Section 281.15, Wis. Stat., authorizes the department to promulgate by rule water quality standards for surface waters or portions of surface waters in the state: “The department shall promulgate rules setting standards of water quality to be applicable to the waters of the state, recognizing that different standards may be required for different waters or portions thereof.” Pursuant to s. 281.15, Wis. Stat., water quality standards are comprised of designated uses and criteria. The department has promulgated designated uses and criteria for various pollutants and parameters in chs. NR 102 through 105. The statewide criteria for phosphorus that were approved by USEPA are promulgated in s. NR 102.06. Site-specific criteria are criteria developed for individual waterbodies or groups of waterbodies with characteristics that warrant different criteria from those promulgated statewide. 5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
350 hours (total for all staff). This includes staff time spent developing the SSC, reviews by legal and management, public hearings, and rules coordination.
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
• Courte Oreilles Lakes Association, Inc. and local residents and businesses: COLA is a petitioner in the settlement and is seeking site-specific phosphorus criteria to protect the coldwater fishery.
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa: The Tribe is a petitioner in the settlement and owns shoreland on part of the lake.
• Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association and local cranberry operators: The Association is an Intervenor-Respondant in the settlement. There are existing cranberry operations adjacent to Lac Courte Oreilles. DNR does not regulate cranberry operations under discharge permits; therefore these operations are not expected to be directly affected by the SSC.
• There are no regulated point source dischargers with WPDES (Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits that discharge pollutants to the lake, so establishing site specific criteria for the lake will not affect limitations in any WPDES permits. Any future permitted dischargers would be subject to the new criteria.
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: This would be the first phosphorus SSC developed by the department, and would ultimately need approval by EPA.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
The Federal water quality standards regulation at 40 CFR 131.11(b)(1)(ii) authorizes States to adopt numeric water quality criteria that are “modified to reflect site-specific conditions”. 40 CFR Part 131 Subparts A and C include federal requirements for states for establishing and revising water quality standards. Revision of state water quality standards is subject to public participation procedures and EPA review and approval under 40 CFR 131.20. Wisconsin has authority under 281.15, Wis. Stats., to promulgate and revise water quality standards. 8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):
Adoption of site-specific criteria for this location is not expected to involve any increased costs. There are currently no regulated point source dischargers within the watershed. This rule would not impose additional pollution reduction requirements for nonpoint sources. If an SSC were adopted, and even if the lake were listed as impaired and/or a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis were developed based on the SSC, the establishment of the SSC itself does not invoke any new regulatory requirements for nonpoint sources. Therefore, the economic impact of this rule is expected to be “Minimal (Less than $50,000 per year)”.
9. Anticipated number, month and locations of public hearings:
The Department anticipates holding 1 public hearing during or before the month of Sept., 2018. The hearing city will be Spooner, WI. The Department will hold the hearing at this location to provide easy accessibility to those parties most directly affected within the watershed.
Contact Person:
Kristi Minahan
Water Quality Standards Specialist, WDNR
608-266-7055
