UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASH INGTON , D.C
. 2046 0



## AUG5 

# m Of FICE OF WAT ER 

### Dea r Ho norable Lea ders : I 

### am pl eased to inform y ou th at EPA i s s tarti ng to d evelop a propo sed rulemakin g relating to w ater qu ality s tan dards th at ma y 

### be o f int erest to y ou. Yo u may h e i nteres ted in thi s rul emakin g i f (a) yo ur trib e is o ne of th e 45 trib es 

### th at are eli gible to be 

### tr eated in a m anner s imilar to a state (TAS) for the purpo se o f administering wa ter quality stan dards und er the C lean Wate r Ac t, (b) 

### if yo ur 

### tri be h a s 

### su bmitted an ap plication f or TAS , (c) i f 

### yo ur tribe is dev eloping wate r qu ality stan dards , or ( d) if yo u h ave e ncountered i ssues relating t o st andards o f o ther jurisdictions
. T he rul emakin g w ould pr opose a limited se t o f targe ted c hanges to th e wa ter qu ality s tandards reg ulation to imp rove i ts e ffectiveness 

### in help ing re store and m aintain th e c he mical , ph ysical , a nd bi ological int egrity o f the n ation 's w aters . The se wo uld be primaril y t e chnical c h anges t o th e regulation. T he r egulation , w hich has been in pl ace s ince 1 983, gove rns h ow states an d au thorized tri bes ado pt s tan d ards needed unde r the C lean W ater Ac t to pr otect th e q uality o f th eir ri ver s , stre ams, lak es, an d est uaries
. EPA ex pects to p ublish a pr oposed rul e in th e 

### F ederal Reg ister i n s ummer 20 11. S ince th is ru lemaking m ay affe ct tri bal wa ter q uality stan dards programs un der th e C lean Wa ter Ac t, we be lieve i t is i mportant to co nduct a co nsultation p ro cess wi th tr ibes
. We w ant t o h ave the full be nefit of tr ibal v iews on the c hanges w e are co ntemplating. Th erefore, I co rdially i nvite yo u o r yo ur w ater q ualitv prog ram staff m embers t o parti cipate in th e fo llowing national teleconference: 

### Tribes-only Session : "Water Quality Standards R egulatory Changes" August 1 9, 20 1 0 4 :00

- 5 :30 pm EDT T elecouference phone numher : (888) 689-4723 Conference ID : 90716957 I am encl osing a fac t sheet ab out th e co nsultation
. T he fa ct s heet al so co ntains i ns tru cti o n s fo r participa ting i n th e teleconf eren ce. We ar e no t i nviting s tates , local gove rnment s , o r the gene ral p ublic to the trib al-only session above
. They will hav e o ther opportunities to pr ovide v iews to EPA. Th e f act sh ee t desc ribe s tele conferences t hat w ill be held f or th e publi c o n A ugust 24 an d 2 6, 2 010
. EPA w ill pre s ent th e s ame inf orm ation i n b oth the tribes-only sess ion an d th e pu blic sessio ns. Tribe s m ay al so p articip ate in th e pu blic te leconfere nces as wel l.

Internet Address (URLj • hltpJIwww.epa .gov Recye ledlRecyclable • Printed with Vegetable Oil Based I nks on 1 00% Poslconsumer, Process Chlorir\B Free R ecycled P aper

### If yo u ha ve any que stions, p lease co ntact Evelyn Was hington, Acting D irector of th e S tandards and H ealth Protection D ivi si on in th e O ffice Water, at (202) 566-059 1, o r Fred Le utner , S enior A dviso r f or W ater Qua lity Standard s at (20 2) 566 -0378
. Wann Reg ards,

# 9h~k7 Ephraim S
. Ki ng Di rector Office of Scie nce and Technology
Enclosure