WASHINGTON -- Under Clinton Administration initiatives to expedite the cleanup of the Great Lakes, EPA has approved six Great Lakes states programs specifically tailored to clean up the Lakes, finding two states programs, those of Minnesota and Pennsylvania, consistent with federal Clean Water Act standards and the l995 Great Lakes Guidance.
Four states' programs, those of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, also were approved this week with minor exceptions in each state. Under the l995 Great Lakes Guidance issued by EPA and all eight Great Lakes states, the states agreed to adopt programs consistent with the guidance to ensure cleanup of the Great Lakes.
States can adopt their own programs as long as they are consistent with and as strict as federal criteria and standards, according to the Clean Water Act. To cover the four states' gaps in their programs, EPA is implementing federal Clean Water Act standards in those cases.
For example, certain provisions of EPA's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program will apply in the State of Illinois, until the state adopts those TMDL provisions.
Provisions of EPA's whole effluent toxicity criteria will apply in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio until those states adopt them.
This fall, EPA will publish its decision concerning New York's and Wisconsin's programs. EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner recently announced that the agency will soon finalize a ban on "mixing zones" in the Great Lakes for the most toxic, bioaccumulative chemicals of concern, such as mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides.
Mixing zones are areas within a waterway used to dilute chemical discharges and thus are allowed to exceed water quality standards.
EPA estimates that, as a result of the ban, load reductions of these bioaccumulative chemicals will range from 200,000 to 700,000 toxic pound equivalents a year. Direct water discharges of mercury will be reduced by almost 90 percent.
EPA's approval and additional details will be published in the Federal Register soon. It is also available at: http://www.epa.gov/ow, under "What's New."
