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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1314. Information and guidelines
(a) Criteria development and publication
(1) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate
Federal and State agencies and other interested persons, shall
develop and publish, within one year after October 18, 1972 (and
from time to time thereafter revise) criteria for water quality
accurately reflecting the latest scientific knowledge (A) on the
kind and extent of all identifiable effects on health and welfare
including, but not limited to, plankton, fish, shellfish, wildlife,
plant life, shorelines, beaches, esthetics, and recreation which
may be expected from the presence of pollutants in any body of
water, including ground water; (B) on the concentration and
dispersal of pollutants, or their byproducts, through biological,
physical, and chemical processes; and (C) on the effects of
pollutants on biological community diversity, productivity, and
stability, including information on the factors affecting rates of
eutrophication and rates of organic and inorganic sedimentation for
varying types of receiving waters.
(2) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate
Federal and State agencies and other interested persons, shall
develop and publish, within one year after October 18, 1972 (and
from time to time thereafter revise) information (A) on the factors
necessary to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and
biological integrity of all navigable waters, ground waters, waters
of the contiguous zone, and the oceans; (B) on the factors
necessary for the protection and propagation of shellfish, fish,
and wildlife for classes and categories of receiving waters and to
allow recreational activities in and on the water; and (C) on the
measurement and classification of water quality; and (D) for the
purpose of section 1313 of this title, on and the identification of
pollutants suitable for maximum daily load measurement correlated
with the achievement of water quality objectives.
(3) Such criteria and information and revisions thereof shall be
issued to the States and shall be published in the Federal Register
and otherwise made available to the public.
(4) The Administrator shall, within 90 days after December 27,
1977, and from time to time thereafter, publish and revise as
appropriate information identifying conventional pollutants,
including but not limited to, pollutants classified as biological
oxygen demanding, suspended solids, fecal coliform, and pH. The
thermal component of any discharge shall not be identified as a
conventional pollutant under this paragraph.
(5)(A) The Administrator, to the extent practicable before
consideration of any request under section 1311(g) of this title
and within six months after December 27, 1977, shall develop and
publish information on the factors necessary for the protection of
public water supplies, and the protection and propagation of a
balanced population of shellfish, fish and wildlife, and to allow
recreational activities, in and on the water.
(B) The Administrator, to the extent practicable before
consideration of any application under section 1311(h) of this
title and within six months after December 27, 1977, shall develop
and publish information on the factors necessary for the protection
of public water supplies, and the protection and propagation of a
balanced indigenous population of shellfish, fish and wildlife, and
to allow recreational activities, in and on the water.
(6) The Administrator shall, within three months after December
27, 1977, and annually thereafter, for purposes of section 1311(h)
of this title publish and revise as appropriate information
identifying each water quality standard in effect under this
chapter or State law, the specific pollutants associated with such
water quality standard, and the particular waters to which such
water quality standard applies.
(7) Guidance to states. - The Administrator, after consultation
with appropriate State agencies and on the basis of criteria and
information published under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this
subsection, shall develop and publish, within 9 months after
February 4, 1987, guidance to the States on performing the
identification required by subsection (l)(1) of this section.
(8) Information on water quality criteria. - The Administrator,
after consultation with appropriate State agencies and within 2
years after February 4, 1987, shall develop and publish information
on methods for establishing and measuring water quality criteria
for toxic pollutants on other bases than pollutant-by-pollutant
criteria, including biological monitoring and assessment methods.
(9) Revised criteria for coastal recreation waters. -
(A) In general. - Not later than 5 years after October 10,
2000, after consultation and in cooperation with appropriate
Federal, State, tribal, and local officials (including local
health officials), the Administrator shall publish new or revised
water quality criteria for pathogens and pathogen indicators
(including a revised list of testing methods, as appropriate),
based on the results of the studies conducted under section
1254(v) of this title, for the purpose of protecting human health
in coastal recreation waters.
(B) Reviews. - Not later than the date that is 5 years after
the date of publication of water quality criteria under this
paragraph, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, the
Administrator shall review and, as necessary, revise the water
quality criteria.
