EPA favors some state water quality rules, not others

By Emily Walkenhorst

Posted: November 13, 2016 at 3:02 a.m.

NWAOnline

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved of and disapproved of parts of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's water quality regulations nearly three years after the state submitted the regulations for review.

The announcement of the review comes as the department plans for another review process in 2017 and is in the middle of a public stakeholder process of reviewing and potentially revising the water quality assessment methods it uses to determine whether a water body is "impaired."

Among the parts approved by the EPA are the first numeric nutrient standards in Arkansas: two standards for Beaver Lake that Beaver Water District officials said would help the district protect the drinking water for Northwest Arkansas. Those standards were not in dispute by the EPA, but were on hold while the EPA and the state Department of Environmental Quality debated other elements of the state's water regulations during the EPA's review.

Most of the state's water regulation changes were approved by the EPA, although some elements of the state's water quality standards approved by the EPA have yet to be reviewed under the federal Endangered Species Act, which would require the consultation of additional federal agencies.

Among the parts disapproved are two items previously rejected by the EPA regarding mineral concentrations in Flat Creek and modifications to how the state determines "turbidity," which refers to how clear the water is, that removed a reference to the impact of waste discharges and set two different standards depending on when water samples were taken.

One item the EPA has disputed previously was not contested by the EPA in the review: Allowable minerals levels in Arkansas' varying "ecoregions." State regulations had previously outlined standards for allowable minerals levels in water bodies that covered the state by ecoregions, which were given different standards according to the geographical area if a water body did not already have site-specific standards.

In 2014, the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission approved changing state standards to treat those standards as guidelines, rather than requirements. At the time, officials argued that the standards had been created arbitrarily decades before and did not necessarily reflect the natural conditions of the water bodies. The change came at the recommendation of the Department of Environmental Quality after a series of working groups to revise the state's water quality standards.

The EPA rejected that change, arguing that it stripped water bodies of protective standards.

On Oct. 31, the EPA wrote in its 183-page review of Arkansas water quality standards that it would take no action, stating that it "also recognizes the current state of the science and that the agency's own efforts related to the development of recommended minerals criteria are ongoing."

Instead, the EPA requested that the state Department of Environmental Quality come up with an approach to adopt new standards within the next 12 months, also outlining interim goals leading up to the eventual adoption of the new standards.

"The main point of interest is the no action that was taken on 2.511B as it relates to ecoregion values," said Caleb Osborne, associate director in charge of the office of water quality for the state department. "The state has agreed with the EPA that we're going to have 12 months to develop an approach and path forward," he added.

With the EPA taking no action, that means the state's change to water regulations to make ecoregion standards guidelines instead of requirements still will not be effective under the Clean Water Act, but the EPA and the state will coordinate when needed on developing new standards.

The Beaver Lake standards approved by the EPA after years of waiting were designed to limit the amount of nutrients in Beaver Lake, said Beaver Water District Manager of Environmental Quality Bob Morgan.

"The lake is not receiving the protection of the standard that we hoped that it would have," Morgan said in an interview before the standards were approved. "It's not keeping us from doing anything. ... If an issue popped up and the standard was in place, then there's a mechanism in state law that starts toward getting issues worked out."

The Beaver Water District provides drinking water to more than 330,000 Northwest Arkansans.

A collaboration of groups developed the nutrient standards after years of studying, including the Beaver Water District, the EPA, the Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Geological Survey, FTN Associates, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the Arkansas Water Research Center.

The standards limit the amount of chlorophyll in the lake to 8 micrograms per liter and sets a standard of secchi transparency at 1.1 meters. The levels of chlorophyll in water can indicate algae levels, and secchi transparency refers to the clarity of water.

Morgan said the new nutrient standards would affect permits to discharge wastewater in the lake's watershed and would be a more proactive approach to water quality management.

So far, the district has been able to work with entities discharging wastewater on voluntary incentives and has not had any major water quality issues that couldn't be addressed because of the lack of nutrient standards, Morgan said.

Metro on 11/13/2016