WVDEP 2011 Water Quality Standards Proposed Rule

On June 9, 2010, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection announced its schedule of public hearings for its 2011 proposed legislative rules. Of particular importance to the Coal Industry is proposed rule 47CSR2, Requirements Governing Water Quality Standards. While the rule proposes a number of minor changes, two changes are of particular importance to the coal industry, as a whole. 

 

First, the rule proposes to change chronic iron criterion for Category B-2 “trout waters” from 0.5 mg/l to 1.0 mg/l. This change seeks to align West Virginia’s iron criterion with EPA’s national recommended water quality criterion for aquatic life. 

 

Second, the rule proposes to adopt a total dissolved solids (TDS) criteria of 500 mg/l for Category A waters. TDS is primarily comprised of sulphates from mining operations and chlorides from a variety of sources, including oil and gas drilling operations. Category A is used to describe waters which after conventional treatment, are used for human consumption. This includes all community domestic water supply systems, all non-community domestic water supply systems, all private domestic water systems, and all other surface water intakes where the water is used for human consumption. Currently, the DEP applies Category A criteria to many stream uses, if not all. However, if the DEP applies Category A criteria to all the small tributaries throughout the state in implementing this TDS standard it would likely cause problems for many in the coal industry. While this TDS standard can be met in larger tributaries, meeting this standard in small tributaries with little water flow would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for those in the coal industry. Therefore, this proposed rule could have a wide-ranging effect depending on how it is implemented. 

 

The public hearing for this rule will begin at 6 p.m., Monday, July 19 in the Coopers Rock Training Room at the DEP’s Charleston headquarters, 601 57th Street S.E., Charleston, WV 25304. Oral and written comments will be limited to the proposed revisions and will be made a part of the rulemaking record. Copies of all the 2011 proposed rules are available from the Secretary of State’s office or from the DEP at www.wvdep.org. Written comments may be submitted to the Public Information Office at the above address. Comments may also be e-mailed to DEP.Comments@wv.gov. The comment period will end at the conclusion of the hearing on Monday, July 19.

 

This article was authored by Matthew S. Tyree, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.