(b) Effluent limitation guidelines
For the purpose of adopting or revising effluent limitations
under this chapter the Administrator shall, after consultation with
appropriate Federal and State agencies and other interested
persons, publish within one year of October 18, 1972, regulations,
providing guidelines for effluent limitations, and, at least
annually thereafter, revise, if appropriate, such regulations. Such
regulations shall -
(1)(A) identify, in terms of amounts of constituents and
chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of pollutants,
the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the
application of the best practicable control technology currently
available for classes and categories of point sources (other than
publicly owned treatment works); and
(B) specify factors to be taken into account in determining the
control measures and practices to be applicable to point sources
(other than publicly owned treatment works) within such
categories or classes. Factors relating to the assessment of best
practicable control technology currently available to comply with
subsection (b)(1) of section 1311 of this title shall include
consideration of the total cost of application of technology in
relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved from
such application, and shall also take into account the age of
equipment and facilities involved, the process employed, the
engineering aspects of the application of various types of
control techniques, process changes, non-water quality
environmental impact (including energy requirements), and such
other factors as the Administrator deems appropriate;
(2)(A) identify, in terms of amounts of constituents and
chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of pollutants,
the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the
application of the best control measures and practices achievable
including treatment techniques, process and procedure
innovations, operating methods, and other alternatives for
classes and categories of point sources (other than publicly
owned treatment works); and
(B) specify factors to be taken into account in determining the
best measures and practices available to comply with subsection
(b)(2) of section 1311 of this title to be applicable to any
point source (other than publicly owned treatment works) within
such categories or classes. Factors relating to the assessment of
best available technology shall take into account the age of
equipment and facilities involved, the process employed, the
engineering aspects of the application of various types of
control techniques, process changes, the cost of achieving such
effluent reduction, non-water quality environmental impact
(including energy requirements), and such other factors as the
Administrator deems appropriate;
(3) identify control measures and practices available to
eliminate the discharge of pollutants from categories and classes
of point sources, taking into account the cost of achieving such
elimination of the discharge of pollutants; and
(4)(A) identify, in terms of amounts of constituents and
chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of pollutants,
the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the
application of the best conventional pollutant control technology
(including measures and practices) for classes and categories of
point sources (other than publicly owned treatment works); and
(B) specify factors to be taken into account in determining the
best conventional pollutant control technology measures and
practices to comply with section 1311(b)(2)(E) of this title to
be applicable to any point source (other than publicly owned
treatment works) within such categories or classes. Factors
relating to the assessment of best conventional pollutant control
technology (including measures and practices) shall include
consideration of the reasonableness of the relationship between
the costs of attaining a reduction in effluents and the effluent
reduction benefits derived, and the comparison of the cost and
level of reduction of such pollutants from the discharge from
publicly owned treatment works to the cost and level of reduction
of such pollutants from a class or category of industrial
sources, and shall take into account the age of equipment and
facilities involved, the process employed, the engineering
aspects of the application of various types of control
techniques, process changes, non-water quality environmental
impact (including energy requirements), and such other factors as
the Administrator deems appropriate.
(c) Pollution discharge elimination procedures
The Administrator, after consultation, with appropriate Federal
and State agencies and other interested persons, shall issue to the
States and appropriate water pollution control agencies within 270
days after October 18, 1972 (and from time to time thereafter)
information on the processes, procedures, or operating methods
which result in the elimination or reduction of the discharge of
pollutants to implement standards of performance under section 1316
of this title. Such information shall include technical and other
data, including costs, as are available on alternative methods of
elimination or reduction of the discharge of pollutants. Such
information, and revisions thereof, shall be published in the
Federal Register and otherwise shall be made available to the
public.
(d) Secondary treatment information; alternative waste treatment
management techniques; innovative and alternative wastewater
treatment processes; facilities deemed equivalent of secondary
treatment
(1) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate
Federal and State agencies and other interested persons, shall
publish within sixty days after October 18, 1972 (and from time to
time thereafter) information, in terms of amounts of constituents
and chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of
pollutants, on the degree of effluent reduction attainable through
the application of secondary treatment.
(2) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate
Federal and State agencies and other interested persons, shall
publish within nine months after October 18, 1972 (and from time to
time thereafter) information on alternative waste treatment
management techniques and systems available to implement section
1281 of this title.
(3) The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate
Federal and State agencies and other interested persons, shall
promulgate within one hundred and eighty days after December 27,
1977, guidelines for identifying and evaluating innovative and
alternative wastewater treatment processes and techniques referred
to in section 1281(g)(5) of this title.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, such biological
treatment facilities as oxidation ponds, lagoons, and ditches and
trickling filters shall be deemed the equivalent of secondary
treatment. The Administrator shall provide guidance under paragraph
(1) of this subsection on design criteria for such facilities,
taking into account pollutant removal efficiencies and, consistent
with the objectives of this chapter, assuring that water quality
will not be adversely affected by deeming such facilities as the
equivalent of secondary treatment.
