CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Water and Waste Management will conduct a public hearing Aug. 9 on the proposed Triennial Review of Legislative Rule 47 C.S.R. 2, “Requirements Governing Water Quality Standards.”
This rule establishes requirements governing standards of surface water quality for the waters of the state. State water quality standards are developed to help protect and preserve water quality necessary to meet and maintain designated or assigned uses, such as swimming, recreation, public drinking water supply, and aquatic life.
In this revision to the Water Quality Standards Rule, DEP proposes determining whether a water is unsuitable for Category A use, which is the public drinking water supply use, based on either too little flow or a previous modification which has made the water inaccessible. DEP also proposes changing the recreational water quality indicator bacteria from the general “fecal coliform” to E. coli, which is a more accurate measure of risk to public health. Also proposed are changes related to critical design flow for human health criteria. Finally, DEP proposes adding recent federally-recommended criteria changes, including the biotic ligand model (BLM) for copper, and aquatic life criteria for acrolein, carbaryl, diazinon, nonylphenol and tributyltin (or TBT).
To read the proposed rule in its entirety, go online to
http://www.dep.wv.gov/pio/Pages/Rules.aspx.
The Aug. 9 public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Coopers Rock Training Room at DEP headquarters in Charleston. In addition to oral comments provided at the public hearing, the agency will accept written comments anytime up to the hearing’s conclusion. Written comments may be emailed to DEP.comments@wv.gov or mailed to the following address:
Laura Cooper
Water Quality Standards, DWWM
WV Department of Environmental Protection
601 57th St. S.E.
Charleston, WV 25304
For more DEP news and information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, be sure to connect with the agency on all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter and find us on YouTube by searching “Environment Matters.” For specific information about our REAP (Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan), West Virginia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), West Virginia Watershed Improvement Branch, Youth Environmental Program and Human Resources initiatives, connect on Facebook.