B.Site-Specific Criteria. Site-specific numerical criteria for a toxic substance reflecting specific circumstances different from those used in, or not considered in the derivation of the statewide criteria, or for toxic pollutants lacking national criteria, must be adopted by the Department only as part of a waste discharge license proceeding, pursuant to 38 MRS Sections413, 414, and 414-A. Site-specific criteria must be based on sound scientific rationale, be as protective as federal water quality criteria and must be protective of the most sensitive designated and existing uses of the water body, including, but not limited to, habitat for fish and other aquatic life, human consumption of fish and drinking water supply after treatment. Where the Department finds a request for site-specific criteria may affect other sources discharging to the same waterway, it may, pursuant to 38 MRS, Section414-A(5)(A), reopen for modification those licenses for consideration in the same proceeding. The information necessary to ensure that criteria are adequately evaluated must be submitted by a person requesting alternative criteria. The adequacy of this information shall be determined by the Department and may include, among other things, a literature search, user surveys and consumption rate calculations. A literature search of the properties of toxicants includes, but is not limited to, its toxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, bioaccumulation/bioconcentration, and regulation by other states or foreign countries. Requests must provide information identifying specific uses of the water body in question, and any other relevant site-specific circumstance or information different from those used, or any not considered, in the derivation of the statewide criteria. Relevant information includes such things as sensitive or unique physical, chemical or biological conditions of the waterbody, rare or significant plant or wildlife communities and habitats located in the water body, or human populations having distinct uses or needs with regard to the water body.
Any request to the Department to establish site-specific criteria must also include, at a minimum, the following. A plan of study must be submitted to the Department for review and approval prior to the beginning of the studies, and may include the consideration of existing relevant scientific information as well as proposals for site-specific investigations.
Note: Site specific criteria have been adopted for copper, cadmium, and aluminum in freshwater sections of the Androscoggin River, for copper in the Little Androscoggin River and for aluminum, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in the St. Croix River. Please see footnotes in Appendix A for applicability.
(1)Aquatic Life Criteria(a) Minimum requirements include toxicity tests conducted generally according to the USEPA Water Quality Standards Handbook: Second Edition, EPA-823-B-94-005-a, USEPA, Office of Water, Washington, DC, August, 1994, and applicable Water-effect Ratio Guidance or other guidance for development of site specific criteria approved by the Department.(b) For complex effluents with more than one potentially toxic pollutant, both dilution waters (receiving water and laboratory water) must be spiked with all pollutants present in the effluent in significant amounts, except the pollutant of interest, or the whole effluent at levels representative of the calculated receiving water concentrations at the appropriate design flow. Pollutants present in significant amounts relative to toxic levels must be determined by means of periodic testing within two years of submitting the plan of study to the Department. The pollutant of interest must be added at various concentrations bracketing the target concentration (the existing or anticipated criterion) to determine an appropriate site-specific criterion. This procedure must be repeated for each pollutant for which site-specific criteria are to be proposed.(c) For discharges to freshwater, the water flea (Ceriodaphnia dubia) reproductive and survival test, and the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), or other salmonid approved by the Department, survival and growth tests must be conducted. For discharges to marine waters, Mysid shrimp (America mysisbahia) survival test, and the sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) fertilization test must be conducted.(d) Results should be based on measured concentrations.(e) For heavy metal tests, the metal must be added in the form of inorganic salts of relatively high solubility, such as nitrate salts or in some cases, chloride or sulfate salts.(f) Sufficient testing must be conducted to properly characterize seasonal variations and the water quality criteria of concern. Receiving water and effluent sampling must be representative of expected conditions and exclude periods of floods, storm events and abnormal operation of the discharge source.(2)Human Health Criteria. Persons requesting site specific criteria for the protection of human health must provide information following the general methods and considerations specified by USEPA in "Revisions to the Methodology for Deriving Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health (2000)," EPA-822-B-00-004, USEPA, Office of Science and Technology, Washington, D.C., 65 Federal Register No. 214, pp. 66443-66482, November 3, 2000. The Department shall consider this information and information provided by the Department of Human Services. In determining if site specific criteria are appropriate, the Department shall first evaluate whether there is an identifiable population(s) using a water body whose use(s) is distinct from that of the population considered when establishing the statewide criteria. If the Department identifies such a population, it shall consider activities or customs that would constitute a use of the water body substantially different in type or extent than that upon which statewide criteria are based. The Department shall consider, among other things, the following: (a) Studies designed and implemented to provide accurate information regarding the fact and extent of specific human activities that create a potential exposure to toxics in the water body, including such things as the rate of consumption of organisms, use of a water body as a drinking water supply, recreation in and on the water, and other specific uses of the water body established by local cultural or commercial practices;(b) The importance of organisms affected by a toxic substance, taking into consideration their places in the food chain and the degree to which they are used or consumed by humans;(c) Scientific evidence typically relied upon by experts in the field of toxicology showing the potential effect of a toxic substance in the discharge that is the subject of the licensing, on human health, given a particular established use of the water body; and(d) Unique characteristics of the water body or organisms depending on it that effect exposure of humans to toxics in the water body.