -ay 

a'"~DPar in thp rAaulations. In i3 d~ iti on , t~P qtat0 -ust 

ao•:;ure th(.' hioht:~f't Rt<'ltUt ory and n"QU] a t ory r('q~ €nl~nt '·· 

for all r ow a~d PXistinq point s ources wh0n water o uality n~q rnrl~t i on i. q n.ll o~0d . 

2 . ThP ~ti'ite has a~dressed th~ Rpo ion's r0r~ nt on S~ctio1 3~ by 

d is'lllowinc· eny ... . schar0n to class l\A , Cl'-lss s:. or w~ t. .)r ... 

witt> •~ rainare ~rroe-; of Jpc:s than 10 square- ..,i ler.: , rl3 ·•eJ l :~.-.­

done~t tc wastewater dlsch~ ~as t o tri butariP~ r·f ~P~ w~trrs . 

We i nt r P r9t t h is as n:·rtui ri no rn-,o·--11 of eYist j n11 :-'i.<:>cb,,rrr>r'· 

(if any) to thPBo waters. Is this really what t~0 st,tc 

int~ncls to do? 

3. Approval of any re~ulation~ inconeistPnt with EPA qui~~nc0 

should be wit 1 ~ld until Ruch tt~P ~~ the St~tn t.?~P~ thi~ 

actior. 

4 . rPA allows se~~onal usos to be assirned. U0 te~l hat ~he 

Re,..,i on 's r0C'O.,.... ,... rnc~ ation hi's ""Orit bv nro,ririnr n rc+-•-.t:"tion l-or· 

incirl ntal hul"'an ov"1osurC> <ln1 l 0ivinq t ht:> Statt" <1. st.l'C>Mw•r 

basis for rqquirino more strinrent con trol R. The Stat~ ~a~ 

also wish to a0nsider a l~As strinnr>nt b~cLeri~J critPri~ trr 

other T"lOnths of t he year <.1~~; oth(~r st.ates !1."\vo dc•n(~. f10W•' VE'Y , 

the State is no~ roguireod t.o 1l10c'lify thj s .... ol i\'\ to rrn<' t f-.P.~ 

r "ou i r r·-e n t s. 

5. This r>?cv indf'>('lrt '>t-> a i"'a ttcr cf c::r"antico:;. f<0\..'ever, ·,·J0 fr:el 

that "1~int?' c:; wor~i r.11 l..e~r'l"' one to cnncltv•c th~t: t .. lt•vc: t~ ' 

bactPri a counts are aac:;ur~rl to be of on hu~~n ori~iDs ~n!0 ~~ 

con~irr1oc'l to r.ho contrary . PP<1 ion's "" i r i --~ .liC"s ttJ{It 

~lev-'\tori countc::. eP"f" assu""1t"<'l 1':0 bA of hu-~n ori<:.d.n llr.)P<=;!=> c-onfirnNi to tht) contr;:ory . t'f'l think t h'lt t' ( .~t. tr~r nQnro,1rl, ·i~; 

hPtt ~r , Rf.f:orc!s or~ .. nrotf'ct.ion to the nuhlic , ~-~nr1 cd.vr";:; t'A 

st..nte a ~t ron qe-r :->As is for reoui d nq l""0r.e st.rin\t:nt cont rnl.s 

whcrf"l n(>C(\SSflry. 

7. E'tnt-~-'~ an .. rPQtd r~d to DrOt~"'C" t esPs. If r;.;l .,e/1 .~.is~<olvP.'"' 

oYY0~n is nsuc~icic~t orotnr ~i n for ~ rl"~ s : c~ldw~t~r 

fisrE>ry, Ma'<in(> l(lU<:>t f'es i rna t .,. nrotec+-.iv"' rrir(! L:~. A r,upr.ricnl <.:riteri.a i s fer;~nl . Tl-;c St: .3te ~h("\uJ.~·: ~~f·r: t.o t!ll! 

--r-~ "~Pl\ Cri teriD rlOCtlMPnt. 'f.0r d i r.so 1 vnd oxyr~,.,~ ( N~ lo·· .... c'l) . 
B. Aaain, criteria sufficiPnt t0 rotP~t uspq arn rq~ui~eri. The 

State roroved th~ P.PA o~~eno0d criteria for shellfish 

protection in Class SA and SB weters and i~dic ates th~t nrotPc- tion is affor~ed at least under SPctioM 3c and Section 4 , 

Class sq. T~ o PPqion should assurP t h a t the SPctions of 38 

MFRA cit ~d do, in fact, pr ovidP ad~quate protoctinn for hot~ 

Class SA and SB s hellfishinq waters consisten~ wit~ EPA 

crit ria. 

q. If th(' chromiuM criterion is less strinn('\nt than tho l;:PJ\ 

recorrended value, appr o va l of t~P criterion ~houl.! be withheld until the State ha~ r PviPwerl thoi ~ rPnul~ tions and 

adopte-r.! an C~d~auat~ criterion f or. chrorrtium. 

10. Headouarters o~~Pn t in 3 a bove a ppliAs herein. The StatP 

should be r eferred to add i tional qui~anc< on variancPs contained in th<' l'"lOf"''orandutn of P~a rch 15 , 1985, frr~ J:~d\odn Jot•nson 

t~ th~ ~ater Division Directo-s. 

11. He concur with the Req ion's corr,.·., nts on nixinG zon~s. ~·ainf? 'c;; 

statcnont that " ••• facto rs in thr CPA ~ater Qu~lity St~ndar~n 

Handbook- Chanter 2" will be considorPd in raKinq Mixinq z0nP 

decisions is insufficient. The StatE'> rmst dPVE"lo·• ll mix i nq 

zone policy consistent with 8PA qu id li ~Pg inclu~in0 th~ Stztc's ~~thodoloay f or ccte~inin9 the ch ar cte ristic~ ot rix n~ zonor. 

as wel l as the in- zone water oualitv.