Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3745 - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency › Chapter 3745-4 - Surface Water Monitoring and Assessment › Section 3745-4-02 - Definitions

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1,
			 2024
As used in this chapter:
(A) "Citizen monitoring program" means any
			 organized citizen effort to collect surface water quality data using
			 standardized sampling and testing protocols. The program shall provide an
			 introduction to basic water quality principles and train participants in the
			 use of field instrumentation, sample collection and preservation, and data
			 recording techniques.
(B)
			 "Compelling reasons" as to why historical data are credible means that no more
			 recent data exist, or more recent data alone are insufficient to establish
			 water quality, or the director identifies other circumstances supporting the
			 use of the historical data. Historical data shall be evaluated to
			 
								ensure
			 that more recent information does not indicate that the data are not
			 representative of current conditions.
(C) "Credible data" means scientifically
			 valid chemical, physical, or biological water quality monitoring data
			 concerning surface waters. This includes qualitative scoring of physical
			 habitat characteristics and the sampling of fish, macroinvertebrates, and water
			 quality, that have been collected by or submitted to the director and that
			 comply with this chapter. Credible data may include historical data if the
			 director identifies compelling reasons as to why the data are
			 credible.
(D) "Data quality
			 objectives (DQOs)" means qualitative and quantitative statements derived from
			 the DQO process that clarify study objectives, define the appropriate type of
			 data, and specify tolerable levels of potential decision errors that will be
			 used as the basis for establishing the quality and quantity of data needed to
			 support decisions. The planning process for ensuring environmental data are the
			 type, quality, and quantity needed for decision making is called the DQO
			 process.
(E) "Detection limit"
			 means the lowest concentration of a target analyte that a given method or piece
			 of equipment can reliably ascertain and report as greater than zero.
(F) "Director" means the director of the Ohio
			 environmental protection agency
								or an authorized representative.
(G) "Educational monitoring program" means a
			 surface water quality data collection program designed for education or public
			 awareness purposes and associated with an accredited or school-sponsored
			 science education program. The program must be consistent with national or
			 state science content standards, provide an introduction to basic water quality
			 principles and train participants in the use of field instrumentation, sample
			 collection and preservation, and data recording techniques.
(H) "Federal environmental agency," means an
			 agency of the United States government, or a department, division, or program
			 in an agency of the United States government, whose primary function includes
			 protection, management, study or assessment of the environment, natural
			 resources or ecological systems, including but not limited to, the following:
(1) The United States environmental
			 protection agency.
(2) The United
			 States fish and wildlife service, the national park service, the office of
			 surface mining, and the United States geological survey in the United States
			 department of the interior.
(3) The
			 United States army corps of engineers.
(4) The national oceanic and atmospheric
			 administration in the United States department of commerce.
(5) The environmental management program in
			 the United States department of energy.
(6) The forest service, the natural resources
			 conservation service, and the agricultural research service in the United
			 States department of agriculture.
(7) The Ohio river valley water sanitation
			 commission (ORSANCO).