Aquatic Life Water Quality Standards Technical Support Document for Copper Biotic Ligand Model

Document
Description
From the Minnesota State Register, Volume 33 (35), March 2, 2009: Copper is an element and an environmental contaminant associated primarily with industrial activities. The EPA revised the surface water aquatic life criteria methods and values in 2007 (Aquatic Life AWQC – Copper 2007 (EPA822R07001)). The [Environmental Protection Agency] EPA copper criteria revision uses a new method called the Biotic Ligand Model to determine toxic effects to aquatic organisms. Changes to the current [Water Quality Standards] WQSs for copper would involve compiling, reviewing and developing a revised criterion value. Efforts to revise the existing Minnesota standard will require reviewing existing aquatic life toxicity data from the published literature and other sources. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has reviewed the EPA's Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) and plans to adopt this method as an alternate approach to the current WQSs for calculating protective of aquatic life WQSs on a site-specific basis for copper. In the future EPA plans to have other metal WQSs developed through the BLM. MPCA will retain the current WQSs, which are algorithms based on site-specific hardness concentrations, for use in calculating the Final Acute Value (FAV), Maximum Standard (MS), and Chronic Standard (CS). However, when sufficient data is available as discussed in this document, preference will be for use of the BLM. MPCA adopts WQSs into Minn. R. chs. 7050 and 7052. When information is available, Class 2 WQSs will include acute (FAV and MS) protection based on aquatic life toxicity and chronic (CS) protection for aquatic life, human health, and fish-eating wildlife (Minn. R. ch. 7052). The copper BLM would supplement the current aquatic life-based WQSs and is the foundation of this Technical Support Document (TSD). The previously determined CS for protection of human health is not being revised, and is currently less stringent than the chronic copper WQSs based on aquatic life toxicity.
Date Issued
2010-10-14
Number of Pages
12
Decade
Associated Organization
Rights Holder
Minnesota Water Research Digital Library
Rights Management
Creative Commons