Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA's Final Rule for Numeric
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Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters Disclaimer This document is intended to support U.S. EPA’s (hereafter EPA or the Agency) numeric water quality criteria for nutrients promulgated on November 14, 2010 pursuant to section 303(c)(4) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (40 CFR §131.43). The information provided herein does not substitute for the CWA or EPA’s regulations; nor is this document a regulation itself. Thus, this document cannot and does not impose any legally binding requirements on EPA, states, authorized tribes, the regulated community, or any other party, and might not apply to a particular situation or circumstance. i Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters Authors Galen Kaufman1, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Jacques L. Oliver, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Dana A. Thomas, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tim Wool, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lester L. Yuan, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Jon Butcher, Tetra Tech Jeroen Gerritsen, Tetra Tech Michael J. Paul, Tetra Tech Lei Zheng, Tetra Tech Contributors The following people provided scientific and technical support in the development of EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria for Florida’s inland lakes and flowing waters: Janice Alers-Garcia, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Betsy Behl, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency James Carleton, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tiffany Crawford, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Ed Decker, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Erica Fleisig, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Richard Greene, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency James Hagy, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency F. James Keating, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lauren Petter, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Danielle Salvaterra, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Marjorie Wellman, Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Steven Davie, Tetra Tech Alex DeWire, Tetra Tech Jon Harcum, Tetra Tech John Hochheimer, Tetra Tech Ann Lincoln, Tetra Tech Dacia Mosso, Tetra Tech 1 John A. Knauss Sea Grant Fellow, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Sea Grant College Program. ii Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters Acknowledgements EPA acknowledges the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration, and associated state water quality programs, advisory committees, and contractors, for their collaboration in assisting the Agency’s efforts in developing numeric nutrient criteria for Florida’s inland surface fresh waters. EPA specifically thanks the following people who provided material and scientific advisory support of the Agency’s rulemaking efforts: Andrew Bartlett, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Jerry Brooks, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Russell Frydenborg, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Joy Jackson, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Daryll Joyner, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Denise Miller, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Frank Nearhoof, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Grover Payne, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Emily Peffer, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Kenneth Weaver, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Nijole Wellendorf, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Leska Fore, Statistical Design Xu-Feng Niu, Florida State University iii Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters Table of Contents Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................................... i Authors .......................................................................................................................................... ii Contributors .................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Scope and Purpose of this Document ......................................................................................... xi Foreword ...................................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Derivation of EPA’s Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Streams ...............................1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................1 1.2 Development of Nutrient Watershed Regions (NWRs) ....................................................5 1.2.1 Refinement of Regionalization for Nutrient Criteria Development .....................6 1.2.2 Development of the Nutrient Watershed Regions (NWRs) ..................................8 1.3 The Reference Condition Approach for Deriving Instream Protective TN and TP Concentrations ...........................................................................................................18 1.3.1 Data Selection and Preparation ...........................................................................18 1.3.2 Identification of Reference Population – Least Disturbed Sites (Benchmark Population) .....................................................................................20 1.3.3 Identification of Reference Population – Biologically Healthy Sites (SCI Population) ..........................................................................................................28 1.3.4 Evaluation of Nutrient Concentrations and Distributions of Benchmark and SCI Populations within Each NWR .............................................................29 1.3.5 Calculation of Numeric Nutrient Criteria – Benchmark and SCI Populations ..........................................................................................................38 1.4 Defining Healthy Aquatic Life in Florida Streams .........................................................45 1.4.1 Development of the Stream Condition Index .....................................................47 1.4.2 Establishing Healthy Biological Conditions in Streams––Stream Condition Index: Application of the Reference Condition Approach ................47 1.4.3 Biological Condition Gradient Approach ...........................................................48 1.4.4 Evaluation of BCG Calibration Information.......................................................50 1.4.5 Selecting the Threshold between Healthy and Unhealthy Biological Conditions ...........................................................................................................51 1.4.6 Analysis of Biological Data in the Benchmark Population ................................51 1.5 Duration and Frequency for Streams Numeric Nutrient Criteria....................................52 1.6 Summary .........................................................................................................................54 1.7 References .......................................................................................................................57 Chapter 2: Derivation of EPA’s Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Lakes ................................65 2.1 Background .....................................................................................................................65 2.2 Lake Classification..........................................................................................................68 2.2.1 Background .........................................................................................................68 2.2.2 Data .....................................................................................................................70 2.2.3 Classification Analysis........................................................................................73 2.2.4 Statistical Analysis of Alternative Classification Systems .................................81 2.3 Methodology for Chl-a Criteria ......................................................................................84 iv Technical Support Document for U.S. EPA’s Final Rule for Numeric Criteria for Nitrogen/Phosphorus Pollution in Florida’s Inland Surface Fresh Waters 2.3.1 Trophic State .......................................................................................................85 2.3.2 Existing Conditions .............................................................................................87 2.3.3 Paleolimnological Studies ...................................................................................88 2.3.4 Least-Disturbed