Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 118 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT › Division 01 - Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission › Rule 118.01.22-002 - Rule 2, Rule Establishing Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters of the State of Arkansas

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
CHAPTER 1:
AUTHORITY, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, AND COVERAGE
Rule 2.101
Authority
Pursuant to the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act,
				(Ark. Code Ann. §
										8-4-101 et seq.), and in
				compliance with the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
				33 U.S.C. §
											1251 et seq., (hereinafter "Clean Water
				Act"), the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (hereinafter
				"Commission") hereby promulgates this rule establishing water quality standards
				for all surface waters, interstate and intrastate, of the State of
				Arkansas.
Rule 2.102
Purpose
The water quality standards herein set forth are based upon
				present, future and potential uses of the surface waters of the State and
				criteria developed from statistical evaluations of past water quality
				conditions and a comprehensive study of least-disturbed, ecoregion reference
				streams. The standards are designed to enhance the quality, value, and
				beneficial uses of the water resources of the State of Arkansas, to aid in the
				prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, to provide for the
				protection and propagation of fish and wildlife and to provide for recreation
				in and on the water. In establishing these standards, the Commission has taken
				into consideration the use and value of the streams for public water supplies,
				commercial, industrial and agricultural uses, aesthetics, recreational
				purposes, propagation of fish and wildlife, other beneficial uses, and views
				expressed at public hearings. The State of Arkansas has an exceptionally large
				volume of high quality water. With few exceptions the streams and lakes of
				Arkansas contain waters of a quality suitable for all legitimate uses without
				the necessity of unreasonable water treatment. Where man-made pollution exists,
				substantial progress has been made in abatement. It is the purpose of these
				rules to preserve and protect the quality of this water so that it shall be
				reasonably available for all beneficial uses and thus promote the social
				welfare and economic well-being of the people of the State. It is further the
				purpose of these rules to designate the uses for which the various waters of
				the State shall be maintained and protected; to prescribe the water quality
				standards required to sustain the designated uses; and to prescribe rules
				necessary for implementing, achieving and maintaining the prescribed water
				quality.
Rule 2.103
Commission Review
The water quality standards herein established will be reviewed
				by the Commission at least once each three-year period beginning as of October
				18, 1972. Revisions may be made to take into account changing technology of
				waste production, treatment and removal, advances in knowledge of water quality
				requirements, and other relevant factors.
Rule 2.104
Policy for Compliance
It shall be the policy of the Arkansas Department of Energy and
				Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (hereinafter "Division") to
				provide, on a case-by-case basis, a reasonable time for an existing permittee
				to comply with new or revised water quality based effluent limits.
				Consequently, compliance schedules may be included in National Pollutant
				Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits at the time of renewal or permit
				modification initiated by the Division to require compliance with new water
				quality standards. Compliance must occur at the earliest practicable time, in
				accordance with
				40 C.F.R. §
											122.47.
Rule 2.105
Environmental Improvement
			 Projects
The Commission may, after consideration of information provided
				pursuant to Appendix B and Ark. Code Ann. §
										8-5-901
				et seq., grant temporary modifications to the General and Specific Standards or
				establish a subcategory(ies) of use(s) for completion of long-term
				Environmental Improvement Projects.
Rule
			 2.106
Definitions
304(a) Guidance
: Refers
				to Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act,
				33 U.S.C. §
											1314(a), which requires the
				United States Environmental Protection Agency to publish and periodically
				update ambient water quality criteria which will be protective of human health
				and the environment.
Abatement
: The reduction
				in degree or intensity of pollution.
Acute toxicity
: A
				statistically significant difference (at the 95 percent confidence level) in
				mortality or immobilization between test organisms and a control measured
				during a specified period of time which is normally less than 96 hours.
Algae
: Simple plants
(
without roots, stems, or leaves
)
that contain chlorophyll and are capable of
				photosynthesis.
Aquatic biota
: All those
				life forms which inhabit the aquatic environment.
Aquatic life
:
The
				designated use of a waterbody determined by the fish community and other
				associated aquatic biota.
Base flows
:
That portion
				of the stream discharge that is derived from natural storage (i.e., outflow
				from groundwater or swamps), or sources other than recent rainfall that creates
				surface runoff. Also called sustaining, normal, dry weather, ordinary, or
				groundwater flow.
Bioaccumulation:
The
				process by which a compound is taken up by an aquatic organism, both from water
				and through food.
Chronic toxicity
: A
				statistically significant difference (at the 95 percent confidence level) in
				mortality or immobilization, reduced reproduction or limited growth between
				test organisms and a control measured during a substantial segment of the life
				span of the test organism.
Commission
: The Arkansas
				Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.
Conventional pollutants:
Pursuant to section 304(a)(4) of the Clean Water Act,
				33 U.S.C. §
											1314(a)(4), includes
				biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (nonfilterable) (TSS),
				pH, fecal coliform, and oil and grease.
