Water Quality Standards Attainability Act
Water Quality Standards Attainability Act aims to change how water quality standards are reviewed and set under the Clean Water Act, with a focus on waters receiving discharges from municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer systems (CSOs). The bill requires states to hold public hearings to review relevant water quality standards and to assess whether CSO controls are cost-effective. It expands the content of state reviews to explicitly consider CSO-related standards and to make the results available to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It also adds requirements to account for the cost and commercial availability of treatment technologies that might be needed to meet standards. The bill further obligates the EPA administrator to consider these treatment technology costs when developing or revising water quality criteria. Overall, the measure seeks greater public participation in CSO-related standard setting and heightened emphasis on cost considerations in determining what standards are attainable.
Key Points
- 1States must hold public hearings to review water quality standards for waters receiving municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer discharges, and to evaluate whether CSO controls are cost-effective.
- 2Reviews under the 303(c)(1) provision must include CSO-related standards and the results must be provided to the EPA Administrator.
- 3When setting or revising standards under 303(c)(2)(A), states must consider (i) the value of standards for public water supplies, (ii) use and value of such standards, and (iii) the cost and commercial availability of treatment technologies needed to achieve compliance.
- 4A new provision in 304(a) requires the EPA Administrator to consider the cost and commercial availability of treatment technologies when developing or revising water quality criteria.
- 5Public disclosure and transparency are enhanced through mandatory hearings and the requirement that review results be shared with the Administrator.