(e) Best management practices for industry
The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate Federal
and State agencies and other interested persons, may publish
regulations, supplemental to any effluent limitations specified
under subsections (b) and (c) of this section for a class or
category of point sources, for any specific pollutant which the
Administrator is charged with a duty to regulate as a toxic or
hazardous pollutant under section 1317(a)(1) or 1321 of this title,
to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste
disposal, and drainage from raw material storage which the
Administrator determines are associated with or ancillary to the
industrial manufacturing or treatment process within such class or
category of point sources and may contribute significant amounts of
such pollutants to navigable waters. Any applicable controls
established under this subsection shall be included as a
requirement for the purposes of section 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317, or
1343 of this title, as the case may be, in any permit issued to a
point source pursuant to section 1342 of this title.
(f) Identification and evaluation of nonpoint sources of pollution;
processes, procedures, and methods to control pollution
The Administrator, after consultation with appropriate Federal
and State agencies and other interested persons, shall issue to
appropriate Federal agencies, the States, water pollution control
agencies, and agencies designated under section 1288 of this title,
within one year after October 18, 1972 (and from time to time
thereafter) information including (1) guidelines for identifying
and evaluating the nature and extent of nonpoint sources of
pollutants, and (2) processes, procedures, and methods to control
pollution resulting from -
(A) agricultural and silvicultural activities, including runoff
from fields and crop and forest lands;
(B) mining activities, including runoff and siltation from new,
currently operating, and abandoned surface and underground mines;
(C) all construction activity, including runoff from the
facilities resulting from such construction;
(D) the disposal of pollutants in wells or in subsurface
excavations;
(E) salt water intrusion resulting from reductions of fresh
water flow from any cause, including extraction of ground water,
irrigation, obstruction, and diversion; and
(F) changes in the movement, flow, or circulation of any
navigable waters or ground waters, including changes caused by
the construction of dams, levees, channels, causeways, or flow
diversion facilities.
Such information and revisions thereof shall be published in the
Federal Register and otherwise made available to the public.
(g) Guidelines for pretreatment of pollutants
(1) For the purpose of assisting States in carrying out programs
under section 1342 of this title, the Administrator shall publish,
within one hundred and twenty days after October 18, 1972, and
review at least annually thereafter and, if appropriate, revise
guidelines for pretreatment of pollutants which he determines are
not susceptible to treatment by publicly owned treatment works.
Guidelines under this subsection shall be established to control
and prevent the discharge into the navigable waters, the contiguous
zone, or the ocean (either directly or through publicly owned
treatment works) of any pollutant which interferes with, passes
through, or otherwise is incompatible with such works.
(2) When publishing guidelines under this subsection, the
Administrator shall designate the category or categories of
treatment works to which the guidelines shall apply.
(h) Test procedures guidelines
The Administrator shall, within one hundred and eighty days from
October 18, 1972, promulgate guidelines establishing test
procedures for the analysis of pollutants that shall include the
factors which must be provided in any certification pursuant to
section 1341 of this title or permit application pursuant to
section 1342 of this title.
(i) Guidelines for monitoring, reporting, enforcement, funding,
personnel, and manpower
The Administrator shall (1) within sixty days after October 18,
1972, promulgate guidelines for the purpose of establishing uniform
application forms and other minimum requirements for the
acquisition of information from owners and operators of
point-sources of discharge subject to any State program under
section 1342 of this title, and (2) within sixty days from October
18, 1972, promulgate guidelines establishing the minimum procedural
and other elements of any State program under section 1342 of this
title, which shall include:
(A) monitoring requirements;
(B) reporting requirements (including procedures to make
information available to the public);
(C) enforcement provisions; and
(D) funding, personnel qualifications, and manpower
requirements (including a requirement that no board or body which
approves permit applications or portions thereof shall include,
as a member, any person who receives, or has during the previous
two years received, a significant portion of his income directly
or indirectly from permit holders or applicants for a permit).
(j) Lake restoration guidance manual
The Administrator shall, within 1 year after February 4, 1987,
and biennially thereafter, publish and disseminate a lake
restoration guidance manual describing methods, procedures, and
processes to guide State and local efforts to improve, restore, and
enhance water quality in the Nation's publicly owned lakes.
