Water Quality Standards have 3 main components
Each state, territory, and tribe has its own legal and administrative procedures for adopting WQS. Usually, standards are developed using a workgroup process or informal public meetings and are ultimately proposed for public comment. States, territories, and tribes must adopt water quality criteria with enough coverage and adequate stringency to protect designated uses. In developing criteria to protect the designated use, they may:
- adopt EPA-recommended criteria
- adopt unique criteria to reflect site-specific conditions
- use other scientifically defensible methods to develop their own criteria
The EPA must review and approve each submission from a state, territory, or tribe. The proposed water quality standards must be approved by the EPA before they are used as the basis for actions under the Clean Water Act, such as establishing water quality based effluent limitations. If the EPA determines that the submission meets the Clean Water Act requirements, the standards become applicable. The state, territory, or authorized tribe is required to periodically review its approach to water quality protection at least once every three years.
Water quality standards have three core components, specifically:
- designated uses: the WQS require states, territories, and authorized tribes to specify goals for how each water body is used, and typical designated uses include protection and propagation of fish and wildlife, recreation, public drinking water supply, and industrial, agricultural, navigational, and other purposes
- criteria: states, territories, and tribes adopt WQS to protect the water body, and water quality criteria can be numeric (such as the maximum pollutant concentration levels permitted in a water body) or narrative (such as a criterion describing the desired conditions of a water body being "free from" certain negative conditions)
- antidegradation requirements: one of the primary objectives of the Clean Water Act is to "maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters," and antidegradation requirements offer a framework for maintaining water quality that has already been achieved
If your drinking water source is contaminated with PFAS, you might be entitled to financial compensation that will cover the cost of water testing, remediation, and treatment. Our experienced attorneys, who have been handling toxic exposure cases for over three decades, will gladly assist you in joining the PFAS water contamination lawsuit.
Join the PFAS water contamination lawsuit with our expert assistance
Communities whose drinking water source has a detectable PFAS level might be eligible to join the PFAS water contamination lawsuit. If your drinking water source meets these requirements, feel free to contact our skilled attorneys, who will offer you a free-of-charge case evaluation. Eligible communities will join the lawsuit and might eventually obtain a part of the 3M settlement of $12.5 billion to fund water testing, remediation, and treatment.