Criterion continuous concentration
				(CCC)
:
An estimate of the highest concentration of a
				material in ambient water to which an aquatic community can be
exposed
				indefinitely
without resulting in an unacceptable adverse effect. This
				is the chronic criterion.
Criterion maximum concentration
				(CMC)
:
An estimate of the highest concentration of a
				material in ambient water to which an aquatic community can be
exposed
				briefly
without resulting in an unacceptable adverse effect. This is
				the acute criterion.
Critical flows
: The flow
				volume used as background dilution flows in calculating concentrations of
				pollutants from permitted discharges. These flows may be adjusted for mixing
				zones. The following critical flows are applicable:
For a seasonal aquatic life - 1 cubic foot per second minus the
				design flow of any point source discharge (may not be less than zero);
For human health - harmonic mean flow or long term average
				flow;
For minerals - harmonic mean flow, except as follows:
* Rule 2.511(A) Site Specific Mineral
			 Criteria listed with an asterisk- 4 cubic feet per second.
*
			 Rule 2.511(C) Domestic Water Supply: Q7-10; and
For metals and conventional pollutants - Q7-10.
Critical season
: That
				period of the year when water temperatures exceed 22°C. This is normally
				the hot, dry season and after the majority of the fish spawning activities have
				ceased. This season occurs during a different time frame in different parts of
				the state, but normally exists from about mid-May to mid-September.
Cumulative
: Increasing by
				successive additions.
Degradation
: The act or
				process of causing any decrease in quality.
Design flow
: A facility
				discharge flow of process wastewater that is authorized in a NPDES
				permit.
Designated uses
: Those
				uses specified in the water quality standards for each waterbody or stream
				segment whether or not they are being attained.
Discharge
: A discrete
				point source of waste or wastewater entering into waters of the State.
Dissolved oxygen (DO)
: A
				measure of the concentration of oxygen in solution in a liquid.
Division:
The Arkansas
				Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality or its
				successor.
Ecoregion
: A large area
				of landscape with relatively homogenous physical, chemical and biological
				characteristics.
Effluent:
Water that is
				not reused after flowing out of any wastewater treatment facility or other
				works used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing, or holding wastes.
Escherichia
				coli
:
A rod shaped gram negative bacillus (0.5 -
				3-5 microns) abundant in the large intestines of mammals.
Endemic
: Native to and
				confined to a specific region.
Existing uses
: Those uses
				listed in Section 303(c)(2) of the Clean Water Act,
				33 U.S.C. §
											1313(c)(2) (i.e., public
				water supplies, propagation of fish and wildlife, recreational uses,
				agricultural and industrial water supplies, and navigation), which were
				actually attained in the waterbody on or after November 28, 1975, whether or
				not they are included in the water quality standards.
Fecal coliform bacteria
:
				Gram-negative nonspore-forming rods that ferment lactose in 24 ± 2 hours
				at 44.5 ± 0.2°C with the production of gas in a multiple-tube
				procedure or produce acidity with blue colonies in a membrane filter procedure.
				For the purpose of this rule, the genus
Klebsiella
is not
				included in this definition.
Fishable/swimmable
:
				Refers to one of the national goals stated in Section 101(a)(2) of the Clean
				Water Act,
				33 U.S.C. §
											1251(a)(2),"...provides for
				the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife and provides for
				recreation in and on the water."
Groundwater:
Water below
				the land surface in a zone of saturation.
Hardness
: A measure of
				the sum of multivalent metallic cations expressed as calcium carbonate
				(CaCO3).
Harmonic mean flow
: The
				reciprocal of the mean of the reciprocals of daily flow measurements.
Headwater
: The upper
				watershed area where streams generally begin; typically consists of 1st-and
				2nd-order streams.
Heavy metals
: A general
				name given to the ions of metallic elements heavier than iron, such as cadmium,
				lead, mercury, copper, zinc and chromium.
Human health criteria
:
				Levels of toxicants in ambient water which will not manifest adverse health
				effects in humans.
Hypolimnion
: That portion
				of a thermally stratified lake or reservoir below the zone in which the rate of
				temperature change is greatest. An area of minimal circulation and
				mixing.
Impairment
: Exceedances
				of the water quality standards by a frequency and/or magnitude which results in
				any designated use of a waterbody to fail to be met as a result of physical,
				chemical or biological conditions.
Indicator species
:
				Species of fish which may not be dominant within a species group and may not be
				limited to one area of the state, but which, because of their presence, are
				readily associated with a specific ecoregion. All indicator species need not be
				present to establish a normal or representative fishery.
Indigenous
: Produced,
				growing or living naturally in a particular region or environment.
Interstate
: Of,
				connecting, or existing between two or more states.
Intrastate
: Existing or
				occurring within a state.
Ionizing radiation
: Gamma
				rays and x-rays; alpha and beta particles, high speed electrons, neutrons,
				protons and other nuclear particles; but not sound or radio waves, or visible,
				infrared or ultraviolet light.
