Chapter NR 105

Chapter NR 105

SURFACE WATER QUALITY CRITERIA AND SECONDARY
VALUES FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES

NR 105.01   Purpose.

NR 105.02   Applicability.

NR 105.03   Definitions.

NR 105.04   Determination of adverse effects.

NR 105.05   Acute toxicity criteria and secondary acute values for aquatic life.

NR 105.06   Chronic toxicity criteria and secondary chronic values for fish and aquatic life.

NR 105.07   Wildlife criteria.

NR 105.08   Human threshold criteria.

NR 105.09   Human cancer criteria.

NR 105.10   Bioaccumulation factor.

NR 105.11   Final plant values.

NR 105.01 NR 105.01 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish water quality criteria, and methods for developing criteria and secondary values for toxic substances to protect public health and welfare, the present and prospective use of all surface waters for public and private water supplies, and the propagation of fish and aquatic life and wildlife. This chapter also establishes how bioaccumulation factors used in deriving water quality criteria and secondary values for toxic and organoleptic substances shall be determined. Water quality criteria are a component of surface water quality standards. This chapter and chs. NR 102 to 104 constitute quality standards for the surface waters of Wisconsin.

NR 105.01 History History: Cr. Register, February, 1989, No. 398, eff. 3-1-89.; am. Register, August, 1997, No. 500, eff. 9-1-97.

NR 105.02 NR 105.02 Applicability. The provisions of this chapter are applicable to surface waters of Wisconsin as specified in chs. NR 102 to 104 and in this chapter.

NR 105.02(1) (1) Site specific criteria and secondary values. A criterion contained within this chapter or a secondary value calculated pursuant to this chapter may be modified for a particular surface water segment or body. A criterion or secondary value may be modified if specific information is provided which shows that the data used to derive the criterion or secondary value do not apply and if additional information is provided to derive a site-specific criterion or secondary value. Site-specific criteria are intended to be applicable to a specific surface water segment. Criteria may be modified for site-specific considerations according to the USEPA “Water Quality Standards Handbook” Second Edition, revised 1994. Any criterion modified for site-specific conditions shall be promulgated in ch. NR 104 before it can be applied on a site-specific basis. Site-specific modifications of criteria and secondary values shall be consistent with the procedures described in 40 CFR Part 132, Appendix F, Procedure 1: Site-specific modifications to criteria and values. 40 CFR Part 132, Appendix F, Procedure 1 as stated on September 1, 1997 is incorporated by reference.

NR 105.02 Note Note: Copies of 40 CFR Part 132 Appendix F, Proc. 1 are available for inspection in the offices of the department of natural resources, secretary of state and the legislative reference bureau, Madison, WI or may be purchased from the superintendent of documents, US government printing office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

NR 105.02(2) (2) Statewide criteria.

NR 105.02(2)(a) (a) The department may promulgate a less stringent criterion or remove a criterion from this chapter when the department determines that the previously promulgated criterion is more stringent than necessary, or unnecessary for the protection of humans, fish and other aquatic life or wildlife. The modification shall assure that the designated uses are protected and water quality standards continue to be attained.

NR 105.02(2)(b) (b) The department may promulgate a more stringent criterion in this chapter when the department determines that the previously promulgated criterion is inadequate for the protection of humans, fish and other aquatic life or wildlife.

NR 105.02(3) (3) Determination of secondary values for effluent limitations. If a discharge contains a toxic substance, and if data to calculate a water quality criterion for that substance are not available, then, on a case-by-case basis, the department may calculate a secondary value as defined in this chapter and establish an effluent limitation for the toxic substance if the conditions contained in s. NR 106.05 (1) (b) are met.

NR 105.02 History History: Cr. Register, February, 1989, No. 398, eff. 3-1-89; am. (1) and (2), cr. (3), Register, August, 1997, No. 500, eff. 9-1-97.

NR 105.03 NR 105.03 Definitions.

NR 105.03(1) (1) “Acute toxicity” means the ability of a substance to cause mortality or an adverse effect in an organism which results from a single or short-term exposure to the substance.

NR 105.03(2) (2) “Acute toxicity criterion” or “ATC” means the maximum daily concentration of a substance which ensures adequate protection of sensitive species of aquatic life from the acute toxicity of that substance and will adequately protect the designated fish and aquatic life use of the surface water if not exceeded more than once every 3 years. If the available data indicate that one or more life stages of a particular species are more sensitive to a substance than other life stages of the same species, the ATC shall represent the acute toxicity of the most sensitive life stage.

NR 105.03(3) (3) “Adequate protection” means a level of protection which ensures survival of a sufficient number of healthy individuals in a population of aquatic species to provide for the continuation of an unreduced population of these species.

NR 105.03(4) (4) “Adverse effect” means any effect resulting in a functional impairment or a pathological lesion, or both, which may affect the performance of the whole organism, or which contributes to a reduced ability to respond to an additional challenge. Adverse effects include toxicant-induced mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects or impaired, developmental, immunological or reproductive effects.

NR 105.03(5) (5) “Baseline BAF” means for organic chemicals, a bioaccumulation factor normalized to 100% lipid that is based on the concentration of a freely dissolved chemical in the ambient water and takes into account the partitioning of the chemical within the organism. For inorganic chemicals, a bioaccumulation factor is based on the wet weight of the tissue.

