[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 21]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR130.7]

[Page 392-394]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 130_WATER QUALITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  130.7  Total maximum daily loads (TMDL) and individual water quality-based effluent limitations.

    (a) General. The process for identifying water quality limited 
segments still requiring wasteload allocations, load allocations and 
total maximum daily loads (WLAs/LAs and TMDLs), setting priorities for 
developing these loads; establishing these loads for segments 
identified, including water quality monitoring, modeling, data analysis, 
calculation methods, and list of pollutants to be regulated; submitting 
the State's list of segments identified, priority ranking, and loads 
established (WLAs/LAs/TMDLs) to EPA for approval; incorporating the 
approved loads into the State's WQM plans and NPDES permits; and 
involving the public, affected dischargers, designated areawide 
agencies, and local governments in this process shall be clearly 
described in the State Continuing Planning Process (CPP).
    (b) Identification and priority setting for water quality-limited 
segments still requiring TMDLs.
    (1) Each State shall identify those water quality-limited segments 
still requiring TMDLs within its boundaries for which:
    (i) Technology-based effluent limitations required by sections 
301(b), 306, 307, or other sections of the Act;
    (ii) More stringent effluent limitations (including prohibitions) 
required by either State or local authority preserved by section 510 of 
the Act, or Federal authority (law, regulation, or treaty); and
    (iii) Other pollution control requirements (e.g., best management 
practices) required by local, State, or Federal authority are not 
stringent enough to implement any water quality standards (WQS) 
applicable to such waters.
    (2) Each State shall also identify on the same list developed under 
paragraph (b)(1) of this section those water quality-limited segments 
still requiring TMDLs or parts thereof within its boundaries for which 
controls on thermal discharges under section 301 or State or local 
requirements are not stringent enough to assure protection and 
propagation of a balanced indigenous population of shellfish, fish and 
wildlife.
    (3) For the purposes of listing waters under Sec.  130.7(b), the 
term ``water quality standard applicable to such waters'' and 
``applicable water quality standards'' refer to those water quality 
standards established under section 303 of the Act, including numeric 
criteria, narrative criteria, waterbody uses, and antidegradation 
requirements.
    (4) The list required under Sec. Sec.  130.7(b)(1) and 130.7(b)(2) 
of this section shall include a priority ranking for all listed water 
quality-limited segments still requiring TMDLs, taking into account the 
severity of the pollution and the uses to be made of such waters and 
shall identify the pollutants causing or expected to cause violations of 
the applicable water quality standards. The priority ranking shall 
specifically include the identification of waters targeted for TMDL 
development in the next two years.

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    (5) Each State shall assemble and evaluate all existing and readily 
available water quality-related data and information to develop the list 
required by Sec. Sec.  130.7(b)(1) and 130.7(b)(2). At a minimum ``all 
existing and readily available water quality-related data and 
information'' includes but is not limited to all of the existing and 
readily available data and information about the following categories of 
waters:
    (i) Waters identified by the State in its most recent section 305(b) 
report as ``partially meeting'' or ``not meeting'' designated uses or as 
``threatened'';
    (ii) Waters for which dilution calculations or predictive models 
indicate nonattainment of applicable water quality standards;
    (iii) Waters for which water quality problems have been reported by 
local, state, or federal agencies; members of the public; or academic 
institutions. These organizations and groups should be actively 
solicited for research they may be conducting or reporting. For example, 
university researchers, the United States Department of Agriculture, the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States 
Geological Survey, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are 
good sources of field data; and
    (iv) Waters identified by the State as impaired or threatened in a 
nonpoint assessment submitted to EPA under section 319 of the CWA or in 
any updates of the assessment.
    (6) Each State shall provide documentation to the Regional 
Administrator to support the State's determination to list or not to 
list its waters as required by Sec. Sec.  130.7(b)(1) and 130.7(b)(2). 
This documentation shall be submitted to the Regional Administrator 
together with the list required by Sec. Sec.  130.7(b)(1) and 
130.7(b)(2) and shall include at a minimum:
    (i) A description of the methodology used to develop the list; and
    (ii) A description of the data and information used to identify 
waters, including a description of the data and information used by the 
State as required by Sec.  130.7(b)(5); and
    (iii) A rationale for any decision to not use any existing and 
readily available data and information for any one of the categories of 
waters as described in Sec.  130.7(b)(5); and
    (iv) Any other reasonable information requested by the Regional 
Administrator. Upon request by the Regional Administrator, each State 
must demonstrate good cause for not including a water or waters on the 
list. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, more recent or 
accurate data; more sophisticated water quality modeling; flaws in the 
original analysis that led to the water being listed in the categories 
in Sec.  130.7(b)(5); or changes in conditions, e.g., new control 
equipment, or elimination of discharges.
    (c) Development of TMDLs and individual water quality based effluent 
limitations.
    (1) Each State shall establish TMDLs for the water quality limited 
segments identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and in 
accordance with the priority ranking. For pollutants other than heat, 
TMDLs shall be established at levels necessary to attain and maintain 
the applicable narrative and numerical WQS with seasonal variations and 
a margin of safety which takes into account any lack of knowledge 
concerning the relationship between effluent limitations and water 
quality. Determinations of TMDLs shall take into account critical 
conditions for stream flow, loading, and water quality parameters.
    (i) TMDLs may be established using a pollutant-by-pollutant or 
biomonitoring approach. In many cases both techniques may be needed. 
Site-specific information should be used wherever possible.
    (ii) TMDLs shall be established for all pollutants preventing or 
expected to prevent attainment of water quality standards as identified 
pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Calculations to establish 
TMDLs shall be subject to public review as defined in the State CPP.
    (2) Each State shall estimate for the water quality limited segments 
still requiring TMDLs identified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, 
the total maximum daily thermal load which cannot be exceeded in order 
to assure protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous 
population of shellfish, fish and wildlife. Such estimates shall take

