Alabama Administrative Code › Title 335 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT › WATER DIVISION - WATER QUALITY PROGRAM › Chapter 335-6-10 - WATER QUALITY CRITERIA › Section 335-6-10-.07 - Toxic Pollutant Criteria Applicable To State Waters

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
				has listed the chemical constituents given in Table 1 as toxic pollutants
				pursuant to Section 307(a) (1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
				(FWPCA). Concentrations of these toxic pollutants in State waters shall not
				exceed the criteria indicated in Table 1 to the extent commensurate with the
				designated usage of such waters.
(a) The
				freshwater and marine aquatic life criteria for certain pollutants are
				dependent on hardness or pH. For these pollutants, the criteria are given by
				the following equations. In the hardness-dependent equations for metals, a
				conversion factor converts the total recoverable value to a criterion expressed
				as the dissolved fraction in the water column. All numeric values listed for
				metals in Table 1 at the end of this chapter are expressed as dissolved metals
				unless otherwise noted.
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(b)
				The marine aquatic life criteria apply only to coastal waters of the Escatawpa
				River Basin, coastal waters of the Mobile River - Mobile Bay Basin and coastal
				waters of the Perdido River Basin, as identified in Rule
				335-6-11-.02 of the Department's
				regulations. The acute aquatic life criteria apply to all waters of the State.
				The chronic aquatic life criteria apply only to waters classified Outstanding
				Alabama Water, Public Water Supply, Swimming and Other Whole Body Water-Contact
				Sports, Shellfish Harvesting, Fish and Wildlife, and Limited Warmwater Fishery,
				as identified in Rule
				335-6-11-.02 of the Department's
				regulations.
(c) For the purpose of
				establishing effluent limitations pursuant to Chapter 335-6-6 of the
				Department's regulations, the minimum 7-day low flow that occurs once in 10
				years (7Qio) shall be the basis for applying the chronic aquatic life criteria,
				except as noted in Rule
				335-6-10-.09(6),
				and the minimum 1-day low flow that occurs once in 10 years (lQio) shall be the
				basis for applying the acute aquatic life criteria, except as noted in Rule
				335-6-10-.09(7)(c)(5).
				Where a permit specifies a minimum flow greater than
lQio,
the
				specified minimum flow may be used as the basis for applying the acute and
				chronic aquatic life criteria for that permit.
(d) Except as noted in Table 1, two human
				health criteria are provided for each pollutant--a criterion for consumption of
				water and fish, and a criterion for consumption of fish only. For certain
				pollutants, the human health criterion for consumption of water and fish may
				represent a maximum contaminant level (MCL) developed under the Safe Drinking
				Water Act.
1. For pollutants classified by the
				U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as non-carcinogens, the criteria shall be
				given by the following equations, except where numeric values are given in
				Table 1.
(i) Consumption of water and fish:
				cone, (mg/1) = (HBW x RfD x RSC)/[(FCR x BCF) + WCR] (Eq. 16)
(ii) Consumption of fish only: cone, (mg/1) =
				(HBW x RfD x RSC)/(FCR x BCF) (Eq. 17) where (in Equations 16 and 17) :
HBW = human body weight, set at 70 kg RfD = reference dose,
				  in mg/(kg-day)
RSC = relative source contribution
FCR = fish consumption rate, set at 0.030 kg/day
BCF = bioconcentration factor, in 1/kg
WCR = water consumption rate, set at 2 1/day
(iii) The values used for the
				reference dose (RfD) shall be values available through the U.S. Environmental
				Protection Agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), and values used
				for the bioconcentration factor (BCF) and relative source cotribution (RSC)
				shall be values contained in ambient water quality criteria documents published
				by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, except where other values are
				established pursuant to subparagraph (1)(g). The RfD, RSC, and BCF values for
				specific pollutants are provided in Appendix A.
2. For pollutants classified by the U.S.
				Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, the criteria shall be given by
				the following equations, except where numeric values are given in Table 1.
(i) Consumption of water and fish: cone,
				(mg/1) = (HBW x RL)/(CPF x [(FCR x BCF) + WCR]) (Eq. 18)
(ii) Consumption of fish only: cone, (mg/1) =
				(HBW x RL)/(CPF x FCR x BCF) (Eq. 19) where (in Equations 18 and 19):
HBW = human body weight, set at 70 kg
RL = risk level, set at 1 x 10-6
				  (except for arsenic which is set at 1 x 10-5)
CPF = cancer potency factor, in (kg-day)/mg
FCR = fish consumption rate, set at 0.030 kg/day
BCF = bioconcentration factor, in 1/kg
WCR = water consumption rate, set at 2 1/day
(iii) The values used for the
				cancer potency factor (CPF) shall be values available through the U.S.
				Environmental Protection Agency's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS),
				and values used for the bioconcentration factor (BCF) shall be values contained
				in ambient water quality criteria documents published by the U.S. Environmental
				Protection Agency, except where other values are established pursuant to
				subparagraph (1)(g). The CPF and BCF values for specific pollutants are
				provided in Appendix A.
(e) The criteria given in Table 1 for
				consumption of water and fish, or computed from equation 16 or equation 18 for
				consumption of water and fish, shall apply only to those waters of the State
				classified Public Water Supply, as identified in Rule
				335-6-11-.02 of the Department's
				regulations. The criteria given in Table 1 for consumption of fish only, or
				computed from equation 17 or equation 19 for consumption of fish only, shall
				apply to all waters of the State.
(f) For the purposes of establishing effluent
				limitations pursuant to Chapter 335-6-6 of the Department's regulations, the
				minimum 7-day low flow that occurs once in 10 years (7Qio) shall be the basis
				for applying the human health criteria for pollutants classified as
				non-carcinogens, and the mean annual flow shall be the basis for applying the
				human health criteria for pollutants classified as carcinogens; except that
				where a permit specifies a minimum flow greater than 7Qio, the specified
				minimum flow may be used as the basis for applying the human health criteria
				for pollutants classified as non-carcinogens for that permit.
(g) Numeric criteria may be computed by the
				Department from equations 16, 17, 18, and 19 using values for the reference
				dose (RfD), relative source contribution (RSC), cancer potency factor (CPF),
				and bioconcentration factor (BCF) determined by the Department in consultation
				with the Alabama Department of Public Health after review of information
				available from sources other than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
				Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) or ambient water quality criteria
				documents. Such criteria, or the RfD, RSC, CPF, and BCF values used to compute
				criteria, shall not be effective until adopted following established rulemaking
				procedures.