Carbaryl, Carbofuran, and Methomyl - National Marine Fisheries ...

California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
On November 27, 2006, EPA issued a final rule which exempted pesticides from the
NPDES permit process, provided that application was approved under FIFRA. The
NPDES permits, then, do not include any point source application of pesticides to
waterways in accordance with FIFRA labels. This rule was vacated by the courts on
January 7, 2009 (National Cotton Council v. EPA, 553 F.3d 927 (6 th Cir. 2009)).
Baseline Water Temperature­ Clean Water Act
Elevated temperature is considered a water pollutant in most states with approved Water
Quality Standards under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972. As per the CWA,
states periodically prepare a list of all surface waters in the state for which beneficial uses
- such as drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial use – are impaired by
pollutants. These are water quality limited estuaries, lakes, and streams that do not meet
state surface water quality standards, and are not expected to improve within the next two
years. This process is in accordance with section 303(d) of the CWA. There are five
categories a waterway can be classified under as per section 303(d):
• Category 1: Meets tested water quality standards;
• Category 2: Some evidence of a water quality problem, action not yet required;
• Category 3: Insufficient data;
• Category 4: Polluted waterway with solution being implemented; and
• Category 5: Polluted waterway, action is required
Water bodies listed under Category 5 are those that are considered impaired or threatened
by pollution. The “303(d) list” is generally considered synonymous with the Category 5
waters, and will be treated as such within this Opinion.
Each state has separate and different 303(d) listing criteria and processes. Generally a
water body is listed separately for each standard it exceeds, so it may appear on the list
more than once. If a water body is not on the 303(d) list, it is not necessarily
contaminant-free; rather it may not have been tested. Therefore, the 303(d) list is a
minimum list for the each state regarding polluted water bodies by parameter.
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