You are here:
Developing and Using Science for Regulation: A Perspective
Citation:
Norberg-King, T. Developing and Using Science for Regulation: A Perspective. : Department Seminar, Univ. North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, October 19, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
: The Clean Water Act sets the goal of maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters and the national policy, and with that goal, the discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts is prohibited. At the USEPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD)’s research laboratory, the Mid-Continent Ecology Division, the research has been developed with aquatic toxicology at the core of our mission and research. This presentation will give an overview of EPA’s Office of Research and Development and highlight the various research programs and how the data is used and technical role ORD/Duluth is applied in a regulatory agency. This will provide examples of the science development of methods for effluents, sediments and single chemicals to highlight how we integrate our science into the regulations. Examples will include how our research with multiple species has been used for the water quality criteria development, as well as how we have developed tests for whole effluent toxicity (WET) and sediment. Our research played a key role in having the WET methods incorporated into the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits program. This is an important component of the Environmental Protection Agency’s integrated approach to water quality-based toxics control, along with aquatic life chemical-specific criteria and biological assessments. This presentation does not necessarily represent the position or policy of the U.S. EPA.
Description:
This presentation will give an overview of EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) highlighting research efforts at ORD’s Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED) in Duluth, MN. Various research programs at the Division will be described and how technical expertise of MED is applied in a regulatory agency. Specific topics covered will include research efforts on effluents, sediments and single chemicals to provide examples of how the results from this research get integrated into the regulatory process.