Comment on WVDEP's Biological Assessment Rule

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Comment on WVDEP's Biological Assessment Rule

The WVDEP is again accepting public comments on a revised rule that analyzes the aquatic life in the stream to assess whether the stream is meeting the state’s water quality standards. The latest iteration of the procedural rule is being developed by WVDEP in response to SB 687 passed in 2017. Its purpose is to define the aquatic life component in the narrative water quality standards and the threshold at which the standard is being met or not.

The narrative water quality standards state that a stream must be able to support aquatic life. This narrative standard has been used to hold industry accountable for polluting a stream to the point where it no longer supports a healthy population of aquatic organisms. The aquatic organisms used to measure stream health are the benthic macroinvertebrates.

WVDEP’s new procedural rule describes an approach based on the current method that WVDEP has used for the past 18 years. The agency has yet to adopt EPA’s recommended method. The currently used method, WV Stream Condition Index (WVSCI), scores aquatic life communities on a scale of 0-100. The new rule would establish an impairment threshold of 50, an attainment threshold of 72, and values between 50 and 72 must undergo additional analysis. This revised method raises several concerns:

The impairment value of 50 and 61 are not based on any statistical information or scientific data.
The streams receiving values between 50 and 72 must undergo additional analysis, during which time they are neither listed as impaired nor considered healthy.
The proposed rule does not fulfill WVDEP’s duties under the Clean Water Act and allows DEP to delay listing streams that fall within 50 and 72 until additional analysis is performed.
The current method, WVSCI, used to calculate whether a stream supports aquatic life is outdated and should be updated to the more accurate, EPA recommended method, Genus Level Assessment of Most Probable Stream Status (GLIMPSS).

Let WVDEP know you want them to use a more precise method to assess stream health! Submit your comments by March 26.

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WVDEP

Subject: Comments on Biological Assessment Methodology - 47 CSR 2B

Message:

As a citizen concerned with the health of our streams in West Virginia, I am submitting the following comments on the Assessment Methodology for the Biological Component of the Narrative Criteria in Wadeable Streams: · The proposed impairment threshold of 50 is statistically and scientifically unsupportable. The attainment threshold is proposed to be a West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WVSCI) score of 72 (the same threshold used for both attainment and impairment in the 2014 303(d) list). This threshold was established using the 5th percentile of reference samples. The impairment threshold, however, was arbitrarily designated at 50 and based on a threshold at which “the Department is confident that streams won’t be listed unnecessarily.” The designated impairment threshold of 50 is entirely outside of the reference dataset and cannot be justified by any statistical methods appropriate for use in developing a biological assessment methodology. I urge DEP to use a method that is statistically significant and based on sound science; not the Department’s common sense values. · The revised rule still relies on a zone of uncertainty. The revised rule separates thresholds for attainment and impairment of a stream’s biological criteria. Scores between 50 and 72 are indeterminate and must undergo additional analysis before being defined as impaired. However, the streams have sufficient data but the DEP is choosing not to acknowledge that data for what it is, an impairment. I disapprove of the DEP’s use of indeterminate values between 50 and 72 requiring additional sampling and analysis. The revised rule delays the listing of impaired streams. The semi-impaired streams must be considered impaired based on the initial sample. · DEP’s Method for assessing aquatic life is outdated. DEP continues to use WVSCI to assess aquatic life health in streams even though EPA has recommended using GLIMPSS. Since 2010, EPA has instructed DEP to move to a genus-level methodology instead of WVSCI which only assesses macroinvertebrates to the family-level. In each subsequent approval of the state’s impaired stream list, EPA has requested that DEP use GLIMPSS. In this revised rule, DEP acknowledges the importance of genus level data when assessing streams with scores between 61 and 72. I request DEP use the genus level methodology throughout the assessment instead of only using the genus level data when a stream has a questionable value. Adopt the most up-to-date GLIMPSS methodology for assessing aquatic life in streams. Thank you for taking these comments into consideration.

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Comment on WVDEP's Biological Assessment Rule

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Comment on WVDEP's Biological Assessment Rule

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