33 U.S.C. § 2803 : US Code - Section 2803: Comprehensive Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program

Search 33 U.S.C. § 2803 : US Code - Section 2803: Comprehensive Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program

(a) Authority; joint implementation
(1) The Administrator and the Under Secretary, in conjunction
with other Federal, State, and local authorities, shall jointly
develop and implement a program for the long-term collection,
assimilation, and analysis of scientific data designed to measure
the environmental quality of the Nation's coastal ecosystems
pursuant to this section. Monitoring conducted pursuant to this
section shall be coordinated with relevant monitoring programs
conducted by the Administrator, Under Secretary, and other Federal,
State, and local authorities.
(2) Primary leadership for the monitoring program activities
conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to this
section shall be located at the Environmental Research Laboratory
in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
(b) Program elements
The Comprehensive Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program shall
include, but not be limited to -
(1) identification and analysis of the status of environmental
quality in the Nation's coastal ecosystems, including but not
limited to, assessment of -
(A) ambient water quality, including contaminant levels in
relation to criteria and standards issued pursuant to title III
or (!1) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311
et seq.);
(B) benthic environmental quality, including analysis of
contaminant levels in sediments in relation to criteria and
standards issued pursuant to title III of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.); and
(C) health and quality of living resources.(!2)
(2) identification of sources of environmental degradation
affecting the Nation's coastal ecosystems;
(3) assessment of the impact of governmental programs and
management strategies and measures designed to abate or prevent
the environmental degradation of the Nation's coastal ecosystems;
(4) assessment of the accumulation of floatables along coastal
shorelines;
(5) analysis of expected short-term and long-term trends in the
environmental quality of the Nation's coastal ecosystems; and
(6) the development and implementation of intensive coastal
water quality monitoring programs in accordance with subsection
(d) of this section.
(c) Monitoring guidelines and protocols
(1) Guidelines
Not later than 18 months after October 29, 1992, the
Administrator and the Under Secretary shall jointly issue coastal
water quality monitoring guidelines to assist in the development
and implementation of coastal water quality monitoring programs.
The guidelines shall -
(A) provide an appropriate degree of uniformity among the
coastal water quality monitoring methods and data while
preserving the flexibility of monitoring programs to address
specific needs;
(B) establish scientifically valid monitoring methods that
will -
(i) provide simplified methods to survey and assess the
water quality and ecological health of coastal waters;
(ii) identify and quantify through more intensive efforts
the severity of existing or anticipated problems in selected
coastal waters;
(iii) identify and quantify sources of pollution that cause
or contribute to those problems, including point and nonpoint
sources; and
(iv) evaluate over time the effectiveness of efforts to
reduce or eliminate pollution from those sources;
(C) provide for data compatibility to enable data to be
efficiently stored and shared by various users; and
(D) identify appropriate physical, chemical, and biological
indicators of the health and quality of coastal ecosystems.
(2) Technical protocols
Guidelines issued under paragraph (1) shall include protocols
for -
(A) designing statistically valid coastal water quality
monitoring networks and monitoring surveys, including
assessment of the accumulation of floatables.(!2)
(B) sampling and analysis, including appropriate physical and
chemical parameters, living resource parameters, and sediment
analysis techniques; and
(C) quality control, quality assessment, and data consistency
and management.
(3) Periodic review
The Administrator and the Under Secretary shall periodically
review the guidelines and protocols issued under this subsection
to evaluate their effectiveness, the degree to which they
continue to answer program objectives and provide an appropriate
degree of uniformity while taking local conditions into account,
and any need to modify or supplement them with new guidelines and
protocols, as needed.
(4) Discharge permit data
The Administrator or a State permitting authority shall ensure
that compliance monitoring conducted pursuant to section
402(a)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1342(a)(2)) for permits for discharges to coastal waters is
consistent with the guidelines issued under this subsection. Any
modifications of discharge permits necessary to implement this
subsection shall be deemed to be minor modifications of such
permit. Nothing in this subsection requires dischargers to
conduct monitoring other than compliance monitoring pursuant to
permits under section 402(a)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(a)(2)).
(d) Intensive coastal water quality monitoring programs
(1) In general
The Comprehensive Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Program
established pursuant to this section shall include intensive
coastal water quality monitoring programs developed under this
subsection.
(2) Designation of intensive monitoring areas
Not later than 24 months after October 29, 1992, and
periodically thereafter, the Administrator and the Under
Secretary shall, based on recommendations by the National
Research Council, jointly designate coastal areas to be
intensively monitored.
(3) Identification of suitable coastal areas
(A) The Administrator and the Under Secretary shall contract
with the National Research Council to conduct a study to identify
coastal areas suitable for the establishment of intensive coastal
monitoring programs. In identifying these coastal areas, the
National Research Council shall consider areas that -
(i) are representatives of coastal ecosystems throughout the
United States;
(ii) will provide information to assess the status and trends
of coastal water quality nation-wide; and
(iii) would benefit from intensive water quality monitoring
because of local management needs.
