303(d)
List
What
is the 303(d) List?
Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires
states to develop a list of waters not meeting water
quality standards or not supporting their designated
uses.
Chapter
99-223, Laws of Florida, sets forth the process by
which the list is refined through more detailed water
quality assessments. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
are required for the waters determined to be impaired
based on these detailed assessments because
technology-based effluent limitations, current effluent
limitations required by State or local authority, or
other pollution control requirements are not stringent
enough to meet current water quality standards.
Approval
of the 1998 303(d) List
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4,
approved the Florida 1998 303(d) List on November 24,
1998. The approval was based on the 303(d) List and
accompanying correspondence submitted on September 17,
1998.
Background
and Sources of information for the 303(d) List
The 303(d) List is based primarily on the state’s
1996 305(b) Water Quality Assessment Report
("305(b) report"), which uses a watershed
approach to evaluate the state’s surface waters,
ground waters, and wetlands. All existing and readily
available water quality related data (chemical,
physical, and biological) and information were
assembled and evaluated in the development of the
305(b) report, including but not limited to data in
EPA’s STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) database, the
Statewide Biological Database (biological assessments),
and fish consumption advisory information. To obtain
more recent data, staff in the Department of
Environmental Protection’s Division of Environmental
Assessment and Restoration met with staff from the state’s five Water
Management Districts, solicited information from
Department district staff, and received input from the
public. All readily available data and information were
used in the development of the 303(d) List.
EPA
guidelines specify waters need not be included if other
federal, state or local requirements have or are
expected to result in the attainment and maintenance of
applicable water quality standards.
More
303(d) Information
Adopted Lists
The adopted lists below are the first step in the process of
restoring impaired waters. Once these waters have been accepted by
EPA, the Department staff will begin developing TMDLs for these waters.
A TMDL represents the maximum amount of pollutant loading that can be
discharged to a water body and have its designated uses be met.
The final step in this process will be the development, by watershed
stakeholders and DEP, of a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).
The BMAP will specify the activities, schedule, and funding sources that
point and nonpoint source dischargers will undertake to restore
the water body.
Draft Lists
Once these waters have been adopted by Secretarial Order and approved
by EPA, the Department staff will begin developing TMDLs for these waters.
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
