Tuesday July 16, 2002
EPA Draft Strategy for Water Quality Standards and Criteria
Source: EPA

Water quality standards and criteria are the regulatory and scientific foundation of programs established under the Clean Water Act to protect the Nation's waters. As such, they are among the most critical clean water programs. They need renewed  focus and priority-setting, particularly since the  nature of water pollution problems and needed   solutions have changed dramatically. 

This draft strategy is the product of a wide-ranging review of the existing water quality standards and  criteria program within the context of all clean  water programs. The review covered clean water goals, mandates and authorities; EPA's current  strategic goals for clean water and other strategic planning efforts; major needs of the current EPA standards and criteria program and key programs linked to it including total maximum daily loads  (TMDLs), National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and source water protection; and current trends in water quality including emerging environmental problems. The review also  considered the results of more than 50 listening sessions conducted for this draft strategy with over 350 people during April-September 2001 and recent  recommendations from the National Research Council, the General Accounting Office, EPA's Inspector General, and EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee.

For fact sheet:
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/strategy/fs.pdf

For draft long-term strategy:
 http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/strategy/index.html

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