2002 Update to Florida’s 303(d) List of Impaired Surface Waters
On October
1, the Department submitted the 2002 update to Florida’s
303(d) list of impaired surface waters. The submittal
document, Documentation for the 2002 Update to the State of
Florida’s 303(d) List, includes the updated list of impaired
waters and a list of water segments that are being delisted
from the 1998 list, along with accompanying justification. It
also summarizes the methodologies used in the development of
the 303(d) list, the prioritization process for TMDL
development of listed waters, and describes the public
participation process used during list development.
The scope of this 2002 list
submittal is limited to specific basins, termed “Group 1 Basins” (described in
the submittal document), representing approximately one fifth of the state. As
part of the Department’s Watershed Management Approach, the Department
developed verified lists of impaired waters for the Group 1 Basins and, as
required by 403.067(4), F.S., the lists were adopted by Secretarial Order (on
August 28, 2002). These verified lists of impaired waters and waters to be
delisted in the Group 1 Basins amend the 1998 303(d) list of impaired Florida
waters maintained by the U.S. EPA. The Department plans to submit annual
amendments to its 303(d) list as part of the Watershed Management Approach,
which rotates through all of Florida’s basins over a five-year cycle. The
planned annual updates of the 1998 list will provide a transition between the
1998 list and lists developed under the new methodology. Except for the listed
Group 1 waters, the 1998 303(d) list will remain unchanged until the
Department completes its assessment of waters on the 1998 303(d) list, and
annually adopts, by Secretarial Order, basin-specific verified lists for
Groups 2 through 5.
Florida’s 2002 303(d) list
update was developed in accordance with recent EPA guidance for the
preparation of Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Reports
(Integrated Reports). While the submittal includes an integrated report for
the Group 1 Basins, it is important to note that 303(d) lists are typically
limited to waters in only one assessment category of the Integrated Report -
Category 5. Water bodies in Category 5 are impaired for one or more designated
uses by a pollutant(s), and thus require a TMDL. This category, which
constitutes the basin-specific verified lists of impaired waters that were
adopted by the Secretarial Order, is the focus of the 2002 update document.
However, waters on the 1998 303(d) list that were placed in Category 3 due to
insufficient information will remain on the 303(d) list maintained by EPA. We
intend to monitor these waters as part of our watershed approach and evaluate
them using the Impaired Waters Rule methodology in the future.
Main Submittal Document
(760 KB) (All documents are in Adobe PDF format.)
- Attachments 1 and 2
The 303(d) List Update for the Group 1 Basins, including the List of Waters
to be Removed from the 1998 303(d) List, and the Integrated Report for the
Group 1 Basins.
-
Attachment 3 Impaired
Waters Rule (451 KB)
-
Attachment 4 Data
Providers for the Group 1 Basins (44 KB)
-
Attachment 5
Draft Reasonable Assurance Guidance (118 KB)
-
Attachment 6 RA Submittal
for Tampa Bay (423 KB)
-
Attachment 7 RA
Submittal for Suwannee River (2,586 KB)
-
Attachment 8
Department Letter to EPA Regarding Threatened and Endangered Species Review
(256 KB)
-
Attachment 9
FAW Notice for Public Participation in List Development (76 KB)
-
Attachment 10
The Department’s Written Responses to Public Comments (973 KB)
-
Attachment 11 Secretarial Order Adopting the Verified Lists (96 KB)
-
Attachment 12 TMDL Development Schedule for 2003 and 2004 (61 KB)
For
more information, send e-mail to
Jan
Mandrup-Poulsen (Jan.Mandrup-Poulsen@dep.state.fl.us)
Total
Maximum Daily Load Program
2600 Blair Stone Road - Mail Station 3555
Tallahassee, FL, 32399-2400
Phone: (850) 245-8449
