Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Technical Support for Criteria Assessment Protocols Addenda

Description

Since the signing of the multijurisdictional Chesapeake 2000 agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with jurisdictional partners, 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 and regulations protective of living resources and their habitats.

These documents include the 2003 Chesapeake Bay water quality criteria document and its 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 the U.S. EPA on behalf of the Chesapeake Bay Program's 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.