44712 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 

Section 1506.3(c) of the CEQ 

regulations. 

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301–415–6954. 

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213–330–6030. 

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(USACE) has adopted the Federal 

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for Mountain Home Air Force Base, 

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09/2021; Extending the Comment Period 

from 08/23/2021 to 09/22/2021. 

Dated: August 9, 2021. 

Cindy S. Barger, 

Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office 

of Federal Activities. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17325 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2019–0675; FRL 5880–03– 

OW] 

Ambient Water Quality Criteria To 

Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes 

and Reservoirs 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing the release 

of Ambient Water Quality Criteria to 

Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes and 

Reservoirs. These national 

recommended criteria are models for 

total nitrogen and total phosphorus 

concentrations in lakes and reservoirs to 

protect three different designated uses— 

aquatic life, recreation, and drinking 

water source protection—from the 

adverse effects of nutrient pollution. 

Nutrient pollution can degrade the 

conditions of water bodies worldwide, 

and the effects of excess nitrogen and 

phosphorus may be particularly evident 

in lakes and reservoirs. These 

recommended criteria are based on 

stressor-response models, which link 

nutrient pollution stressors (nitrogen, 

phosphorus) to responses associated 

with protection of designated uses. 

Models and associated criteria provided 

in this document are based on national 

data. States and authorized tribes can 

also incorporate local data, when 

available, into the national models, 

helping states and authorized tribes to 

derive numeric nutrient criteria that 

apply relationships estimated from 

national data while accounting for 

unique local conditions. These 

recommended criteria replace numeric 

nutrient criteria recommended by EPA 

in 2000 and 2001 for lakes and 

reservoirs for 12 out of 14 ecoregions of 

the conterminous United States. This 

document was released for 60-day 

public comment in the Federal Register 

on May 22, 2020. The comment period 

was extended 30 days, for a total 

comment period of 90 days. EPA has 

considered the comments, made minor 

revisions to the draft document in 

response, and published this final 

document to provide recommendations 

for states and authorized tribes 

interested in establishing water quality 

standards under the Clean Water Act 

(CWA) to protect the designated uses of 

their lakes and reservoirs from nutrient 

pollution. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–HQ–OW–2019–0675. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the https://www.regulations.gov 

website. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g. confidential business 

information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, is not placed on 

the internet and will be publicly 

available only in hard copy form. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available electronically through https:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lester Yuan, Health and Ecological 

Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail 

Code 4304T), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 566–0908; email address: 

yuan.lester@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. What is nutrient pollution, and why 

is EPA concerned about it? 

Nutrient pollution, or the excess 

loading of nitrogen and phosphorus, can 

degrade the conditions of water bodies 

and potentially make them unsafe for 

aquatic life, recreation, or to use as 

drinking water sources. Nutrient 

pollution stimulates excess growth of 

algae, which can limit the recreational 

use of lakes and reservoirs. 

Overabundant algae also increase the 

amount of organic matter in a lake or 

reservoir, which, when decomposed, 

can depress dissolved oxygen 

concentrations below levels needed to 

sustain aquatic life. In extreme cases, 

the depletion of dissolved oxygen 

causes fish kills. Nutrient pollution can 

also stimulate the excess growth of 

nuisance algae, such as cyanobacteria, 

which can produce cyanotoxins that are 

toxic to animals and humans. Elevated 

concentrations of these cyanotoxins can 

reduce the suitability of a lake or 

reservoir for recreation and as a source 

of drinking water. 

II. Information on Recommended 

Ambient Water Quality Criteria for 

Lakes and Reservoirs 

These recommended ambient water 

quality criteria for lakes and reservoirs 

are part of EPA’s ongoing efforts to 

support states and authorized tribes in 

developing and adopting numeric 

nutrient criteria. Numeric nutrient 

criteria provide an important tool for 

managing the effects of nutrient 

pollution by providing nutrient goals 

that support the protection and 

maintenance of the designated uses of 

the waters of the United States. 

Recognizing the utility of such criteria, 

EPA published recommended numeric 

nutrient criteria for lakes and reservoirs 

for 12 out of 14 ecoregions of the 

conterminous United States from 2000 

to 2001. These criteria were derived by 

analyzing available data on the 

concentrations of total nitrogen, total 

phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and Secchi 

depth. Scientific understanding of the 

relationships between nutrient 

concentrations and deleterious effects in 

lakes and reservoirs has increased since 

2001, and standardized, high-quality 

data collected from lakes and reservoirs 

across the United States have become 

available. In this document, EPA 

describes analyses of these new data 

and provides models to derive numeric 

nutrient criteria for lakes and reservoirs 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Notices 44713 

that replace the recommended numeric 

nutrient criteria of 2000 and 2001. 

These models and associated criteria are 

provided in accordance with the 

provisions of CWA Section 304(a) for 

EPA to revise national recommended 

ambient water quality criteria from time 

to time to reflect the latest scientific 

knowledge. The ecological responses on 

which these models and criteria are 

based were selected by applying a risk 

assessment approach to explicitly link 

nutrient concentrations to the protection 

of designated uses. 

