The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is seeking public comment on Montana’s 2012 Draft Water Quality Integrated Report. The 2012 draft list update is now available for review and comments will be accepted during a 60-day public comment period that began Jan. 4 and extends through March 3, 2012.
The report includes a list of Montana waterbodies that are impaired and in need of water quality restoration, the sub-set of impaired waters that require specific total maximum daily loads or TMDLs to be developed, known as the 303(d) list, and a summary of state water quality information, known as the 305(b) report.
The Draft 2012 report contains revisions to the list of impaired waters, changes in assessment information for waters already on the list, and the schedule for preparing TMDLs. A TMDL is the total amount of a pollutant that a waterbody may receive from all sources without exceeding water quality standards.
The Draft 2012 report also identifies 857 waters that are impaired by pollution and/or pollutants in various categories. The DEQ will use comments it receives to prepare the final 2012 Integrated Report that will be submitted to the EPA by April 2012.
DEQ’s report submittal to the EPA consists of the report document and appendices, an electronic database, and geo-referenced assessment unit files for mapping. The department provides access to the complete report data and information via its Clean Water Act Information Center web application: http://www.cwaic.mt.gov. Anyone experiencing problems accessing this site should contact the Montana Integrated Report Coordinator by phone at 406-444-6763.
Comments on the report or 303(d) list should be submitted electronically via the Public Comment page available at http://www.deq.mt.gov, or mailed to: Integrated Report Coordinator, Department of Environmental Quality, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901. The DEQ cannot guarantee that comments received after the March 3 closing date will be considered in developing the final report.
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