[[Page 394]]

into account the normal water temperatures, flow rates, seasonal 
variations, existing sources of heat input, and the dissipative capacity 
of the identified waters or parts thereof. Such estimates shall include 
a calculation of the maximum heat input that can be made into each such 
part and shall include a margin of safety which takes into account any 
lack of knowledge concerning the development of thermal water quality 
criteria for protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous 
population of shellfish, fish and wildlife in the identified waters or 
parts thereof.
    (d) Submission and EPA approval. (1) Each State shall submit 
biennially to the Regional Administrator beginning in 1992 the list of 
waters, pollutants causing impairment, and the priority ranking 
including waters targeted for TMDL development within the next two years 
as required under paragraph (b) of this section. For the 1992 biennial 
submission, these lists are due no later than October 22, 1992. 
Thereafter, each State shall submit to EPA lists required under 
paragraph (b) of this section on April 1 of every even-numbered year. 
For the year 2000 submission, a State must submit a list required under 
paragraph (b) of this section only if a court order or consent decree, 
or commitment in a settlement agreement dated prior to January 1, 2000, 
expressly requires EPA to take action related to that State's year 2000 
list. For the year 2002 submission, a State must submit a list required 
under paragraph (b) of this section by October 1, 2002, unless a court 
order, consent decree or commitment in a settlement agreement expressly 
requires EPA to take an action related to that State's 2002 list prior 
to October 1, 2002, in which case, the State must submit a list by April 
1, 2002. The list of waters may be submitted as part of the State's 
biennial water quality report required by Sec.  130.8 of this part and 
section 305(b) of the CWA or submitted under separate cover. All WLAs/
LAs and TMDLs established under paragraph (c) for water quality limited 
segments shall continue to be submitted to EPA for review and approval. 
Schedules for submission of TMDLs shall be determined by the Regional 
Administrator and the State.
    (2) The Regional Administrator shall either approve or disapprove 
such listing and loadings not later than 30 days after the date of 
submission. The Regional Administrator shall approve a list developed 
under Sec.  130.7(b) that is submitted after the effective date of this 
rule only if it meets the requirements of Sec.  130.7(b). If the 
Regional Administrator approves such listing and loadings, the State 
shall incorporate them into its current WQM plan. If the Regional 
Administrator disapproves such listing and loadings, he shall, not later 
than 30 days after the date of such disapproval, identify such waters in 
such State and establish such loads for such waters as determined 
necessary to implement applicable WQS. The Regional Administrator shall 
promptly issue a public notice seeking comment on such listing and 
loadings. After considering public comment and making any revisions he 
deems appropriate, the Regional Administrator shall transmit the listing 
and loads to the State, which shall incorporate them into its current 
WQM plan.
    (e) For the specific purpose of developing information and as 
resources allow, each State shall identify all segments within its 
boundaries which it has not identified under paragraph (b) of this 
section and estimate for such waters the TMDLs with seasonal variations 
and margins of safety, for those pollutants which the Regional 
Administrator identifies under section 304(a)(2) as suitable for such 
calculation and for thermal discharges, at a level that would assure 
protection and propagation of a balanced indigenous population of fish, 
shellfish and wildlife. However, there is no requirement for such loads 
to be submitted to EPA for approval, and establishing TMDLs for those 
waters identified in paragraph (b) of this section shall be given higher 
priority.

[50 FR 1779, Jan. 11, 1985, as amended at 57 FR 33049, July 24, 1992; 65 
FR 17170, Mar. 31, 2000; 66 FR 53048, Oct. 18, 2001]

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