NR 105.03(6) (6) “Baseline BCF” means for organic chemicals, a bioconcentration factor normalized to 100% lipid that is based on the concentration of freely dissolved chemical in the ambient water and takes into account the partitioning of the chemical within the organism. For inorganic chemicals, a bioconcentration factor is based on the wet weight of the tissue.

NR 105.03(7) (7) “Bioaccumulation” means the net accumulation of a substance by an organism as a result of uptake from all environmental sources.

NR 105.03(8) (8) “Bioaccumulation factor” or “BAF” means the ratio (in L/kg) of a substance’s concentration in the tissue of an aquatic organism to its concentration in the ambient water, in situations where both the organism and its food are exposed to the substance and where the ratio does not change substantially over time.

NR 105.03(9) (9) “Bioaccumulative chemical of concern” or “BCC” means any substance that has the potential to cause adverse effects which, upon entering the surface waters, accumulates in aquatic organisms by a human health or wildlife bioaccumulation factor greater than 1000.

NR 105.03(10) (10) “Bioconcentration” means the net accumulation of a substance by an aquatic organism as a result of uptake directly from the ambient water through its gill membranes or other external body surfaces.

NR 105.03(11) (11) “Bioconcentration factor” or “BCF” means the ratio (in L/kg) of a substance’s concentration in the tissue of an aquatic organism to its concentration in the ambient water, in situations where the organism is exposed through the water only and where the ratio does not change substantially over time.

NR 105.03(12) (12) “Biota-sediment accumulation factor” or “BSAF” means the ratio (in kg of organic carbon/kg of lipid) of a substance’s lipid-normalized concentration in the tissue of an aquatic organism to its organic carbon-normalized concentration in surface sediment, in situations where the ratio does not change substantially over time, both the organism and its food are exposed, and where the surface sediment is representative of the average surface sediment in the vicinity of the organism.

NR 105.03(13) (13) “Carcinogen” means any substance listed in Table 9 or a substance for which the induction of benign or malignant neoplasms has been demonstrated in:

NR 105.03(13)(a) (a) Humans; or

NR 105.03(13)(b) (b) Two mammalian species; or

NR 105.03(13)(c) (c) One mammalian species, independently reproduced; or

NR 105.03(13)(d) (d) One mammalian species, to an unusual degree with respect to increased incidence, shortened latency period, variety of site, tumor type, or decreased age at onset; or

NR 105.03(13)(e) (e) One mammalian species, supported by reproducible positive results in at least 3 different types of short-term tests which are indicative of potential oncogenic activity.

NR 105.03(14) (14) “Chronic toxicity” means the ability of a substance to cause an adverse effect in an organism which results from exposure to the substance for a time period representing that substantial portion of the natural life expectancy of that organism.

NR 105.03(15) (15) “Chronic toxicity criterion” or “CTC” means the maximum 4-day concentration of a substance which ensures adequate protection of sensitive species of aquatic life from the chronic toxicity of that substance and will adequately protect the designated fish and aquatic use of the surface water if not exceeded more than once every 3 years.

NR 105.03(16) (16) “Depuration” means the loss of a substance from an organism as a result of any active or passive process.

NR 105.03(17) (17) “EC50” means a concentration of a toxic substance which causes an adverse effect including mortality in 50% of the exposed organisms in a given time period.

NR 105.03(18) (18) “Food-chain multiplier” or “FCM” means the ratio of a BAF to an appropriate BCF.

NR 105.03(19) (19) “LC50” means a concentration of a toxic substance which is lethal to 50% of the exposed organisms in a given time period.

NR 105.03(20) (20) “LD50” means a dose of a toxic substance which is lethal to 50% of the exposed organisms in a given time period.

NR 105.03(21) (21) “Lipid-soluble substance” means a substance which is soluble in nonpolar organic solvents and which tends to accumulate in the fatty tissues of an organism exposed to the substance.

NR 105.03(22) (22) “Lowest observable adverse effect level” or “LOAEL” means the lowest tested concentration that caused an adverse effect in comparison with a control when all higher test concentrations caused the same effect.

NR 105.03(23) (23) “No observable adverse effect level” or “NOAEL” means the highest tested concentration that did not cause an adverse effect in comparison with a control when no lower test concentration caused an adverse effect.

NR 105.03(24) (24) “Octanol/water partition coefficient” or “KOW” means the ratio of the concentration of a substance in the octanol phase to its concentration in the aqueous phase in an equilibrated 2-phase octanol-water system. For log KOW, the log of the octanol-water partition coefficient is a base 10 logarithm.

NR 105.03(25) (25) “Secondary value” means a temporary value that represents the concentration of a substance which ensures adequate protection of sensitive species of aquatic life, wildlife or human health from the toxicity of that substance and will adequately protect the designated use of the surface water until database requirements are fulfilled to calculate a water quality criterion.

NR 105.03(26) (26) “Steady state” means that an equilibrium condition in the body burden of a substance in an organism has been achieved and is assumed when the rate of depuration of a substance matches its rate of uptake.

NR 105.03(27) (27) “Toxic substance” means a substance or mixture of substances which through sufficient exposure, or ingestion, inhalation or assimilation by an organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through the food chain, will cause death, disease, behavioral or immunological abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, or developmental or physiological malfunctions, including malfunctions in reproduction or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring.

NR 105.03(28) (28) “Trophic level” means a functional classification of taxa within a community that is based on feeding relationships (e.g., aquatic plants comprise the first trophic level, herbivores comprise the second, small fish comprise the third, predatory fish the fourth, etc.).