Abstract |
This document, upon approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), establishes Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), nitrogen, and phosphorus 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) 26.08.02.08 O). These uses are defined as follows: Use I-P Water Contact Recreation, Protection of Aquatic Life and Public Drinking Supply; Use II: Tidal Waters: Support of Estuarine and Marine Aquatic Life and Shellfish Harvesting Use III Natural Trout Waters; and Use IV Recreational Trout Waters. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has identified the Anacostia (MD basin number 02140205) on the State's 303(d) List as impaired by the following (listing years in parentheses): nutrients (1996); sediments (1996); fecal bacteria (2002); impacts to biological communitiesnon-tidal waters (2002); toxics: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heptachlor epoxidenon-tidal waters (2002); trash/debris (2006); and PCBs in fish tissue in tidal waters (2006). Fecal bacteria TMDLs for MD tidal and non-tidal areas of the Anacostia were submitted in 2006 and subsequently approved by EPA. Inter-jurisdictional TMDLs addressing MDs sediment and tidal PCBs listings were submitted in 2007 and subsequently approved by EPA. |