Abstract |
This document, upon approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), establishes Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for sediment/total suspended solids (TSS) in Marylands (MD) tidal and non-tidal portions of the Anacostia River (the Anacostia) and the District of Columbias (DC) tidal Anacostia. Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and EPAs implementing regulations direct each state to identify and list waters, known as water quality limited segments (WQLSs), in which current required controls of a specified substance are inadequate to achieve water quality standards. For each WQLS, the State is required to either establish a TMDL of the specified substance that the waterbody can receive without violating water quality standards, or demonstrate that water quality standards are being met. In Maryland, the Anacostia and its tributaries have been variously designated as Use I-P, II, III and IV waters (Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 26.08.02.08O). The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has identified the Anacostia (MD Basin No. 02140205) in the States 303(d) List as impaired by the following (listing years in parentheses): nutrients (1996), sediments (1996), fecal bacteria non-tidal waters (2002), impacts to biological communities (2002), toxics polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (2002), toxics heptachlor epoxide (2002) and fecal bacteria tidal waters (2004). This document addresses the sediments impairment. Fecal bacteria TMDLs for MD tidal and non-tidal areas of the Anacostia were submitted to EPA for approval in 2006. The listings for other impairments will be addressed separately at a future date. |