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<br />OJ2973 <br /> <br />Position No, 228 <br /> <br />Detailed Comments <br />by the Western States Water Council <br />on Proposed TMDL Rule <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />The Council supports efforts to improve the quality of impaired water bodies, and appreciates <br />EPA's efforts to provide national leadership toward this goal. In order for these efforts to be <br />successful, it is important for the national TMDL program to be based upon realistic requirements that <br />are achievable with available resources; are supported by applicable law; and allow sufficient flexibility <br />on the part of states in implementing the program to deal with the variety of characteristics and <br />circumstances that exist in the respective states, The Council is concerned that the TMDL program as <br />now proposed by EPA constitutes a complex and resources-intensive effort which may hinder the <br />success of many ongoing state programs, <br /> <br />The proposed TMDL program revisions, which were portrayed as an incremental refinement of <br />the existing program, would result in a substantial new resource burden. Water quality monitoring and <br />assessment needs would experience a tremendous increase, in an effort to support defensible decisions <br />to list (or not list) particular water bodies and to develop appropriate and defensible TMDLs, The time <br />and expense associated with developing a more complex Section 303(d) list, in the face of heightened <br />concerns regarding the implications of listing decisions, would also increase. Further, the costs of <br />developing TMDLs that satisfy the rigorous expectations of the proposed rule would be substantially <br />greater than is the case at present, particularly in view of EPA's expectation that a detailed <br />implementation plan be developed as part of each TMDL. <br /> <br />By expanding the functions of Section 303(d), including requirements for implementation plans <br /> <br /> <br />accompanied by "reasonable assurances", the proposed rules would leave states with the burden of <br /> <br /> <br />implementing a controversial program in ways that Congress has not explicitly sanctioned. The <br /> <br /> <br />Council supports implementation as a component of the TMDL program, but in the absence of such <br /> <br /> <br />action by Congress, the Council urges caution in formulating revisions to EPA's TMDL program, <br /> <br /> <br />Western states have established explicit statutory frameworks for the TMDL program, These programs <br /> <br />I <br />