Priority Area 3:
Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) and 305(b)
Integrated Reports

 

Sections 305(b) and 314 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) require states, territories, and authorized tribes to provide biennial reports to EPA on the condition of waters within their boundaries. EPA regulations at 40 CFR 130.7 require states to provide biennial submissions of impaired waters lists. EPA provides guidance on these reports in a way that supports the Agency's strategy for achieving a broad-scale, national inventory of water quality conditions. The guidance is from EPA to states, territories, authorized tribes, and interstate commissions (“jurisdictions”) to help states prepare and submit Section 305(b) reports to EPA. Use of the integrated report (IR) format provides jurisdictions a recommended reporting format and suggested content to be used in developing a single document that integrates the reporting requirements of Sections 303(d), 305(b), and 314. This format allows jurisdictions to report on the water quality standards attained for all waters, document the availability of data and information for each segment, identify certain trends in water quality conditions, and set priorities for protecting and restoring the health of the nation's aquatic resources.

Twenty-two states recommended burden reduction relief associated with preparing biennial integrated reports of their water quality status. In particular, the requests focused on changing the frequency of integrated reporting. Most states recommended reporting every four or five years as opposed to the current two years.

While EPA will not reduce reporting frequency, as recommended, the Agency is working with the states to streamline the reporting process. Thanks to a collaborative effort in 2007 and 2008, revised reporting requirements will provide states with the flexibility that they seek, without jeopardizing the quality, timeliness, and accuracy of the required water quality information. More information about these efforts is available under Recommendation W30.

EPA has not eliminated two-year reporting cycles, as the states requested, for several reasons. In addition to providing information to stakeholders about the status and progress of protecting and restoring the health of the nation's waters, the report also identifies where management actions and total maximum daily load (TMDL) calculations need to be developed and implemented. The impact of lengthening this cycle, as the states recommended, and thus forgoing data reporting in most years, would present significant challenges to demonstrating progress in protecting water quality, informing the public, and justifying the use of state and federal resources. For more information, see http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/intro.html.