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|Nutrients Navigation                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 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        Rulemakings, Withdrawals, and Other Federal Register Notices                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|Fact Sheet
              United States 
                    Environmental ProtectionAgency
                  Office of Water
                    4304
                  EPA-822-F-98-002
                    June 1998National Strategy for the Development of Regional Nutrient
Criteria

AbstractThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is presenting a National strategy which describes the
approach the Agency will follow in developing nutrient information and working with States and
Tribes to adopt nutrient criteria as part of State water quality standards.  The strategy presents
overenrichment assessment tools and recognizes current capabilities for conducting these
assessments at the regional watershed and waterbody levels.  The major focus of this strategy is the
development of waterbody-type technical guidance and region-specific nutrient criteria by the year
2000.  Once waterbody-type guidance and nutrient criteria are established, EPA will assist States and
Tribes in adopting numerical nutrient criteria into water quality standards by the end of 2003.The President's Clean Water Action PlanOn October 18, 1997, Vice President Gore requested the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with all other affected
agencies, to develop a comprehensive Action Plan that builds on the Administration's clean water
successes over the past five years and addresses three major goals: enhanced protection from public
health threats posed by water pollution; more effective control of polluted runoff; and promotion of
water quality protection on a watershed basis. As part of this Action Plan, the Vice President expects
that EPA will identify the major sources of nitrogen and phosphorus in our waters, and identify
actions to address these sources. In particular, the Vice President called upon EPA to accelerate
nutrient water quality criteria development for waters in every geographic region in the country and
to establish a schedule so that EPA and States/Tribes are implementing a criteria system for nitrogen
and phosphorus runoff for lakes, rivers, and estuaries by the year 2000.
On March 24, 1998, the President's Clean Water Action Plan was presented in the Federal Register.
The Clean Water Action Plan builds on the Vice President's initiative and specifically states that
EPA will establish nutrient criteria that reflect the different types of water bodies and different
ecoregions of the country and will assist States and Tribes in adopting numeric water quality
standards based on these criteria.BackgroundThe National Water Quality Inventory: 1996 Report to Congress Executive Summary cites
nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) as one of the leading causes of water quality impairment in our
Nation's rivers, lakes and estuaries. Forty percent of the rivers were impaired due to nutrient
enrichment; fifty-one percent of the surveyed lakes, and fifty-seven percent of the surveyed estuaries
were similarly adversely affected. Nutrients have also been implicated with both the large hypoxic
zone in the Gulf of Mexico, hypoxia observed in several East Coast States, and Pfiesteria-induced fish kills and human health problems in the coastal waters of several East Coast and Gulf
States.
The national response to the nutrient problem has been limited primarily because of concerns over
the scale of the problem, and because of the tremendous variability of nutrient conditions, both
natural and cultural, throughout the nation.Presently, the only national water quality criteria in existence are for nitrate nitrogen and
phosphorus.  In 1976, in EPA's publication entitled Quality Criteria for Water (also known
as the Red Book), EPA presented ambient water quality criteria for nitrates, nitrites and phosphorus.
The criterion for nitrate nitrogen was 10 mg/L for the protection of domestic water supplies. The
nitrate criteria were intended to prevent overenrichment and to protect human and animal health. The
phosphorus criterion was 0.10 ug/L elemental phosphorus for the protection of marine and estuarine
waters. This criterion was based on a conservative estimate to protect against the toxic effects of the
bioconcentration of elemental phosphorus to estuarine and marine organisms, and not on the
potential to cause eutrophication.In order to expand and update EPA guidance in the area of nutrient assessment and control, the
Agency held a National Nutrient Assessment Workshop (see Proceedings of the National Nutrient
Assessment Workshop: December 4-6, 1995, EPA 822-R-96-004). In response to this workgroup
effort to address nutrient assessment and overenrichment, EPA developed a peer reviewed national
nutrient criteria strategy.Key Elements of the National Nutrient StrategyThe major elements of this strategy include:Use of a regional and waterbody-type approach for the development of nutrient water quality
criteria.Development of waterbody-type technical guidance documents (i.e., documents for streams and
rivers; lakes and reservoirs; estuaries and coastal waters; and wetlands) that will serve as "user
manuals" for assessing trophic state and developing region-specific nutrient criteria to control
overenrichment.Establishment of an EPA National Nutrient Team with Regional Nutrient Coordinators to
develop regional databases and to promote State and Tribal involvement.Development by EPA of nutrient water quality criteria guidance in the form of numerical
regional target ranges, which EPA expects States and Tribes to use in implementing State
management programs to reduce overenrichment in surface waters, i.e., through the development of
water quality criteria, standards, NPDES permit limits, and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs).Monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of nutrient management programs as they are
implemented.Affect on State and Regional OfficesEPA believes the development of waterbody-type guidance and regional nutrient criteria can
only be successfully accomplished with the cooperation and contributions of EPA Regional Offices
and State and Tribes, and other expert parties. EPA Regions will be asked to form regional nutrient
teams which draw on the talents and knowledge of States, Tribes, universities and other
interested/concerned parties within each EPA Region. States and Tribes, specifically will be asked to
provide information on nutrient levels in their surface waters to help provide information essential
for identifying reference conditions (minimally impacted waters) and developing regional nutrient
criteria.InformationFor additional information on this National Strategy,  contact Bob Cantilli, Health and
Ecological Criteria Division (4304), 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20460 (telephone: 202-
260-5546).
Or view the Federal Register Notice published on June 15, 1998.
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
|United States 
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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    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