(k) Agreements with Secretaries of Agriculture, Army, and the
Interior to provide maximum utilization of programs to achieve
and maintain water quality; transfer of funds; authorization of
appropriations
(1) The Administrator shall enter into agreements with the
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, and the
Secretary of the Interior, and the heads of such other departments,
agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States as the
Administrator determines, to provide for the maximum utilization of
other Federal laws and programs for the purpose of achieving and
maintaining water quality through appropriate implementation of
plans approved under section 1288 of this title and nonpoint source
pollution management programs approved under section 1329 of this
title.
(2) The Administrator is authorized to transfer to the Secretary
of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of the
Interior and the heads of such other departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities of the United States as the Administrator
determines, any funds appropriated under paragraph (3) of this
subsection to supplement funds otherwise appropriated to programs
authorized pursuant to any agreement under paragraph (1).
(3) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the
provisions of this subsection, $100,000,000 per fiscal year for the
fiscal years 1979 through 1983 and such sums as may be necessary
for fiscal years 1984 through 1990.
(l) Individual control strategies for toxic pollutants
(1) State list of navigable waters and development of strategies
Not later than 2 years after February 4, 1987, each State shall
submit to the Administrator for review, approval, and
implementation under this subsection -
(A) a list of those waters within the State which after the
application of effluent limitations required under section
1311(b)(2) of this title cannot reasonably be anticipated to
attain or maintain (i) water quality standards for such waters
reviewed, revised, or adopted in accordance with section
1313(c)(2)(B) of this title, due to toxic pollutants, or (ii)
that water quality which shall assure protection of public
health, public water supplies, agricultural and industrial
uses, and the protection and propagation of a balanced
population of shellfish, fish and wildlife, and allow
recreational activities in and on the water;
(B) a list of all navigable waters in such State for which
the State does not expect the applicable standard under section
1313 of this title will be achieved after the requirements of
sections 1311(b), 1316, and 1317(b) of this title are met, due
entirely or substantially to discharges from point sources of
any toxic pollutants listed pursuant to section 1317(a) of this
title;
(C) for each segment of the navigable waters included on such
lists, a determination of the specific point sources
discharging any such toxic pollutant which is believed to be
preventing or impairing such water quality and the amount of
each such toxic pollutant discharged by each such source; and
(D) for each such segment, an individual control strategy
which the State determines will produce a reduction in the
discharge of toxic pollutants from point sources identified by
the State under this paragraph through the establishment of
effluent limitations under section 1342 of this title and water
quality standards under section 1313(c)(2)(B) of this title,
which reduction is sufficient, in combination with existing
controls on point and nonpoint sources of pollution, to achieve
the applicable water quality standard as soon as possible, but
not later than 3 years after the date of the establishment of
such strategy.
(2) Approval or disapproval
Not later than 120 days after the last day of the 2-year period
referred to in paragraph (1), the Administrator shall approve or
disapprove the control strategies submitted under paragraph (1)
by any State.
(3) Administrator's action
If a State fails to submit control strategies in accordance
with paragraph (1) or the Administrator does not approve the
control strategies submitted by such State in accordance with
paragraph (1), then, not later than 1 year after the last day of
the period referred to in paragraph (2), the Administrator, in
cooperation with such State and after notice and opportunity for
public comment, shall implement the requirements of paragraph (1)
in such State. In the implementation of such requirements, the
Administrator shall, at a minimum, consider for listing under
this subsection any navigable waters for which any person submits
a petition to the Administrator for listing not later than 120
days after such last day.
(m) Schedule for review of guidelines
(1) Publication
Within 12 months after February 4, 1987, and biennially
thereafter, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal
Register a plan which shall -
(A) establish a schedule for the annual review and revision
of promulgated effluent guidelines, in accordance with
subsection (b) of this section;
(B) identify categories of sources discharging toxic or
nonconventional pollutants for which guidelines under
subsection (b)(2) of this section and section 1316 of this
title have not previously been published; and
(C) establish a schedule for promulgation of effluent
guidelines for categories identified in subparagraph (B), under
which promulgation of such guidelines shall be no later than 4
years after February 4, 1987, for categories identified in the
first published plan or 3 years after the publication of the
plan for categories identified in later published plans.
(2) Public review
The Administrator shall provide for public review and comment
on the plan prior to final publication.
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