The Water Quality Information Center at the National Agricultural Library
Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture
TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads)
What are TMDLs? | Background/Perspectives | EPA | States | Tools | U.S. Congress
What are TMDLs?
- Questions & Answers about TMDLs is a short question-and-answer fact sheet from the New Mexico Environment Department (March 12, 2001).
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TMDL--Final Rule and final rule fact sheet from the EPA.
- TMDLs: Frequently Asked Questions. This question-and-answer fact sheet is from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
- Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) is a fact sheet on the subject from Ohio State University Extension.
Background/Perspectives
- The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has produced a report on the Clean Water Act and TMDLs (September 11, 1997). Also see the section on TMDLs in another CRS report, Water Quality: Implementing the Clean Water Act (April 6, 2000).
- Current TMDL Policies is a description of the TMDL process from Capitolink.
- "Debate Rages Over New Rules for TMDLs" is an article from the Bay Journal (Vol. 10, No. 1, March 2000), published by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
- Designation of TMDLs May Increase Regulatory Requirements is from Stateside Associates.
- "EPA Reasserts Support for TMDL Proposal Despite Critics" is an article from the Bay Journal (Vol. 10, No. 4, June 2000), published by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
- Evaluating TMDLs . . . Protecting the Rights of POTWs (publicly owned treatment works) is a May 2000 update from the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies.
- Keeping Track of TMDLs in California, from the California Forest Stewardship Program, explains the TMDL process and lists a timetable for rivers in California.
- "Legislators Skeptical About TMDL Proposal From EPA" is an article from the Bay Journal (Vol. 10, No. 2, April 2000), published by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
- The New Face of the Clean Water Act: A Critical Review of the EPA's Proposed TMDL Rules is a discussion paper (No. 00-12) from Resources for the Future (March 2000).
- A Review of Waterbodies Listed as Impaired by Silvicultural Operations, Executive Summary (June 2000) by the Society of American Foresters, raises questions about EPA data on water quality impairment attributable to forestry. Implications for TMDLs are discussed.
- "Scientific Issues in the Development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)" is a Director's Forum column from Kenneth H. Reckhow of the Water Resources Research Institute at North Carolina State University with a focus on models.
- "TMDLs and What They Mean To Forestry" is an article from Watershed Update (July 1999), produced by the U.S. Forest Service State and Private Forestry Northeastern Area Watershed Team.
- TMDLs Under the Clean Water Act--Are Agricultural Nonpoint Source Controls and Industrial Growth Restrictions Ahead?, from the American Farm Bureau Federation, discusses the TMDL process. Also see Clean Water Act Regulation: Total Maximum Daily Loads Program.
- "Unleashing the Clean Water Act: The Promise and Challenge of the TMDL Approach to Water Quality" is an article in Resources (Issue 139, Spring 2000), published by Resources for the Future.
- Voluntary Agricultural Resource Management Plans to Address Nonpoint Source Pollution Issues Under the Clean Water Act, from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, describes a strategy for a voluntary program that addresses impaired waters under the TMDL provisions of the Clean Water Act.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program; extensive information from the EPA on the subject; includes the "Joint Statement of the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency Addressing Agricultural and Silvicultural Issues Within EPA Revisions to TMDL and NPDES Rules" (May 1, 2000). Also: details about TMDL meetings and training courses, including Watersheds 103: TMDL Training for Practitioners and links to EPA Regional TMDL (and other) web sites.
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State-specific TMDL Information (not inclusive)
- Idaho: State of Idaho Guidance for Development of Total Daily Maximum Loads (June 8,1999) describes how Idaho intends to develop TMDLs.
- Iowa: Section 303(d) Impaired Waters Listings (1998 and 2002).
- Kansas: Total Maximum Daily Loads.
- Maryland: Introduction to Maryland's TMDL Program .
- Montana: What is a 303(d)list?; see also Sufficient Credible Data (SCD) and TMDL Frequently Asked Questions.
- New York: Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs); also Final Phase II Phosphorous TMDL Reports (New York City's Water Supply System).
- Oregon: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Documents.
- Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania DEP’s Six-Year Plan for TMDL Development (March 2004); see also Total Maximum Daily Loads.
- Texas: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)Program.
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Tools
- A joint effort of America's Clean Water Foundation and the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators, this site on Total Maximum
Daily Loads (TMDLs) is intended to "Educate stakeholders on challenges and opportunities that TMDLs present; share useful information, tools, and effective approaches being used by the States; foster communication among stakeholders and promote involvement in problem-solving at the local level and enhance technical skills."
- Developing Total Maximum Daily Load Projects in Texas: A Guide for Lead Organizations is a comprehensive document on the subject produced as a cooperative project of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research, and the Texas A&M University System.
- Getting Started With TMDLs is a ninety-seven page document on the subject by Wesley M. Jarrell, Ph.D., Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology with support from the Environmental Products Group of YSI, Inc.
- Protocol for Developing Nutrient TMDLs (First Edition, November 1999) is from EPA.
- State Implementation of the Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Loads Program provides a variety of information on the TMDL program from the Western Governors' Association, including summaries of workshops held on the topic.
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Recent Congressional Hearings and other Activities
- Items from the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture:
- Review of H.R. 4502, the Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000 and (2) the EPA's proposed Total Maximum Daily Load rules on agriculture and silviculture. (June 28, 2000)
- Clean Water Act: Proposed Revisions to EPA Regulations to Clean Up Polluted Waters, a report to the House from the U. S. General Accounting Office, provides a response on economic and compliance issues associated with EPA's TMDL rulemaking. (June 21, 2000)
- "Subcommittee Criticizes EPA, USDA for Rushing TMDL Rules" (May 22,2000)
- "Combest, Stenholm Introduce Water Pollution Program Improvement Act: Bill Would Prevent EPA from Overriding State Authority for TMDLs" (May 19,2000)
- "Ag Committee Asks GAO to Analyze True Costs of Water Quality Rules: Chairman, Ranking Member Concerned EPA Vastly Understates TMDLs Impact on Agriculture" (April 12, 2000)
- "Proposed Rule regarding Total Maximum Daily Loads: Impacts on the Regulated Community" ; full Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; May 6, 2000 in Whitefield, New Hampshire.
- "Proposed Rule Regarding Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs): Costs and Impacts to States"; Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water; March 1, 2000 in Washington, D.C.
- "Water Quality Hearing"; Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; February 23, 2000 in Washington, D.C.
[What are TMDLs? | Background/Perspectives |
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