U.S. EPA Accepting Comments on Proposed Rule for the Analysis of Effluent

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new proposed rule under Section 304(h) of the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule, published Feb. 19 in the Federal Register, would update existing analytical methods for testing wastewater effluent. It is designed to reflect innovative advances in technology and analytical methods in science. The rule requires EPA to announce test procedures for analyses and reports required under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.

The Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.), American Public Health Association (Washington, D.C.), and the American Water Works Association (Denver) wrote a joint report on Standard Methods for the Examination of Waters and Wastewater. The report addresses method detection level, which are defined by EPA as the minimum concentration of a substance that can be measured and reported. This prevents incorrect reporting of the presence of a compound at low concentrations. The proposed rule affects the procedure for determining the method detection level.

Submit any comments to the rule by April 20.