Key species
: Fishes which
				are normally the dominant species (except for some ubiquitous species) within
				the important groups such as fish families or trophic feeding levels. All
				specified key species need not be present to establish a normal or
				representative fishery.
Long term average flow
:
				An average annual stream flow based on a period of record which reflects the
				typical annual variability.
Milligrams per liter
				(mg/L)
: The concentration at which one milligram is
				contained in a volume of one liter; one milligram per liter is equivalent to
				one part per million (ppm) at unit density.
Mixing zone
: An area
				where an effluent discharge undergoes mixing with the receiving waterbody. For
				toxic discharges a zone of initial dilution may be allowed within the mixing
				zone.
Mouth
: The point of
				confluence where a stream enters a larger body of water.
Natural background
:
				Ambient conditions or concentrations of a parameter due to non-anthropogenic
				sources; natural background does not typically interfere with support of
				designated uses nor the level of aquatic biota expected to occur naturally at
				the site.
Naturally occurring
				excursions
: Temporary deviation from natural background due
				to natural events such as severe storm events, drought, temperature extremes,
				etc.
Nephelometric turbidity unit
				(NTU):
A measure of turbidity based upon a comparison of
				the intensity of light scattered by a sample of water under defined conditions
				with the intensity of light scattered by a standard reference suspension; NTU
				are considered comparable to the previously reported Jackson Turbidity Units
				(JTU). May also be reported as Formazin Turbidity Units (FTU) in equivalent
				units.
Nonpoint source:
A
				contributing factor to water pollution that is not confined to an
				end-of-the-pipe discharge, i.e., stormwater runoff not regulated under Clean
				Water Act § 402(p)(1),
				33 U.S.C. §
											1342(p), agricultural or
				silvicultural runoff, irrigation return flows, etc.
Nuisance species
: Those
				organisms capable of interfering with the beneficial use of water.
Nutrient
: Any substance
				assimilated by an organism which promotes growth and replacement of cellular
				constituents. The usual nutrient components of water pollution are nitrogen,
				phosphorus and carbon.
Objectionable algal
				densities
: Numbers of total algae which would interfere
				with a beneficial use.
Persistent
: Degraded only
				slowly by the environment.
pH
: The negative
				logarithm of the effective hydrogen-ion concentration in gram equivalents per
				liter.
Picocurie
: One trillionth
				(10 
				-13) of a curie which is a unit of
				quantity of any radioactive nuclide in which 3.7 X
				1010 disintegrations occur per second.
Point source
: A discharge
				from a discrete point.
Primary season
: That
				period of the year when water temperatures are 22°C or below. This includes
				the major part of the year from fall through spring, including the spawning
				season of most fishes. It normally occurs from about mid-September to
				mid-May.
Q7-10:
A flow volume
				equal to or less than the lowest mean discharge during 7 consecutive days of a
				year which, on the average, occurs once every 10 years.
Regulated-flow stream
:
				Those streams restricted by structures which have the ability to control stream
				flow.
Seasonal aquatic life
:
				The designated aquatic life use that occurs in some waterbodies only during the
				period when stream flows increase substantially and water temperatures are
				cooler. This is normally during the months of December through May.
State of Arkansas Continuing Planning
				Process:
A document setting forth the principal procedures
				of the State's water quality management programs, developed pursuant to Section
				303(e) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C.
§
1313(e), and
				40 C.F.R. §
											130.5. The CPP is not a rule.
Storm flows
:
Takes into
				account all flows and data collected throughout the year, including elevated
				flows due to rainfall events.
Surface water
: That water
				contained on the exterior or upper portion of the earth's surface as opposed to
				groundwater.
Synergism
:
Cooperative
				action of discrete agents such that the total effect is greater than the sum of
				the effects taken independently.
Total dissolved solids
				(TDS)
: The total soluble organic and inorganic material
				contained in water; includes those materials, both liquid and solid, in
				solution and otherwise, which pass through a standard glass fiber filter disk
				and are not volatilized during drying at 180°C.
Trout fishery
: Water that
				is suitable for the growth and survival of trout, usually characterized as high
				quality water having a maximum summer temperature of 68°F or less.
Use attainability
				analysis
: A structured scientific assessment of the factors
				affecting the attainment of the fishable/swimmable use which may include
				physical, chemical, biological and economic factors.
Waterbodies, waterways,
				waters
: In this document, refers to surface waters of the
				State as described in Act 472.
Water effects ratio
				(WER)
: A specific pollutant's acute or chronic value
				measured from a specific site ambient water, divided by the respective acute or
				chronic toxicity of the same pollutant in laboratory water.
Zone of initial dilution
				(ZID)
: An area within the mixing zone where a toxic
				effluent discharge initiates mixing in the receiving waterbody. This is an area
				where acute water quality criteria may be exceeded, but acute toxicity may not
				occur.