Ohio EPA schedules public hearing on proposed amendments to water quality standards rules

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) scheduled a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC)’s rules on the Water Quality Standards Program, which will take place on April 5 at the Ohio EPA Central Office in Columbus.

The Water Quality Standards Program governs the state’s efforts to protect its surface waters, like lakes, rivers and streams, from pollutants. The rules that the Ohio EPA is proposing to amend fall in Chapter 3745-1 and include analytical methods and document availability; criteria and values modifications for specific sites; the methodology used to derive bioaccumulation factors, and the water quality criteria for and development of wildlife criteria for the Lake Erie drainage basin.

The Ohio EPA’s proposed amendments impact the rules’ formatting and citations, and are based on a mandatory five-year review of water quality standards rules.

The agency scheduled the meeting recently to provide a notice period of at least 45 days before the hearing, and has yet to file the proposed rules with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. Those interested in attending or in submitting public comments on the proposed changes can access the preliminary proposed rules and a fact sheet about them at the Ohio EPA’s website. The agency will collect public comments until April 5.