|  | United States Environmental ProtectionAgencyOffice of Water4304 EPA-822-F-98-006Compilation of National Recommended Water Quality Criteria and EPA's Process for Deriving New and Revised Criteria
***Abstract**
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a compilation of waterquality criteria.  The compilation is presented as a summary table containing recommendedwater quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and human health forapproximately 150 pollutants.  These criteria are published pursuant to Section304(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and provide guidance for States and Tribes touse in adopting water quality standards under Section 303(c) of the CWA.  EPA hasalso published changes to its process for deriving new and revised national water quality criteria.
**Background**
Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1314(a)(1), requires the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) to publish and periodically update ambient water quality criteria.  These criteriaare to ". . . accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge . . . on the kind and extent ofall identifiable effects on health and welfare including, but not limited to, plankton, fish,shellfish, wildlife, plant life . . . which may be expected from the presence of pollutants inany body of water . . ."   Water quality criteria developed under section 304(a) are based solelyon data and scientific judgments on the relationship between pollutant concentrations and environmentaland human health effects.  These recommended criteria provide guidance for States and Tribes inadopting water quality standards under section 303(c) of the CWA.
The compilation was published in the Federal Register and can be accessed on the Office of Scienceand Technologies Home-page (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/).   This Federal Register notice also describeschanges in EPA's process for deriving new and revised national water quality criteria as well as theAgency's intentions for periodically updating the compilation in the future.
**Additional Information**
For additional information concerning the compilation or EPA's process for deriving new andrevised criteria, contact Cindy Roberts, Health  and Ecological Criteria Division, (4304), 401M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C., 20460 (telephone: 202-260-2787).  TheFederal Register notice givesadditional information on how to review the complete record for the notice.
OST HOME |EPA HOME |WATER HOME |COMMENTS |SEARCHURL: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/critsum.htmlRevised December 11, 1998* |
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