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.' H 1'"1 .~ _l ( , '0 > Ti~Je 4o--Praf:t.'d:iol'1 of En'liroom."t CH"I'ITR I-ENVIRON>.lEI'n'Al P~()TEcnON AGENCY lI-'RL~wih')1 PART 12<l-WATER QUALIlY 51 AI'IOAROS Color.ado Riller System; Salinity Control Policy Ol"d S~;)ndards Procedurea The pnrpoPoe of th.l.i llot.ice is to o.m~nd 40 crn Pl\l"t l~O to ~et forth R 5nUDity control polICY unci procedure... R..,u. re.. Quiremeut.~ tor e!:bbUshlng waU'r QuaUI.)' st.o.nlliJ,r<1s (or !'al1n.ity Rnd n plan ot tm~ plereer.tation for s3lin1ty control in the Color:\uo River Syst.e.m which tics ~1tJlln tilB B:.ates of Arizona, CaliIem.1a, Colo- trIdo, :(\;t:V3da, New MexJ.co, Utah. and Wyom1n:J; pursuant. to secbon 3\)3 ot the Federal Water PoUut1on Control Act, aa amended (33 U.S.C. 1313). A DOUce pro- poslng 51lch pollcy and standards prace-- dun's \VQ..::l bsueu. on June la, 187" (39 l-"'R ~070J. 39 FR 24517l. llIgh soJmlty <wlal d1s:lOlved 6Olld:l) l.:i recoqnlzed os a s1gmOcant wo.ter qual.. ity problE"m cnusinlir o.dveI'5e impacts on water uses. SaliDi~y conccntro.UoDS Are nlleeted by two ba:sic processe.1: (a) Salt lo~lnR'-ll1c Bdclit~on of mineml r.alt.1 (rom varioU3 naturaJ nnd mau..ma.de sources. a.nd \b) salt concentrntin:-Uie loss of w:lter from tl:1e system 1hrouah streum depleUon. SbJcUcs to dllle hllve demonstrated. Utat the htgh salinity o( stream. 5Y!'>t.ezns can be 111lev1:J.tcd. AllhouRh further 6tud:l may be reQuired to determ.ice ll1e ec0..- nomIc Ilnd technico.l fca.slbWf;,- of COIl- trolling specific sources, suff..-::l.ent infor.. m!l.w'on W ava.Uable to develop D. aaliwt-Y control progr::t.m. S~\l1nltY st.andards for the ColorNlo Rh.er System would be u:seCulln the ior- mulallon of o.n cC"ecUve saUnlty coutt"ol r)ro~r:un" In developlnR these st:J.ndnlw. lh~ ~l'\'en Stat.f'!'I rQU!\t coopiI!rntc with one .mother ami tile ~'.cderal (;oVf!mm~n~ to :,upport nnd tmplement tho conc1u- ~iOl:"'1 nnd recommendaUoru 3.dOilt..--d AprU 27. 1972. by Ule reconvI'nPd 7th. SC'.islon of .the Conference In Ul.l~ ?1.:\tter " of Pollution DC the Interntatc 'WEltNs at the Co:ondo River nnd i.ts Tl1butarLe.s. Publ1c he~rttlg3 on the proPO:ied rc.q- lllntion were held in La.:3 Vr:~~llS. N~v:'!.tln. on August 19. In". and in Denver. Colo- melo. on AU~lLSt :H. 1974. PubUc com- ments were pTO\'lcled Qt I.h~ ~cnrtr.g3 ~nd 301:;0 hy lettcr durin::r the review pert~d" A summary of ranjor comme!"l.lor: Rnd En~ ,"!ro:-:,r::lenLo.l Protection Ag~!1C::Y rcspolloie (ollo'.\':;: (l) The Colorado River Basin S:l1l:"1iL:.r Control Forum slated lh:J.t it dl:.1 not. obj~ct to the llt'lpo!'ed rp.~u1:ltlo!1. ~nd uplic\'cc1 tlU\t tt !:'O.t.l:..;ti.r:-d th'~ rP(ltlirp:t'~n~.;, of I-,t'ctlon 30J<bl (2) of p.r.. n.?-~Cfl 1:J"Ilil October 18. 