### UNITED STATES 

### ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION**A~ENCY** REaiON I



### April 11, 2016

Paul Mercer, Commissioner 5 POST OFFICE SQUAR E SUITE :Z.OO t30STON, MASSACHUSETTS 02.:Z.Oq-3q:z.2



### Maine Department of Environmental Protection 17 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0017 Re: Withdrawal of Disapprovals, and Issuance of Approvals , of Maine ' s Human Health Criteria for Multiple Pollutants Dear Commissioner Mercer: On February 2, 2015, EPA disapproved Maine's new or revised human health criteria (HHC), set forth in DEP Rule Chapter 584, as they relate to waters in Indian lands in Maine. The disapprovals were based on EPA's conclusion that the HHC do not protect the sustenance fishing use in those waters because Maine ' s 32.4 g/day fish consumption rate (FCR) is not representative of an unsuppressed sustenance fish consumption rate by the tribes , who are the target general population in waters in Indian lands. In June 2015 , EPA updated its Clean Water Act 

### § 304(a) recommended criteria for human health for 94 pollutants (the 2015 criteria update).' For eighteen of those pollutants, calculating the HHC using the latest science reflected in the 2015 criteria update along with a FCR of 286 g/day, which EPA believes represents an unsuppressed sustenance fish consumption rate for the tribes in Maine , results in HHC that are the same or less stringent than Maine's corresponding HHC that EPA disapproved for the consumption of water plus organisms and/ or for the consumption of organism s alone , as shown in Table 1. Consequently , EPA ha s now concluded (1) that Maine ' s HHC for the consumption of water plus organisms for 1 , 2

- dichloropropane , 1

,4-dichloroben z ene , dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane, chrys ene , methylene chloride, nitrosopyrrolidine, chlorophenoxy herbicide (2, 4, 5

- TP), and chlorophenoxy herbicide (2,4-D) are stringent enough to protect the sustenance fishing use; (2) that Maine ' s HHC for the consumption of organisms alone for acrolein and gamma- BHC (lindane) are stringent enough to protect the sustenance fishing use; and (3) that Maine's HHC for the consumption of water plus organisms as well as Maine's HHC for the consumption of organisms alone for 1,2-dichloroethane, acrylonitrile , benzidine, bis( chloromethyl) ether,

1 Final Updated Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health , ( 80 FR 36 9 86, June 2 9, 2 015). See also: US E PA. 2015. Final2015 Updated National Recommended Human Health Crit eria. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ,Office of Water, Was hington, DC. http: //water.epa.gov /scitech/swguidance/standards/criterialcurrent/hhfinal.cfm.chloroform, methyl bromide, and tetrachloroethylene are stringent enough to protect the sustenance fishing use. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 303(c)(3) ofthe CWA and 40 C.F.R. part 1 31, for waters in Indian lands, I hereby withdraw the disapprovals of, and approve, Maine's HHC as follows: 1) for the consumption of water plus organisms 2 for 1 , 2

- dichloropropane, 1,4- dichlorobenzene, dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane, chrysene, methy lene chloride, nitrosopyrrolidine , chlorophenoxy herbicide (2 , 4 , 5- TP) , and chlorophenoxy herbicide (2,4-D); 2) for the consumption of organisms alone3 for acrolein and garnma-BHC (lindane); and 3) for both the consumption of water plus organisms and the consumption of organisms alone for 1,2

- dichloroethane, acrylonitrile, benzidine, bis( chloromethyl) ether, chloroform, methyl bromide, and tetrachloroethylene. As explained above, EPA is taking these actions because the identified HHC are protective of the sustenance fishing use in the waters in Indian lands. Please contact Jeanne Voorhees in the Office of Ecosystem Protection at 617

- 918

- 1686 if you have any questions. 

# J;?:&

# j)

H. Curtis Spalding Regional Administrator

cc: Brian Kavanah, MEDEP Jennifer Brundage , EPA SHPD Christina Christensen, EPA SHPD Jeanne Voorhees , EPA Region 1 Jennie Bridge, EPA Region 1

2 Note that for I , 2-dichloropropane , 1,4-dichlorobenzene , dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane , chrysene, methylene chloride, and nitrosopyrrolidine, EPA is not withdrawing its disapproval ofthe criteria to protect consumption of organisms only. 3 Note that for these pollutants , E PA is not withdrawing its di s approval ofthe criteria to protect consumption of water and organisms. 2Table l
- Summary of Approved Human Health Criteria Water+ Organisms Criteria Organisms Only Criteria Pollutant CAS Nu mb er

_ (Jtg!L}**(J.l~/L)** Approved EPA Approved EPA Calcul ated Maine Cal culated Maine Criteria Criteria* Criteria C rit eria* I ,2-d ic hloro pr opane 7 88 75 0.5 0.66 I , 4-dichlorobenzene 106467 50 6 0 d ic h lor ob romo methane 75274 0 .53 0.66 c hl o rodibromo methane 124481 0.40 0.54 c h rysene 2180 19 0.003 0.0098 met hyl e ne c hl o ride 75092 4.6 10 n itroso pyrr o l idin e 930552 0.016 0 .01 6 chlorophenoxy herbicide (2, 4, 5-TP) 93 72 1 10 3 0 chlorophenoxy herbic ide (2,4-D) 94 757 100 550
ac role in 

# I 107028 

# I I 

# ! 5.0 

# I 30 gamma-BHC ( lindane ) 58899 0

. 1 0.33 I ,2-di c hl oroethane 107062 0.38 8.4 19.8 48 acrylonitrile 1 0 7131 0.04 0.055 0.13 0.52 benz idi ne 928 7 5 0.00006 0.0001 2 0.0001 0.00078 bi s(c hl oromethy 1) ether 542881 0.000079 0

. 000 14 0.00016 0 .00 13 ch loroform 6 7 663 5.4 50 94 20 0 met hy l bromide 74839 46 100 800 900 tetrac hl o roethy len e 127184 0 .59 1.9 1.77 2.1 *EPA Calcula ted Criteria were derived using EPA's Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Cri ter ia

for the Protection of Human Health (2000) (EPA-822-B-00-004) and EPA's 20 15 Human Heal th C riteria recommended inputs for these poll utan ts (see EPA ·s Fact Sheet (E PA 820

- F- 15-00 I) and June 2015 in put summary table at http: //www.epa.gov / s iteslp roduction/files/20 15- 1 0/docume ntsl chemical-soe cific-i nputs -for-the-20 15

- final-updatcd-humanhealth-ambient-wate r-g ualitv

- criteria-junc-20 15 .pdf ), except for the fis h consumption rate (FC R ). The FC R used was 286 g/day, of wh ic h 36% was assumed to be consumed fro m trophic level 2, 40% from trophic l evel 3 and 24% fr om troph ic l eve l 4, consistent with the relative apportionment of fish co nsumed in EPA's 20 15 recommendations.