Abstract |
Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (USEPA) 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. A water quality standard is the combination of a designated use for a particular body of water and the water quality criteria designed to protect that use. For each WQLS listed on the Integrated Report of Surface Water Quality in Maryland (Integrated Report), the State is to either establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of the specified substance that the waterbody can receive without violating water quality standards, or demonstrate via a Water Quality Analysis (WQA) that water quality standards are being met. The Bynum Run watershed (basin code 02130704), located in Harford County, was identified on the States list of WQLSs and listed in the Integrated Report under Category 5 as impaired by sediments, nutrients (1996 listings), impacts to biological communities (2002 listing) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)(2006 listing). The Bynum Run watershed was de-listed for nutrients in 2007 following USEPA concurrence with Maryland Department of the Environments (MDE) analysis of water column data collected during 1998-2004, which showed no nutrient impairment. |