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New Groundwater
and Proposed
Surface Water Standard Changes

Groundwater Standard Changes

The State of North Carolina promulgated regulations on January 1, 2010, that define state-wide groundwater quality standards, on which corrective remedial actions and goals are based.  As part of these changes, the Interim Maximum Allowable Concentrations (IMACs), established for constituents without established standards, were updated.  The Solid Waste Section (SWS) has adopted the IMACs as the SWS Groundwater Protection Standards (GPS), which are enforceable groundwater standards for solid waste facilities.  In some cases, the new SWS GPS are significantly lower than previous standards (e.g., for cobalt and vanadium).  The solid waste constituents with new SWS GPS (listed in micrograms per liter or mg/L) and their effective dates are listed below. 

Constituent

Previous Standard (mg/L)

Revised Standard (mg/L)

Effective Date

Antimony

1.4

1

8-1-10

Beryllium

4

4

10-1-10

Cobalt

70

1

10-1-10

Thallium

0.28

0.2

10-1-10

Tin

2,100

2,000

10-1-10

Vanadium

3.5

0.3

10-1-10

Acrolein

3.5

4

10-1-10

Aldrin

none

0.002

10-1-10

Benzyl alcohol

3,500

700

10-1-10

Bromomethane

none

10

8-1-10

Dibromomethane

none

70

10-1-10

2,4-dichlorophenol

none

0.98

8-1-10

Dinoseb

7

7

8-1-10

Methyl methacrylate

9,800

25

8-1-10

PCBs

0.5

0.09

10-1-10

1,1,1,2-tetrachloroethane

1.3

1

8-1-10

1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene

none

2

8-1-10

1,1,2-trichloroethane

0.6

0.6

8-1-10

2,4,5-trichlorophenol

700

63

10-1-10

2,4,6-trichlorophenol

none

4

10-1-10

Vinyl acetate

7,000

88

10-1-10

 

Surface Water Standard Changes

The State of North Carolina promulgated regulations that define state-wide surface water quality standards, on which corrective remedial actions and goals are based for a variety of facilities, including landfills.  Every 3 years, the State is required under the Clean Water Act to review these standards to determine if changes are needed and, if necessary, to make those changes.  Below is a timeline of selected past, present, and future events related to these changes, as reported by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR).

  • September 7, 2010:  Deadline for submission of cost and benefit information for inclusion in the fiscal analysis
  • June 2010 – ?: Division of Water Quality (DWQ) development of Fiscal Note; timeline dependent on Office of State Budget Management (OSBM) approval
  • Steps after OSBM Fiscal Note approval:  
    • North Carolina Register notification, Public Hearings and 60-day Comment Period 
    • Review of comments received; Hearing Officers prepare response to comments and prepare report for Environmental Management Commission (EMC) 
    • Hearing Officer’s Report and recommendation to EMC.  Pending approval by EMC to adopt proposed rule, the rule is submitted to Office of Administrative Hearings, Rules Review Commission (RRC). 
    • Rule reviewed by the RRC
    • Submittal of revisions to United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA); US Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species Consultation; Request federal approval of revised NC water quality standards

Surface water standards for select metals and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are proposed for modification during the Triennial Review 2008-2010 process.  Proposed revisions for metals standards include changing all metals standards from total recoverable for chronic effects to their respective dissolved metal concentrations for acute effects (with the exception of mercury and selenium), removing the standard for iron, and revising the statewide hardness value from 50 to 25 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to derive standards for hardness-dependent metals (copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, chromium III, silver, and lead).  The standard for 2,4-D is proposed to change from 100 to 70 mg/L. 

The current and proposed groundwater and surface water standards are located on the Division of Water Quality’s Web site at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wq/ps/csu 

 

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