The results of DEP’s triennial review of West Virginia’s water quality standards have been approved by EPA.
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Download NowEPA approved all but one of DEP’s submitted revisions and did not act on three items submitted.
EPA-approved changes include:
- Definition of “Cool Water Lakes” in West Virginia;
- Addition of “algae blooms” to conditions not allowable in state waters;
- Extending a half-mile rule exception on the Ohio River to mile points 61.0 to 63.5 and 70.0 to 71.0;
- Removal of the socioeconomic variance for Harmon Creek;
- Extension of the chloride variance for Davis Creek;
- Revised chronic iron criterion for trout waters to match EPA-recommended criterion; and
- Addition of “organoleptic effects” to the definition of “Category A Public Water Supply” criteria.
According to DEP, EPA took no action on three items, including a revision of the specified flow in the Monongahela River to the minimum flow regulated for navigation and a revision of the critical design flow to harmonic mean for a section of the Ohio River. The third item pertained to the minimum sample size requirements for phosphorus and chlorophyll-a sampling for lakes.
EPA did not approve the state’s weight of evidence language for applying numeric nutrient criteria to lakes.
INFO: Contact DEP’s Kevin Coyne at 304-926-0499, Ext. 1110.