WSR 98-17-085
PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY
[Order 98-21--Filed August 18, 1998, 4:32 p.m.]
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Human health sediment criteria; revised chemical and biological criteria, revised cleanup implementation procedures, revised definitions (as amendments to the sediment management standards, chapter 173-204 WAC).
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: Chapter 90.48 RCW, the Water Pollution Control Act; chapter 70.105D RCW, the Model Toxics Control Act; chapter 90.70 RCW, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority Act.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Numeric, health-based sediment criteria are intended to reduce and ultimately eliminate significant health threats to humans via the ingestion of fish and shellfish contaminated by toxic, bioaccumulative and persistent compounds by: (1) Establishing standards for the quality of surface sediments; (2) applying these standards as the basis for management and reduction of pollution discharges; and (3) providing a management and decision process for the cleanup of contaminated sediments. Revisions to chemical and biological criteria, cleanup implementation procedures and definitions are responding to annual review comments by the public and will clarify requirements, reduce duplication with other ecology rules and update methods and criteria to accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: U.S. EPA Region 10, Army Corps of Engineers, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Transportation, and the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority. Each of these agencies participate in the cooperative sediment management program and the Sediment Management Standards Implementation Committee. Ecology routinely briefs these groups on the sediment management standards rule development process and accepts their comments and recommendations.
Process for Developing New Rule: Negotiated rule making.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Brett Betts, Department of Ecology, P.O. Box 47703, Olympia, WA 98504-7703, phone (360) 407-6914, fax (360) 407-6904, e-mail bbet461@ecy.wa.gov, (email) http://www.wa.gov/ecology/sea/smu/sediment.html.
August 12, 1998
Gordon White
Program Manager