Upcoming Meetings

No upcoming meetings.

Scope and Purpose

The Criteria Assessment Protocol Workgroup objectives are to create a partnership agreement on and MD, VA, DE and DC adoption of criteria assessment protocols for the remaining DO criteria in time for the April 2016 303(d) listing cycle to inform the 2017 mid-point assessment and prioritize and resolve additional water quality criteria assessment protocol questions from the partnership.

Projects and Resources

STAC Criteria Addendum Review: Ambient Water Quality Criteria for DO, Water Clarity and Chla

The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership requested that the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) provide a scientific review of the 2017 Technical Addendum to the document: “Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity and Chlorophyll-a for the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries.” This addendum was developed by the Criteria Assessment Protocol Workgroup of the Scientific, Technical, Assessment and Reporting (STAR) team, and provides refinements and clarifications to the previously published Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria assessment procedures.
The Criteria Addendum Review Team was selected based on their expertise in estuarine dissolved oxygen, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), chlorophyll, water clarity, statistics and application of water quality criteria in the context of a total maximum daily load (TMDL). The team was asked to address questions regarding the overall appropriateness and justification of the approach taken, the clarity of the document in providing a complete set of guidance for assessing water quality standards attainment, the scientific rigor of the methods used, and provide recommendations to the CBP about potential future enhanced criteria-assessment procedures.

CHLA Assessment Review/Recommendations Aug 9, 2016 Initial Meeting

These are the minutes from the first meeting of the CAP workgroup, held August 9, 2016, to discuss the short-term task of 1) critically reviewing the existing tidal waters chlorophyll a assessment procedures and 2) providing consensus recommendations on any alternatives to consider in revision of the existing procedures by mid-September 2016.

Ambient WQ Criteria for DO, Water Clarity & Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay & Its Tidal Tribs

Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity, and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and It's Tidal Tributaries & Technical Support for Criteria Assesment Protocols Addenda

Since the signing of the multijurisdictional Chesapeake 2000 agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with its six watershed State partners and the District of Columbia, has developed a series of water quality criteria guidance documents in accordance with Section 117b of the Clean Water Act. Chesapeake Bay regional water quality criteria were developed and adopted into state water quality standards regulations protective of living resources and their habitats.

These documents include the 2003 Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria document and it's following addenda; as such readers should regard the sections in these addenda as new or replacement chapters and appendices to the original published report. The criteria assessment procedures published in these addenda also replace and otherwise supersede similar criteria assessment procedures originally published in the 2003 Regional Criteria Guidance. Publication of future addenda by EPA on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Program watershed jurisdictional partners is likely as continued scientific research and management applications reveal new insights and knowledge that should be incorporated into revisions of state water quality standards regulations in upcoming triennial reviews.

Publications

2017 Technical Addendum Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity and Chla

A total of seven addendum documents have been published by EPA since April 2003. Four addenda were published documenting detailed refinements to the criteria attainment and assessment procedures (U.S. EPA 2004a, 2007a, 2008, 2010) previously published in the original April 2003 Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria document (U.S. EPA 2003a). One addendum published Chesapeake Bay numerical chlorophyll a criteria (U.S. EPA 2007b). Three addenda addressed detailed issues involving further delineation of tidal water designated uses (U.S. EPA 2004b, 2005, 2010) building from the original October 2003 tidal water designated uses document (U.S. EPA 2003b). Finally, one addendum documented the 92-segment Chesapeake Bay segmentation scheme (U.S. EPA 2008) after refinements to the Chesapeake Bay Program analytical segmentation schemes were documented (U.S. EPA 2005) building from the original U.S. EPA 2004 document (U.S. EPA 2004b). This 2017 addendum is the eight addendum document developed through the Partnership and published by EPA.

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Members

Peter Tango (Chair), Monitoring Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  ptango@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 267-9875
August Goldfischer (Staffer), Scientific, Technical Assessment and Reporting (STAR) Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  agoldfischer@chesapeakebay.net
Andrew Muller, U.S. Naval Academy
Address:
121 Blake Ave
Annapolis, Maryland 21402

Email:  amuller@usna.edu
Bruce Michael, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
Tawes State Office Bldg., C-2
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  bmichael@dnr.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 260-8627
Cindy Johnson, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
629 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  csjohnson@deq.virginia.gov
Breck Sullivan, Scientific, Technical Assessment & Reporting Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  bsullivan@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 267-5788
Diana Muller, South River Federation
Address:
2830 Solomons Island Rd, Suite A
Edgewater, Maryland 21037

Email:  riverkeeperdiana@southriverfederation.net
Donald Smith, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
629 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  donald.smith@deq.virginia.gov
Howard Weinberg, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Address:
410 Severn Avenue
Suite 112
Annapolis, Maryland 21403

Email:  hweinber@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 267-5735
John Wolf, GIS Team Lead, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  jwolf@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 267-5739
Ken Moore, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:
PO Box 1346
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  moore@vims.edu
Phone:  (804) 684-7484
Lee Karrh, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  lkarrh@dnr.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 260-8650
Mark Trice, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Ave
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  mtrice@dnr.state.md.us
Michael Lane, Old Dominion University (ODU)
Address:
5115 Hampton Boulevard
Norfolk, Virginia 23529

Email:  mflane@odu.edu
Richard Tian, Research Scientist, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  rtian@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 295-1328
Roberto Llanso, Versar
Address:
9200 Rumsey Rd # 100
Columbia, Maryland 21046

Email:  rllanso@versar.com
Sherm Garrison, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Ave
Tawes State Office Bldg., D-2
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  sgarrison@dnr.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 260-8624
Tish Robertson, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
629 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  tlrobertson@deq.virginia.gov
Tom Parham, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
Tawes State Office Building
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  tparham@dnr.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 260-8633
William Hunley, Hampton Roads Sanitation District
Address:
Technical Services Division
PO Box 5911
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23471

Email:  whunley@hrsd.com
Phone:  (757) 460-4252
Cleo Stevens, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  Cleo.Stevens@deq.virginia.gov
Phone:  (804) 698-4191
David Parrish, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:
1208 Greate Rd
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  parrishd@vims.edu
Phone:  (804) 684-7835
David Wolanski, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Address:
820 Silver Lake Boulevard, Silver Lake Plaza, Suite 220
Dover, Delaware 19904

Email:  david.wolanski@state.de.us
Phone:  (302) 739-9939
John Backus, Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:
Montgomery Park Business Center
1800 Washington Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Email:  jbackus@mde.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 537-3965
Rodney Kime, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Address:
400 Market Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105

Email:  rkime@pa.gov
Phone:  (717) 783-7964
Matthew Stover, Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:
1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 540
Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Email:  mstover@mde.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 537-3611
Thomas Barron, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Address:
400 Market St
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101

Email:  tbarron@pa.gov
Phone:  (717) 787-9614