January 2017
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for Minnesota's Impaired Waters List.
The
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) submitted Minnesota’s 2016 proposed
Impaired Waters List to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval
on Jan. 4, 2017.
The
MPCA posted a draft version of the list for public viewing in July 2016. After
a series of public meetings and a formal comment period, the agency made a few changes
to the draft list based on public input. These changes consisted of removing
three
impairments from the list and adding
six.
This modified list was submitted to the
EPA for its approval. This process of posting, revising, and submitting the Impaired
Waters List occurs every two years, as required by the federal Clean Water Act.
As
part of the public participation for the 2016 Impaired Waters List:
- The
agency held five meetings across Minnesota to talk about the listing process
and the waterbodies impaired in the regions.
- During
the formal comment period, the agency received public comments from more than
700 individuals or organizations, and responded to each one.
- Some
comments warranted changes to the 2016 draft Impaired Waters List or the 2016
Guidance Manual (the document that explains how assessments are conducted).
Contents
of the public meetings, the public comments, the MPCA responses to comments,
and the updated Guidance Manual were all sent to EPA along with the 2016
proposed list for review.
Please note that the
MPCA is continuing work to assess waters for the 10 mg/L sulfate standard in
Minnesota Rules 7050.0224, subpart 2, that protects “water used for production
of wild rice during periods when the rice may be susceptible to damage by high
sulfate levels” as part of the 2016 Impaired Waters List. The MPCA plans to
make the results of the wild rice sulfate standard assessments available in an
addendum to the 2016 Impaired Waters List.
To view public comments, responses to comments, the Guidance
Manual, or the 2016 proposed Impaired Waters List go to the Impaired Waters List webpage. For questions, contact Miranda Nichols (651-757-2614, miranda.nichols@state.mn.us).
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