Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part IX - Water Quality › Subpart 1 - Water Pollution Control › Chapter 11 - Surface Water Quality Standards › Section IX-1109 - Policy

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
Water quality standards policies concerned with the
					 protection and enhancement of water quality in the state are discussed in this
					 Section. Policy statements on antidegradation, water use, water body exception
					 classification, compliance schedules, variances, short-term activity
					 authorization, errors, severability, revisions to standards, and sample
					 collection and analytical procedures are described.
A. Antidegradation Policy
1. State policy is that all waters of the
				  state, including interstate, intrastate, and coastal waters, and any portions
				  thereof, whose existing quality exceeds the specifications of the approved
				  water quality standards or otherwise supports an unusual abundance and
				  diversity of fish and wildlife resources, such as waters of national and state
				  parks and refuges, will be maintained at their existing high quality. After
				  completion of appropriate analysis and after completion of the public
				  participation processes outlined in the water quality management plan and the
				  continuing planning process, the state may choose to allow lower water quality
				  in waters that exceed the standards to accommodate justifiable economic and/or
				  social development in the areas in which the waters are located, but not to the
				  extent of violating the established water quality standards. No such changes,
				  however, will be allowed if they impair the existing water uses. No lowering of
				  water quality will be allowed in waters where designated water uses are not
				  currently being attained.
2. Where
				  the water quality exceeds levels necessary to support the protection and
				  propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the
				  water, that water quality shall be maintained and protected unless the state
				  finds, after full satisfaction of the intergovernmental coordination and public
				  participation provisions of the states continuing planning process, that
				  allowing lower water quality is necessary to accommodate important economic or
				  social development in the area in which the waters are located. The state shall
				  assure water quality adequate to fully protect existing uses with such
				  degradation or lower water quality. The state shall assure the highest
				  statutory and regulatory requirements shall be achieved for all new and
				  existing point sources and all cost-effective and reasonable best management
				  practices for nonpoint source control.
a.
				  Waters may be identified for the protections described in Paragraph 2 of this
				  Subsection on a parameter-by-parameter basis or on a water body-by-water body
				  basis. Where the state identifies waters for antidegradation protection, the
				  state shall provide an opportunity for public involvement in any decisions
				  about whether the protections described in Paragraph 2 of this Subsection will
				  be given to a water body, and the factors considered when making those
				  decisions. A water body shall not be excluded from the protections described in
				  Paragraph 2 of this Subsection solely because water quality does not exceed
				  levels necessary to support all of the uses specified in
				  section
				  101(a)(2) of
				  the Clean Water Act.
b. Before
				  allowing any lowering of high water quality, according to Paragraph 2 of this
				  Subsection, the state shall find, after an analysis of alternatives, that such
				  a lowering is necessary to accommodate important economic or social development
				  in the area in which the waters are located. The analysis of alternatives shall
				  evaluate a range of practicable alternatives that would prevent or lessen the
				  degradation associated with the proposed activity. When the analysis of
				  alternatives identifies one or more practicable alternatives, the state shall
				  only find that a lowering is necessary if one such alternative is selected for
				  implementation.
3. Waste
				  discharges shall comply with applicable state and federal laws for the
				  attainment of water quality goals. Any new, existing, or expanded point source
				  or nonpoint source discharging into state waters, including any land clearing
				  which is the subject of a federal permit application, shall be required to
				  provide the necessary level of waste treatment to protect state waters as
				  determined by the administrative authority. Further, the highest statutory and
				  regulatory requirements shall be achieved for all existing point sources and
				  best management practices (BMPs) for nonpoint sources. Additionally, no
				  degradation shall be allowed in high-quality waters designated as
outstanding natural resource waters
, as defined in LAC
				  33:IX.1111.A. Waters included in the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers
				  System, under the administration of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
				  Fisheries, will be considered by the department for designation as outstanding
				  natural resource waters. Those water bodies presently designated as outstanding
				  natural resource waters are listed in LAC 33:IX.1123. The administrative
				  authority shall not approve any wastewater discharge or certify any activity
				  for federal permit that would impair water quality or use of state waters,
				  including waters in the Natural and Scenic Rivers System that are waters of the
				  state.
4. The antidegradation
				  policy and implementation method shall be consistent with section 316 of the
				  Clean Water Act where a potential water quality impairment is associated with a
				  thermal discharge.
5. An
				  implementation plan for this antidegradation policy is provided in LAC
				  33:IX.1119. The states methods for implementing the antidegradation policy
				  shall be, at a minimum, consistent with the states policy and with the federal
				  regulations at
				  40 CFR
				  131.12(a). The state shall
				  provide an opportunity for public involvement during the development and any
				  subsequent revisions of the implementation methods.