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Effluent Guidelines
Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan
Clean Water Act §304(m)
- Sec. 304. Information and Guidelines.
- (m) Schedule for Review of Guidelines. —
- (1) Publication. — Within 12 months after the date of the enactment of the Water Quality Act of 1987, and biennially thereafter, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register a plan which shall
- (A) establish a schedule for the annual review and revision of
promulgated effluent guidelines, in accordance with subsection (b) of this
section,
- (B) identify categories of sources discharging toxic or nonconventional pollutants for which guidelines under subsection (b)(2) of this section and section 306 have not previously been published; and
- (C) establish a schedule for promulgation of effluent guidelines for categories identified in subparagraph (B) under which promulgation of such guidelines shall be no later than 4 years after such date of enactment for categories identified in the first published plan or 3 years after the publication of the plan for categories identified in later published plans.
- (B) identify categories of sources discharging toxic or nonconventional pollutants for which guidelines under subsection (b)(2) of this section and section 306 have not previously been published; and
- (2) Public Review. — The Administrator shall provide for public review and comment on the plan prior to final publication.
EPA has published in the Federal Register, and is requesting comment on, a preliminary plan for reviewing effluent guidelines, which are regulations that improve water quality by controlling discharges from industrial sources. EPA publishes a final Effluent Guidelines Plan every even year as is required by Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act. Prior to publishing the final Plan, EPA must publish a preliminary Plan and take public comment.
- Fact Sheet about the Preliminary Plan (October 2009)
- Federal Register Notice of the Effluent Guidelines Plan | Print Version (PDF) (17 pp, 115 K, About PDF) (December 28, 2009)
- Technical Support Document for the Preliminary 2010 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (PDF) (172 pp, 3.14MB, About PDF) (October 2009), EPA-821-R-09-006
- Appendix A (PDF) (138 pp, 1.39MB, About PDF)
- Appendix B (PDF) (305 pp, 19.3MB, About PDF)
- Appendix C (PDF) (65 pp, 852KB, About PDF)
- Technical Support Document for the Annual Review of Existing Effluent Guidelines and Identification of Potential New Point Source Categories (PDF) (165 pp, 2.06MB, About PDF) (October 2009), EPA-821-R-09-007
- Appendices A-D (PDF) (612 pp, 3.64MB, About PDF)
- Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category: Final Detailed Study Report PDF) (233 pp, 7.5MB, About PDF) (October 2009), EPA-821-R-09-008
- User Guide to the 304(m) 2010 Plan Docket (74 pp, 3.81MB, About PDF)
- Health Care Industry Unused Pharmaceuticals Detailed Study 2007-2009 Data Collection and Outreach (17 pp, 164K, About PDF)
- Coalbed Methane Extraction Detailed Study
Past Effluent Guidelines Program Plans
EPA publishes a final Effluent Guidelines Program Plan every even year as is required by Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act. Prior to publishing the final Plan, EPA must publish a preliminary Plan and take public comment. The following links in the table below provide information on previous effluent guidelines program plans.
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
| Year | Preliminary Plan | Final Plan |
| 1990 | August 25, 1988 (53 FR 32584) | January 2, 1990 (55 FR 80) |
| 1992 | May 7, 1992 (57 FR 19748) | September 8, 1992 (57 FR 41000) |
| 1994 | May 18, 1994 (59 FR 25859) | August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44234) |
| 1996 | July 3, 1996 (61 FR 35041) | October 7, 1996 (61 FR 52581) |
| 1998 | May 28, 1998 (63 FR 29203) | September 4, 1998 (63 FR 47285) |
| 2000 | June 16, 2000 (65 FR 37783) | August 31, 2000 (65 FR 53008) |
| 2002 | June 18, 2002 (67 FR 41417) | August 27, 2002 (67 FR 55012) |
| 2004 | December 31, 2003 (68 FR 75515) | September 2, 2004 (69 FR 53705) |
| 2006 | August 29, 2005 (70 FR 51042) | December 21, 2006 (71 FR 76644) |
| 2008 | October 30, 2007 (72 FR 61335) | September 15, 2008 (73 FR 53218) |