Rule No. 2: Rule Establishing Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters of the State of Arkansas, 8 CAR pt. 21

The Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) proposes this rulemaking before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (“APC&EC” or “Commission”) to amend Rule 2, (the Rule) to fulfill Arkansas’ responsibilities under the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. The Clean Water Act requires states to review the applicable water quality standards at least once every three years to determine whether any modifications are appropriate (“Triennial Review”).1 This rulemaking proposes to modify Rule 2 to clarify several provisions, add certain new criteria, revise certain criteria, remove certain criteria, make stylistic and formatting corrections throughout the Rule, and update the Rule to be consistent with the Code of Arkansas Rules (CAR) which changes Rule 2 to 8 CAR Part 21. Any changes to water quality standards adopted by a state during the Triennial Review2 must be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency for review and approval or disapproval. The standards adopted by the state are submitted to EPA along with any supporting information3 and a certification that the standards were adopted pursuant to state law.4 This submittal is to be provided to the EPA within thirty (30) days of the final state action to adopt and certify the revised standards.5 After the state submits its revised water quality standards, the EPA must approve or disapprove the revisions.6 If the EPA approves the new state standards, then those standards can be used for purposes of implementing the federal Clean Water Act, including such actions as listing water quality impairments, calculating Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), and 1 Section 303(c) of the Clean Water Act. 2 The review of water quality standards at least once every three years is commonly called the Triennial Review. 3 40 C.F.R. § 131.20 (c). 4 40 C.F.R. § 131.6(e). 5 40 C.F.R. § 131.20(c). 6 40 C.F.R. § 131.21. 13 developing effluent limits for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits.7 If the revised water quality standards are disapproved by the EPA, then the standards are not applicable water quality standards for purposes of implementing the Clean Water Act. If the water quality standards adopted by a state are disapproved by the EPA, then those standards cannot be used to implement the provisions of the Clean Water Act until the standards have been revised through a new rulemaking and re-submitted to the EPA for review and a

A public hearing was held on January 6, 2025. The public comment period closed on January 21, 2025. The agency provided the following summary of public comments: Commenter Name: American Electric Power Service Corporation (AEP) COMMENTS: The revision of chronic ammonia water quality standards no longer accounts for presence versus absence of fish early life stages. In addition, the proposed water quality standards for warm waters where fish early life stages are present would be reduced by approximately half, with water quality standards reduced by an even greater percentage for warm waters where fish early life stages were designated as absent. The reduction is so significant that for warm waters with high pH, AEP is concerned that the water quality standard will be below the reporting limit (RL) for laboratories we have used in the past, and that accurate monitoring results will not be feasible, even if limits are above the method detection limits. AEP encourages ADEQ to keep the limited capabilities in sample analysis in mind when using these water quality standards to develop permit limits. AEP also requests that ADEQ reconsider applying separate water quality standards based o

• ALC summary agenda Jun 19, 2025
• ALC agenda Jun 19, 2025
• ALC meeting video Jun 19, 2025
• Arkansas Register, July 2025