                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WATER QUALITY MONITORING AND REPORTING (§ 62.1-44.19:5)

A. The Board shall develop the reports required by &#xA7; 1313(d) (hereafter the
303(d) report) and &#xA7; 1315(b) (hereafter the 305(b) report) of the Clean
Water Act in a manner such that the reports will: (i) provide an accurate and
comprehensive assessment of the quality of state surface waters; (ii) identify
trends in water quality for specific and easily identifiable geographically
defined water segments; (iii) provide a basis for developing initiatives and
programs to address current and potential water quality impairment; (iv) be
consistent and comparable documents; and (v) contain accurate and comparable
data that is representative of the state as a whole. The reports shall be
produced in accordance with the schedule required by federal law, but shall
incorporate at least the preceding five years of data. Data older than five
years shall be incorporated when scientifically appropriate for trend analysis.
The Board shall conduct monitoring as described in subsection B and consider and
incorporate factors as described in subsection C into the reports. The Board may
conduct additional monitoring and consider and incorporate other factors or
information it deems appropriate or necessary.

B. Monitoring shall be conducted so that it:

   1. Establishes consistent siting and monitoring techniques to ensure data
   reliability, comparability of data collected throughout the state, and ability
   to determine water quality trends within specific and easily identifiable
   geographically defined water segments.

   2. Expands the percentage of river and stream miles monitored so as ultimately
   to be representative of all river and stream miles in the state according to a
   developed plan and schedule. Contingent upon the appropriation of adequate
   funding for this purpose, the number of water quality monitoring stations and
   the frequency of sampling shall be increased by at least five percent
   annually, until such representative monitoring is achieved, and shall be
   expanded first to water bodies for which there is credible evidence to support
   an indication of impairment.

   3. Monitors, according to a plan and schedule, for all substances that are
   discharged to state waters and that are: (i) listed on the Chesapeake Bay
   Program&#8217;s &#8220;toxics of concern&#8221; list as of January 1, 1997;
   (ii) listed by the USEPA Administrator pursuant to &#xA7; 307(a) of the Clean
   Water Act; (iii) subject to water quality standards; or (iv) necessary to
   determine water quality conditions. The Board shall update the plan annually.
   The Board shall develop and implement the plan and schedule for the phasing in
   of monitoring required by this subdivision. The Board shall, upon development
   of the plan, publish notice in the Virginia Register that the plan is
   available for public inspection.

   4. Provides, according to the plan in subdivision B 3, for increased use, as
   necessary, beyond 1996 levels, of sediment monitoring as well as benthic
   macro-invertebrate organisms and fish tissue monitoring, and provides for
   specific assessments of water quality based on the results of such monitoring.
   Contingent upon the appropriation of adequate funding for this purpose, all
   fish tissue and sediment monitoring for the segments identified in the water
   quality monitoring plan shall occur at least once every three years.

   5. Increases frequency of sample collection at each chemical monitoring
   station to one or more per month when scientifically necessary to provide
   accurate and usable data. If statistical analysis is necessary to resolve
   issues surrounding potentially low sampling frequency, a sensitivity analysis
   shall be used to describe both potential overestimation and underestimation of
   water quality.

   6. Utilizes a mobile laboratory or other laboratories to provide independent
   monitoring and assessments of effluent from permitted industrial and municipal
   establishments and other discharges to state waters.

   7. Utilizes announced and unannounced inspections, and collection and testing
   of samples from establishments discharging to state surface waters.

C. The 303(d) report shall:

   1. In addition to such other categories as the Board deems necessary or
   appropriate, identify geographically defined water segments as impaired if
   monitoring or other evidence shows: (i) violations of ambient water quality
   standards or human health standards; (ii) fishing restrictions or advisories;
   (iii) shellfish consumption restrictions due to contamination; (iv) nutrient
   over-enrichment; (v) significant declines in aquatic life biodiversity or
   populations; or (vi) contamination of sediment at levels which violate water
   quality standards or threaten aquatic life or human health. Waters identified
   as &#8220;naturally impaired,&#8221; &#8220;fully supporting but
   threatened,&#8221; or &#8220;evaluated (without monitoring) as impaired&#8221;
   shall be set out in the report in the same format as those listed as
   &#8220;impaired.&#8221; The Board shall develop and publish a procedure
   governing its process for defining and determining impaired water segments and
   shall provide for public comment on the procedure.

   2. Include an assessment, conducted in conjunction with other appropriate
   state agencies, for the attribution of impairment to point and nonpoint
   sources. The absence of point source permit violations on or near the impaired
   water shall not conclusively support a determination that impairment is due to
   nonpoint sources. In determining the cause for impairment, the Board shall
   consider the cumulative impact of (i) multiple point source discharges, (ii)
   individual discharges over time, and (iii) nonpoint sources.

D. The 303(d) and 305(b) reports shall:

   1. Be developed in consultation with scientists from baccalaureate public
   institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth prior to its submission
   by the Board to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

   2. Indicate water quality trends for specific and easily identifiable
   geographically defined water segments and provide summaries of the trends as
   well as available data and evaluations so that citizens of the Commonwealth
   can easily interpret and understand the conditions of the geographically
   defined water segments.

E. The Board shall refer to the 303(d) and 305(b) reports in determining proper
staff and resource allocation.

F. The Board shall accept and review requests from the public regarding specific
segments that should be included in the water quality monitoring plan described
in subdivision B 3. Each request received by April 30 shall be reviewed when the
agency develops or updates the water quality monitoring plan. Such requests
shall include (i) a geographical description of the waterbody recommended for
monitoring, (ii) the reason the monitoring is requested, and (iii) any water
quality data that the petitioner may have collected or compiled. The Board shall
respond in writing, either approving the request or stating the reasons a
request under this subsection has been denied, by August 31 for requests
received by April 30 of the same year. Such determination shall not be a
regulation or case decision as defined by &#xA7; 2.2-4001.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 519; 2000, cc. 17, 945, 1043; 2007, c. 655.