Programs for Standards Implementation

Ecology has three main avenues of water quality standards implementation to ensure that Washington waters are protected:

Water Quality Assessments: The Water Quality Assessment process provides a comprehensive list of impaired waters in the state. Washington State's Water Quality Assessment lists the status of water quality for a particular location in one of 5 categories recommended by EPA. This assessment represents the Integrated Report for Sections 303(d) and 305(b) of the Clean Water Act:
- Categories 1 – 4 represent the status of waters for the 305(b) Report.
- Category 5 represents those waters placed on the 303(d) list.
For more information on water quality assessments see the Water Quality Assessment web site.
Total Maximum Loads (TMDLs): The Water Quality Program leads a TMDL process used in coordination with the Environmental Assessment Program (EAP). This process provides studies and reports on the current health of waters in the state along with the water quality assessments. TMDLs are implemented through:
- Wasteload allocations, inserted as pollutant limits in permits by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program to point source dischargers. (See below for more information on the NPDES program.)
- Load allocations and non-regulatory programs for nonpoint sources.
For more information on TMDLs see the TMDL web site.
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits: The NPDES permit program protects waters from polluted discharges. Wastewater and stormwater releases are regulated primarily by wastewater discharge permits, which stipulate specific limits and conditions of allowable discharge. Spreadsheets for water quality-based NPDES permit calculations are available. Guidance for implementing temperature criteria is also available.

For more information on NPDES permits see the Permits - Point Source Pollution web site.
Water Quality Pollution Trading: Pollution trading, sometimes called water quality credit trading, uses the market concept to help achieve water quality goals. The objective of a water quality credit-trading program is to facilitate economic exchanges that demonstrably reduce pollution and clean up impaired surface waters more quickly.
- Washington Water Quality Trading/Offset Framework (draft)
- Comments received on the draft Trading Framework
- Responsiveness summary on the comments we received
- Focus on Water Quality Trading (Ecology publication)
For more information on water quality pollution trading see EPA’s water quality trading page: water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/trading.cfm web site.

More information related to water quality standards implementation

Last updated July 2011