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REGION 10 TEMPERATURE CRITERIA GUIDANCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Impact/Purpose:
Development of temperature criteria that the Pacific NW states and tribes can use in the development of protective temperature standards for fish.
Description:
The US EPA, Region 10 in collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and representative Pacific Northwest Tribes have initiated a project to establish regional temperature criteria guidance for the Pacific Northwest. The intent of the project is to develop water temperature criteria guidance that meets the biological requirements of native salmonid species for servival and recovery pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Clean Water Act. This criteria guidance will be used by states and tribes in the Northwest to develop or revise water quality standards for temperature and for EPA to review and approve or disapprove those state and tribal water quality standards. The project is to be completed by October, 2001. This project is an outcome of EPA's ESA Section 7 consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (the Services) regarding EPA's approval of Oregon's water quality temperature standard. During the consultation, concerns were raised that the Oregon temperature standard was inadequate to protect salmonid species. Due to these concerns, an agreement was made between EPA, the Services, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to develop regional water temperature criteria guidance that would be protective of listed salmonids. This effort differs from past EPA criteria development approaches in that it will be regionally specific with the intent of meeting the goals of both the Clean Water Act and the ESA. This effort builds upon past working, including studies and review conducted by the National Academy of Sciences and those sponsored by states and tribes. Geographically diverse thermal regimes, hydrogeological constraints, zoogeography and salmonid life history patterns will be reviewed in development of the criteria guidance.