(B) In making recommendations under this paragraph, the
National Research Council shall consult with Regional Research
Boards established pursuant to title IV of this Act [16 U.S.C.
1447 et seq.].
(C) The National Research Council shall, within 18 months of
October 29, 1992, submit a report to the Administrator and the
Under Secretary listing areas suitable for intensive monitoring.
(D) The Administrator and the Under Secretary, in conjunction
with other Federal, State, and local authorities, shall develop
and implement multi-year programs of intensive monitoring for
Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays, the Gulf of Maine, the
Chesapeake Bay, the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, and each area jointly
designated by the Administrator and the Under Secretary pursuant
to paragraph (2).
(4) Intensive coastal water quality monitoring programs
Each intensive coastal water quality monitoring program
developed pursuant to this subsection shall -
(A) identify water quality conditions and problems and
provide information to assist in improving coastal water
quality;
(B) clearly state the goals and objectives of the monitoring
program and their relationship to the water quality objectives
for coastal waters covered by the program;
(C) identify the water quality and biological parameters of
the monitoring program and their relationship to these goals
and objectives;
(D) describe the types of monitoring networks, surveys and
other activities to be used to achieve these goals and
objectives, using where appropriate the guidelines issued under
subsection (c) of this section;
(E) survey existing Federal, State, and local coastal
monitoring activities and private compliance monitoring
activities in or on the coastal waters covered by the program,
describe the relationship of the program to those other
monitoring activities, and integrate them, as appropriate, into
the intensive monitoring program;
(F) describe the data management and quality control
components of the program;
(G) specify the implementation requirements for the program,
including -
(i) the lead Federal, State, or regional authority that
will administer the program;
(ii) the public and private parties that will implement the
program;
(iii) a detailed schedule for program implementation;
(iv) all Federal and State responsibilities for
implementing the program; and
(v) the changes in Federal, State, and local monitoring
programs necessary to implement the program;
(H) estimate the costs to Federal and State governments, and
other participants, of implementing the monitoring program; and
(I) describe the methods to assess periodically the success
of the monitoring program in meeting its goals and objectives,
and the manner in which the program may be modified from time-
to-time.
(5) Criteria for monitoring Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays
In addition to the criteria listed in paragraph (4), the
intensive monitoring program for Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays
shall establish baseline data on environmental phenomena (such as
quantity of bacteria and quality of indigenous species, and
swimmability) and determine the ecological impacts resulting from
major point source discharges.
(6) Memorandum of Understanding
Prior to implementing any intensive coastal water quality
monitoring program under this subsection, the Administrator and
the Under Secretary shall enter into a Memorandum of
Understanding to implement the intensive coastal water quality
monitoring programs and may extend the memorandum (!3) of
Understanding to include other appropriate Federal agencies. The
Memorandum of Understanding shall identify the monitoring and
reporting responsibilities of each agency and shall encourage the
coordination of monitoring activities.
(7) Implementation
(A) The Administrator, the Under Secretary, and the Governor of
each State having waters subject to an intensive coastal water
quality monitoring program developed pursuant to this subsection
shall ensure compliance with that program.
(B) The Administrator and the Under Secretary are authorized to
enter into cooperative agreements to provide financial assistance
to non-Federal agencies and institutions to support
implementation of intensive monitoring programs under this
subsection. Federal financial assistance may only be provided on
the condition that not less than fifty percent of the costs of
the monitoring to be conducted by a non-Federal agency or
institution is provided from non-Federal funds.
(e) Comprehensive Implementation Strategy
(1) In general
Within 1 year after October 29, 1992, the Administrator and the
Under Secretary shall jointly submit to Congress a Comprehensive
Implementation Strategy identifying the current and planned
activities to implement the Comprehensive Coastal Monitoring
Program pursuant to this section.
(2) Consultation
The Administrator and the Under Secretary shall consult with
the National Academy of Sciences, the Director of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Director of the Minerals
Management Service, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the
Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of Agriculture, the heads of
any other relevant Federal or regional agencies, and the
Governors of coastal States in developing the Strategy.
(3) Public comment
Not less than 3 months before submitting the Strategy to
Congress, the Administrator and the Under Secretary shall jointly
publish a draft version of the Strategy in the Federal Register
and shall solicit public comments regarding the Strategy.
(4) Memorandum of Understanding
Within 1 year after submission of the Strategy under paragraph
(1), the Administrator and the Under Secretary shall enter into a
Memorandum of Understanding with appropriate Federal agencies
necessary to effect the coordination of Federal coastal
monitoring programs. The Memorandum of Understanding shall
identify the monitoring and reporting responsibilities of each
agency and shall encourage the coordination of monitoring
activities where possible.