UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 1 0

Maia Bellon , Director Department of Ecology P.O. Box 47600 Ol ympia , Washington 98504-7600
Dear Director Bellon : 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900 Seattle, WA 98101

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## APR 0 8 

## 2014 O FF I CE OF THE REGIONAL ADM I NISTRATOR

I am writing in regard s to your February 14 , 2014 letter to Michael Grayum, Executive Director of the Northwest Indian Fi sherie s Commission and more recent conversations we have had with yo u and your s taff. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was s trongly encouraged by the Dep artmen t of Ecology's timeline to adopt human health criteria with a draft rule by the end ofMarch 2014 and a final rule s ubmitted to the EPA b y December 31 , 2014. Although the EPA was disappointed to hear that Ecology will no longer be able to m eet the commitment to i ssue a draft rule in March , we understand that E c ology remains committe d to adopting a final rule b y the end of2014.
The EPA supports Ecology's use of the scientifically sound regional and local fish consumption data available in Wa shington as it develop s it s human hea lth criteria. As I have previously stated, the best availabl e science include s ev id ence offish consumption rates well above 6.5 grams per day among high fish consumers in Washington , which raises conc ern s that the human health criteria cmTently in effect for Clean Water Act purpo ses in Wa s hington are not sufficiently protective. In addition , as we hav e al so di s cu sse d , another important e lement of a final rule i s choosing a cancer risk level that provides risk protec tion for all Wa shin g ton citizens, including communities that eat higher amounts offish. The EPA remain s committed to supporting Eco logy as it moves forward with a rulemaking based on sou nd s cientific data. This will h e lp facilitate th e EPA's review of Ecology's new or r ev i se d water qu ality standards, which require s EPA to ensure that cr iter ia are pro tec ti ve of applicable de s ignated us es a nd ba se d on a sound sc ientifi c ration a le , consistent with 40 CFR 

### § 131.11(a).
If Ecology does not follow tlu·ough with its s tate d tim eframe for final rule adoption , the EPA int end s to take th e steps nece ssa r y to allow for a propo sa l of federally re vised human health criteria for Washington , v i a amendment of the Nat ional Toxics Rule human he alth criteria for Washington , by May 31 , 20 15. For the sake of clarity, I note that thi s letter d oes not co n s titute , and is not intended as, a n Administrator determination und er CWA § 303(c)(4)(B).The EP A i s ver y app re c iati ve of th e c h a ll engin g work that Eco logy has und ertaken thu s far to adopt human he a lth water quality ctiteria. I look forward to co ntinuing our partnership to suppo ti state adopt io n of hum an health criteria to bett er ensure health protection for all Washington c itizens. If you wou ld lik e to di scu ss t h ese topic s further, p l ease co ntact me directl y or Dan Op al ski , our Direc tor for th e Office of Water and Watershed s, at (206) 553-1855.

cc: Michael Grayum , Executi ve Dire cto r Northwe s t Indi an Fi sherie s Co mmi ss ion
Brian C l adoosby, Ttibal C h ainnan Swinomi s h Tribe S inc erely ,

D ennis J. McLen an Regional Admin i strato r 

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