Opinion ID: 775204
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Implementation of Applicable Water Standards.

Text: 23 The CWA requires that each TMDL be established at a level necessary to implement the applicable water quality standards. 33 U.S.C. § 1313(d)(1)(C). The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has determined that the use, and hence applicable water quality standard, for the reservoirs is water supply. New York's water quality standard for phosphorus requires the presence of [n]one in amounts that will result in growths of algae, weeds and slimes that will impair the waters for their best usages. N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs., tit. 6, § 703.2. In 1993, the NYSDEC determined that a numerical guidance value of twenty micrograms of phosphorus per liter of water (ug/L) would meet the standard imposed by the regulation with regard to waterbodies used for recreational purposes. New York relied on the same figure when determining the TMDLs for the reservoirs, while recognizing that a guidance value developed for the protection of aesthetics for primary and secondary contact recreation.... may not be stringent enough to protect the drinking water supply. New York declared it will continue to investigate if the [guidance value developed to protect water for recreational purposes] is sufficient to maintain water quality in the reservoirs, with the future option to revise this critical concentration. NRDC argues that the TMDLs for these reservoirs are not those necessary, under the CWA, to implement the applicable water quality standards because a less stringent standard, designed to protect water for recreational uses, has been applied to waterbodies designated for water supply use, the highest use. 24 According to the NYSDEC, the value of 0.020 ug/L total phosphorus is based upon [waterbody] user surveys conducted in New York as well as Vermont and Minnesota in which citizens are asked to best describe the physical condition of the lake with respect to algal levels and the recreational suitability of the lake at the time of sampling. During the comment period for New York's proposed TMDLs, New York met NRDC's objection to the use of an aesthetic criteria in determining appropriate phosphorus levels by stating: We acknowledge that the current guidance value... is based on aesthetic conditions affecting recreational uses.... Since it is the only presently available phosphorus criteria, it was used for the Phase I TMDL analysis. This is appropriate, especially in New York, where the best use designation of a waterbody for drinking water expressly incorporates all other best uses set forth in our regulations. However, as NRDC argues, this does not get around the fact that the suitability of drinking water is being evaluated by a lesser, and therefore possibly inappropriate, water use standard. New York conceded that a different phosphorus guidance value or standard may be necessary to reduce eutrophication and/or to protect surface waterbodies that are a source of water supply. NYC is in the process of collecting additional data for the development of a phosphorous standard specifically designed for the protection of waters as a water supply source. 25 While at first blush New York's use of an aesthetic water quality standard to protect drinking water seems a cause for concern, in the end, EPA's primary concern in determining whether to approve the TMDL is whether or not the TMDL will implement the applicable water quality standard[ ]. 33 U.S.C. § 1313(d)(1)(C). As the district court concluded, If 20 ug/L is an appropriate phosphorus guidance value for drinking water as well as for recreational use, then EPA acted reasonably in approving TMDLs that incorporated the 20 ug/L value. Fox III, 93 F. Supp. 2d at 551. In approving New York's TMDLs, EPA noted that the guidance was based on an aesthetic criteria, but stated that nevertheless the phosphorus guidance value is meant to control excessive and nuisance growths of algae and other aquatic plants. This guidance value is used by the NYSDEC to reduce nuisance algal blooms to acceptable levels and therefore, it indirectly address [sic] the effects of eutrophication and cultural eutrophication. Most importantly, EPA concluded that NYSDEC's guidance value is below EPA's recommended level of 25 ug/L, and should, therefore, be sufficiently protective to control nuisance aquatic growth and to protect against other indirect effects of eutrophication and accelerated cultural eutrophication. 26 EPA's 1986 manual, Quality Control for Water, notes that a criterion to control nuisance aquatic growths... currently is evolving, but also points out that [m]ost relatively uncontaminated lake districts are known to have surface waters that contain from 10 to 30 ug/L total phosphorus as P (citation omitted). The manual thus concludes that [t]o prevent the development of biological nuisances and to control accelerated or cultural eutrophication, total phosphates as phosphorus (P) should not exceed... 25 ug/L within [a] lake or reservoir. The administrative record thus lends substantial support to EPA's approval of the TMDLs. 27 NRDC objects that nothing in the manual suggests that a level of 20 ug/L is sufficient to protect drinking water. However the manual recommends a maximal level of 25 ug/L to prevent biological nuisances and cultural eutrophication of reservoirs, and the problems phosphorus creates for drinking water stem from biological nuisances and cultural eutrophication. To be sure, the manual instructs that [e]utrophication problems may occur in waters where the phosphorus concentration is less than that recommended as the maximal level due to natural conditions. As NRDC points out, the manual explicitly states, [n]o national criterion is presented for phosphate phosphorus for the control of eutrophication. However, EPA is not seeking to enforce a national standard in this instance. As all the parties recognize, additional research oriented to the specific conditions of New York's reservoirs would be optimal. In the meantime, EPA's hands are not tied just because it must act based on scientific knowledge that is incomplete or disputed. In the face of conflicting evidence at the frontiers of science, courts' deference to expert determinations should be at its greatest. Cellular Phone, 205 F.3d at 90. Therefore, EPA's determination that New York can formulate its TMDL for phosphorus using an aesthetic criterion is not arbitrary and capricious at this point in time. 28