ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
environment; total maximum
daily loads
Allows the Department to
develop and provide public notice of total maximum daily load draft estimates
and draft allocations concurrently rather than consecutively.
The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that each state identify those waters within its boundaries for which the effluent limitations are not sufficient to meet and maintain applicable water quality standards. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the list of impaired waters for Arizona, which includes 103 water bodies and 225 impairments.
The CWA also requires states to establish total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for these waters. A TMDL sets the amount of a given pollutant that the water body can assimilate without creating an impairment of that surface water’s designated use. A TMDL is the sum of all pollutants from point sources and nonpoint sources with the inclusion of a margin of safety and natural background conditions.
Current statute requires the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (Department) to first prepare and provide public notice of a draft estimate of the total amount of each pollutant, from all sources, that causes the impairment and the amount of pollutant that may be added to the water while still allowing the water to achieve applicable surface water quality standards. After the draft estimates are adopted, the Department is required to determine draft allocations among the contributing pollutant sources and provide public notice of the allocations. The CWA requires the EPA to approve all TMDLs established by the State. According to the Department, there are currently 25 EPA approved TMDLs for 11 water bodies and 50 additional TMDLs for 17 water bodies pending EPA approval.
H.B. 2097 allows the
Department to develop and provide public notice of the draft estimates and the draft allocations
concurrently rather than consecutively.
There
is no anticipated fiscal impact on the state general fund relating to the
provisions of this bill.
1. Requires the Department to simultaneously provide public notice of TMDL draft estimates and draft allocations.
2. Requires draft allocations to be submitted to the regional administrator of the EPA only if the submission is required by federal rule.
3. Makes technical changes.
4. Provides for a general effective date.
ENV 1/22/02 DP 6-0-0-4-0
3rd Read 3/21/02 54-0-6-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 8, 2002