The recommended ambient water 

quality criteria for lakes and reservoirs 

are based on the available data from 

EPA’s National Lakes Assessment (NLA) 

survey. The NLA surveys are carried out 

under EPA’s National Aquatic Resource 

Survey program, which conducts water 

quality and biological surveys of the 

nation’s surface waters in partnerships 

with state and authorized tribal water 

quality monitoring programs (https://

www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resourcesurveys). The NLA surveys were 

designed using random sampling of 

lakes and reservoirs across the United 

States, and as a result, the collected data 

represent the characteristics of the full 

population of United States lakes and 

reservoirs. The NLA surveys were 

implemented using standardized field 

sampling and analytical methods, with 

internal oversight and independent 

quality control surveillance yielding 

data of high quality and statistical rigor. 

The stressor-response models used in 

generating the recommended ambient 

water quality criteria are based on 

previously published EPA technical 

guidance (U.S. EPA 2010, Using 

stressor-response relationships to derive 

numeric nutrient criteria, Office of 

Water, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Washington, DC, EPA–820–S– 

10–001), as well as scientific peerreviewed statistical and modeling 

techniques. Models provided in the 

recommended criteria document are 

based on national data, but states and 

authorized tribes may have additional 

data collected during routine 

monitoring. Incorporating these local 

data into the national models can refine 

and improve the precision of the 

stressor-response relationships on a sitespecific basis. EPA stands ready to assist 

states and authorized tribes to add their 

data into the models through the 

Nutrient Scientific Technical Exchange 

Partnership & Support (N–STEPS) 

program. In the appendices of the 

criteria document, EPA describes case 

studies in which state monitoring data 

have been combined with national data, 

yielding models that can be used to 

derive numeric nutrient criteria that 

account for both unique local conditions 

and national, large-scale trends. 

III. What are CWA Section 304(a) 

recommended water quality criteria? 

CWA Section 304(a) water quality 

criteria are non-binding 

recommendations developed by EPA 

under authority of CWA Section 304(a) 

based on the latest scientific knowledge 

on the effects that pollutant 

concentrations have on aquatic species, 

recreation, and/or human health. 

CWA Section 304(a)(1) directs EPA to 

develop, publish, and, from time to 

time, revise criteria for water quality 

accurately reflecting the latest scientific 

knowledge. Water quality criteria 

developed under CWA Section 304(a) 

are based on data and scientific 

judgments on the relationship between 

pollutant concentrations and 

environmental and human health 

effects. CWA Section 304(a) 

recommended criteria do not reflect 

consideration of economic impacts or 

the technological feasibility of meeting 

pollutant concentrations in ambient 

water. 

CWA Section 304(a) recommended 

criteria provide non-binding guidance to 

states and authorized tribes in adopting 

water quality standards that ultimately 

provide a basis for controlling 

discharges of pollutants. Under the 

CWA and its implementing regulations, 

states and authorized tribes are to adopt 

water quality criteria to protect 

designated uses (e.g., aquatic life, 

recreational use). EPA’s recommended 

water quality criteria are not regulations 

and do not constitute legally binding 

requirements. States and authorized 

tribes may adopt other scientifically 

defensible water quality criteria that 

differ from these recommendations. The 

CWA and its implementing regulations 

require that any new or revised water 

quality standards adopted by the states 

and authorized tribes be scientifically 

defensible and protective of the 

designated uses of the bodies of water. 

States and authorized tribes have the 

flexibility to do this by adopting criteria 

based on (1) EPA’s recommended 

criteria, (2) EPA’s criteria modified to 

reflect site-specific conditions, or (3) 

other scientifically defensible methods. 

IV. Use of the Recommended Ambient 

Water Quality Criteria for Lakes and 

Reservoirs by States and Authorized 

Tribes 

EPA is publishing the recommended 

ambient water quality criteria for lakes 

and reservoirs for consideration by 

states and authorized tribes as they 

adopt numeric nutrient criteria to 

protect aquatic life, recreation, and 

drinking water sources from nutrient 

pollution. States and authorized tribes 

could consider using the 

recommendations as an alternative to or 

as a supplement of other scientifically 

defensible approaches. States and 

authorized tribes may also modify the 

criteria to reflect site-specific conditions 

or establish criteria based on other 

scientifically defensible methods (40 

CFR 131.11(b)). These updated CWA 

Section 304(a) recommended nutrient 

criteria for lakes do not, as a general 

matter, compel a state or authorized 

tribe to revise current EPA approved 

and adopted criteria, Total Maximum 

Daily Load nutrient load targets, or 

nitrogen or phosphorus numeric values 

established by other scientifically 

defensible methods. As part of its 

triennial review, if a state or authorized 

tribe uses its discretion to not adopt 

new or revised nutrient criteria based on 

these CWA Section 304(a) 

recommended criteria, then the state or 

authorized tribe shall provide an 

explanation when it submits the results 

of its triennial review (40 CFR 

131.20(a)). 

V. What changed between the draft and 

final criteria? 

Changes in the final recommended 

criteria document, compared to the May 

2020 draft posted for public comment, 

include technical revisions to the 

models limited to the parameter 

estimates for the zooplankton model, 

which were updated to reflect a slight 

change in how the model calculates 

seasonal mean biomasses of 

phytoplankton and zooplankton. Other 

changes include the addition of an 

appendix that provides an example 

workflow for identifying appropriately 

protective numeric nutrient criteria 

using the interactive tools, as well as 

minor editorial revisions that clarify or 

expand on existing text. 

Radhika Fox, 

Assistant Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17357 Filed 8–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2021–0532; FRL–8836–01– 

OW] 

Notification of Safe Drinking Water Act 

(SDWA) Section 1441 Application 

Submissions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES