Draft TMDL Plan Focuses on Protecting Waters, Not Just Restoring Impaired Ones

摘要

State agencies may be able to assess and develop plans to protect healthy waters alongside those to restore impaired ones as part of a yearlong effort by the Environmental Protection Agency and state water agencies to reform the process for writing total maximum daily loads documents. A TMDL plan calculates the maximum level of pollutants that each point source, such as wastewater utilities, and nonpoint source, such as farms, may discharge while still meeting water quality standards. States, territories, and tribes with EPA oversight develop lists of impaired waters and develop TMDL plans for them under Section 303 (d) of the Clean Water Act.