Newly Adopted Rules
Water Quality Standards Use Designations (OAC 3745-1)
The rules were adopted on March 16, 2011 and become effective on June 16, 2011.
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This rulemaking revises, or assigns for the first time, beneficial use designations for selected water bodies in the State. These changes are not affected by the changes in the four interrelated rule packages (water quality standards, 401 water quality certification, antidegradation, and stream mitigation) that are currently out for interested party review. Information on those four rule packages is available at www.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/rules/overview_dec10.aspx.
This is the Agency's annual use designation rulemaking to incorporate the results of recent biological surveys. The changes in this rule package are not dependent on any of the changes in the other four rule packages. Therefore, this rulemaking is proceeding independently from those other four rule packages.
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Background
The Agency has adopted revisions to eight water quality standards rules containing designated uses of specific water bodies in the following drainage basins: Grand river, Sandusky river, Huron river, Great Miami river, Portage river, Muskingum river, Mahoning river and Mill creek.
As part of our mission to protect Ohio's water quality, the Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water conducts water quality and biological surveys of Ohio's rivers and streams. One outcome of this work is an assessment of the beneficial uses assigned to specific water bodies in the State's water quality standards rules. The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires all states to conduct such assessments and to designate waters for beneficial uses that support the CWA "fishable and swimmable" goals wherever attainable. All waters are presumed to be capable of supporting goal uses unless the state provides a use attainability analysis (UAA) explaining the reasons why the goals of protecting aquatic life and recreation cannot be attained in the water.
Available documents
Adopted rules
Text to be deleted from the rules is struck out; new text is underlined.
- 3745-1-10 Grand river drainage basin [PDF 29K]
- 3745-1-12 Sandusky river drainage basin [PDF 41K]
- 3745-1-19 Huron river drainage basin [PDF 21K]
- 3745-1-21 Great Miami river drainage basin [PDF 77K]
- 3745-1-23 Portage river drainage basin [PDF 26K]
- 3745-1-24 Muskingum river drainage basin [PDF 167K]
- 3745-1-25 Mahoning river drainage basin [PDF 33K]
- 3745-1-30 Mill creek drainage basin [PDF 18K]
Adopted rules with strikeouts and underlines removed
January 6, 2011 proposed rules
For additional information, contact:
Chris Skalski
Ohio EPA
Division of Surface Water
P.O. Box 1049
Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049
E-mail: chris.skalski@epa.state.oh.us
Phone: (614) 644-2144