197~. The rorum :""Ill.."t...d that th.e seven Co!nr:H1Q Piver Ua':in States wc-re ncLively worl~inf! on "h-:"! dt>~ ,"cl()pm~nt of w:\ter Qlu!ilY st:1.ncl:\!'d:; ~:Uld f\ l)rAu of implementation for saUni w control. (~) The ColoradQ Rivet WaLet C~u... ser.,'ation District Inquired B.l to 'Q,'heUler - 25 the definition of the Colomdo River Damn conta1oed in ArUcle n(t> of the Colorado RIver Compact of 1922 would be followed In the development of sallnH.y 5bndards and the saUn1ty control plan. - The ~ulrement. tor establishing water quo.llty standards nnd:m 1mplemenlo.Uon plan apply to Ute Colorado River S}"st.em as dcnned in PElI't 120.5(0.) of t.hU regu- 1.1tion. This dcflnlUon 13 cOlulstent w1U1. the den.niUon of tho Colorado River Sys- tem cont.o.ined in ArUcte II(a) of the Compact. The reaulD.t:lon states Ul.at the SD.lirut.y problenl shElU be treated as a basinwide problem. Artlcle3 lIUJ and n(g) dl!nne the Basin to 1nclude the Sys- tem plus areas outslde the dro.1naglll area whlch are lServed by Ule Colorado R1ver System. The Enl'tronmental Prot.ecUon Alenc}" (EPA) wllJ require thQ,~ the standArd:J and lmplementaUon plan con- sider the Impacts 01 ba,,'lnw1de uses, e.g., transmountoln dlversloM, on lSa11nJty elJects In the ~tem. but the esto.bl1sh- ment of st.andards nnd lmpletnent&Uon plM.S punuant to thLs reKUlaUon wlll not be required for streams located. outside the System. The District also questioned the feaslbUlty of rdy1n1J' on lrriill.tlon im- provement proi'1'ams as a mea.n.s of 0.1- leviaUna' the sallnlty problem. EPA believes that adequate 1ntorma... Uon is avaUable to lrutlate contro13 for 1rT1aa.ted agriculture, yet at the lSlUIle time a.cknowledi'es that additional work. 1.3 needed to demonstrate the emcacy of certain cOb~rol mell3u.res. Projed.s pres- ently belnl 8upported by EPA. and others should demoMtrllte the adeQuD.c;r of varlous control mea.Jures Including m3cagement and non.structural tech.. nlQues. These measures ~l be consld... end durlna the development. of the 1m.. plementat10n plan. (3) nle EnvlronmentEll Defense Fund (EDF) t("ll.Uned tb3t it beolleved th3t EPA Wl\3 not compIylna: wlth the requlreraenl1 of the Federo.l WElter Pollution Control Act, as amended, chJetiy because at EPA's late response to the timetable de- . lineated in the Act for est.abllsh1nS standards. and nlso because numertcal lStandard3 still bo.v~ not been set for the ColoradO River System. EDF called upOn IPA to wtthdru.w the proposed regula- tlon nnd promptly promula:a.te numer1.. cnllimlll for sal\n..1ty. EPA believes that a move to promul- Bate nu:nerlcal standllrds at this time could cause ever !urtl1.er del~ys In con... troUin~ 53-Unity due to the problems In- "olved with obto.ininl{ interstate coopern,.. tion and publiC accept.ance or lSuch a promu[R:atlon. (4) The Slerrl\ Club raised R nllmber or objxtion.s t.o the I>roposed regulation. prinCipally because. in Its opinion, It permlt:::; !urther dl";elopment o[ the watC'rs or Ule Colorar.o River \Ioithout l"e- Quiring that o.dequo.te s:1lln.ity contro13 bo:' on line prlur to development. Spe- cific !:un::estions arc: . fa) Section 120.5(c) (~). Shorten the deadline Cor ::;ubrnL.iioll at the standards nnd Implementation plan to May ~O. 1n:J.