EPA Response to Public Comments on the 2014 External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life AWQ Chronic Criterion for Selenium-Freshwate
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EPA Response to Public Comments on the 2014 External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Chronic Criterion for Selenium-Freshwater EPA Response to Public Comments on the 2014 External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Chronic Criterion for Selenium-Freshwater In May 2014, EPA released an External Peer Review Draft national recommended aquatic life criterion for the pollutant selenium in freshwater and provided in total a 75-day public comment period on the draft document (ending July 28, 2014). The 2014 draft document was then subjected to an independent, contractor- led, external expert peer review, and peer reviewers were provided the 2014 public comments for their information. In July 2015, EPA released a revised draft selenium criterion document that reflected consideration of: a) the external expert peer review feedback on the 2014 draft criterion, b) the external expert peer reviewers’ feedback on the 2014 public comments provided to the peer reviewers, and; c) EPA’s own consideration of comments from the 2014 public comments on the draft criterion. The following is a summary of public comments received on the 2014 External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Chronic Criterion for Selenium - Freshwater and EPA responses reflecting the science as presented in the 2016 final document. The 2014 public comments listed in this document were arranged into major categories. For each comment category a summary of overarching public comments is provided and comments from individual commenters were divided across identified categories. For the full individual public comments, the reader is directed to the public docket at regulations.gov (Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019) https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019. EPA responses are given below in the right-hand column under each category of comment. Comment tracking Docket ID, Attribution, Comment Response number Comment Category 1.1 – Comments on Sources of Selenium Summary: Many commenters provided specific examples of natural selenium sources that contribute to elevated ambient concentrations. Several commenters described activities, such as mining and irrigation that contribute to elevated concentrations of selenium in receiving waters. 165 EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019-0266-A2; Transportation and Storm Water Department, City of San Response to the comment on natural sources of Diego, California; Posted 6/16/2014 selenium: Selenium is an issue for many municipalities within southern California due to local geology rather EPA referred to this issue raised in 2014 in the 2015 draft document than runoff from the urban landscape. The local geology is a known source of selenium in California in section 2.1 noting: “Selenium is a naturally occurring element and although surface water concentrations can be higher based on natural soils, bioaccumulation and present in sedimentary rocks and soils. Where deposits of the resulting impacts to beneficial uses varies significantly. Numerous efforts throughout California Cretaceous marine shales occur, they can weather to produce high have focused on tissue-based approaches to more appropriately manage and regulate selenium, with selenium soils; such soils are present in many areas of the western an emphasis on protection of aquatic life (fish) and aquatic-dependent wildlife (birds). In certain U.S. (Lemly 1993c). Selenium is abundant in the alkaline soils of the 2 Comment tracking Docket ID, Attribution, Comment Response number areas, such as Orange County, local agencies have worked for over a decade with the USEPA, Great Plains, and some ground waters in California, Colorado, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming contain elevated State Water Resources Control Board, and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, to concentrations of selenium due to weathering of and leaching from develop appropriate objectives for selenium. Therefore, the implications of the proposed revisions to rocks and soils.” the freshwater selenium criterion are an important issue in southern California. Subsequently, EPA added additional text to the 2016 document, 172 EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019-0271-A2; Coordinator, Barnes & Thornburg LLP on behalf of the prior to the description of anthropogenic-related increases in Federal Water Quality Coalition; Posted 6/17/2014 selenium stating that “Natural weathering of selenium-bearing EPA should also consider that natural selenium levels are high in some regions of the country. As a geologic strata containing selenium can lead to selenium leaching result, selenium concentrations in public water supply systems, provided from groundwater wells, can into groundwater and surface water.” in some cases be higher than surface water quality standards, so that effluents from facilities using that water supply will also be higher than standards, even if the facilities themselves contribute no Regarding the comment regarding inclusion of information from the significant selenium loadings. This issue should be addressed in the development of water quality GEI 2014 review on selenium occurrence, EPA did not use this standards, as well as in implementation procedures. information in the document as presented in that review. The review’s figure (map with surface water Se concentrations) provided 173 EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019-0272-A2; Clark County Water Reclamation District; Posted 6/17/2014 by GEI in their comment which shows the 2014 lentic value (1.3) The Clark County Water Reclamation District (District) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the exceeded at 64% of sites and lotic value (4.8) exceeded at 24% of “External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criterion for Selenium – Freshwater sites used the highest selenium value measured at the sites, rather 2014.” The District collects and treats wastewater at seven plants in Clark County, Nevada. We return than a concentration that would better reflect the use of the entire much of our highly treated effluent to the Colorado River (River) system via the Las Vegas Wash and data set, such as a central tendency estimate. Boulder Basin of Lake Mead. The comments below are substantively similar to those submitted by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (Authority), of which we are a member. Response to comment 163 Selenium is a naturally occurring mineral in certain rocks and soils. Weathering rocks, including Regarding comment 163, which notes that EPA discusses natural volcanic and sedimentary rocks, are the major sources of environmental selenium. These types of sources of selenium but “EPA doesn't go any further in describing rocks and soils are common in the desert southwest, along the Colorado River, and in the Las Vegas flexibilities or recommended approaches for criteria development for Valley. Some waterbodies in the Las Vegas Valley are currently classified as impaired for selenium states that have naturally elevated selenium.” on Nevada’s Water Quality Integrated Report. These listings may affect future discharge permits. Our treatment and return of River water results in the Authority receiving return flow credits. Site –specific criteria development is discussed in Appendix K of the Therefore, our ability to return flows of highly treated wastewater is an essential component in the 2016 criterion document. Implementation issues such as flexibilities community’s limited water resources. are beyond the scope of a criteria document. Technical support materials are being developed by EPA separately and will be 163 EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019-0257-A2; Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ); released following the issuance of the final selenium criterion. Posted 6/16/2014 Naturally Occurring Selenium Response to comment 120: Regarding comment 120 from the Southern Nevada Water As outlined in pages 9 and 10 of the draft criteria document, selenium is a naturally occurring element Authority, requesting that “river systems and impoundments on river present in sedimentary rocks and soils; weathering of and leaching from these formations and soils 3 Comment tracking Docket ID, Attribution, Comment Response number can lead to naturally elevated concentrations of selenium in ground and surface waters. Although systems, like the Colorado River and the reservoirs on the river, be EPA describes these conditions in the draft criteria document, EPA doesn't go any further in considered "lotic" and be defined as such in the Environmental describing flexibilities or recommended approaches for criteria development for states that have Protection Agency's (EPA) regulation”, EPA notes that the selenium naturally elevated selenium. WDEQ/WQD, therefore, requests that EPA include recommendations on criterion is NOT a regulation. The selenium aquatic life criterion is a approaches and considerations for developing site-specific criteria for states that have seleniferous recommendation describing concentrations of selenium protective of geologic formations. aquatic life. EPA's recommended criteria do not impose legally binding requirements. States and authorized Tribes have the 201 EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019-0352-A1; Western Coalition of Arid States (WESTCAS) [Comments discretion to adopt, where appropriate, other scientifically defensible 0319-A2 and 0321-A1 are duplicates of 0352-A1]; Posted 8/7/2014 water quality criteria that differ from these recommendations. In the West, where water is extremely limited, we have a large number