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HCR064.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS - Stating findings of the Legislature and
encouraging the Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate, adopt and
implement certain standards and rules relating to water quality.
03/21 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/22 Rpt prt - to Env
03/23 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/24 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/27 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Snodgrass
Title apvd - to Senate
03/28 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/30 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/31 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Pearce
Title apvd - to House
04/03 To enrol
04/04 Rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed
To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 64
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2 STATING FINDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRON-
3 MENTAL QUALITY TO EVALUATE, ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT CERTAIN STANDARDS AND
4 RULES RELATING TO WATER QUALITY.
5 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Quality has been designated by
7 the Legislature as the primary agency to meet the goals and requirements of
8 the Clean Water Act and to coordinate and administer Idaho's ground water
9 quality protection programs; and
10 WHEREAS, surface water quality standards under the Clean Water Act include
11 designated uses for navigable waters and criteria for such designated uses,
12 and revisions of those uses and criteria must be submitted to the U.S. Envi-
13 ronmental Protection Agency for approval; and
14 WHEREAS, surface water quality standards under the Clean Water Act may
15 also include provisions regarding mixing zones, variances and low flows and
16 the decision to include such provisions in the water quality standards is
17 reserved to the state under the Clean Water Act; and
18 WHEREAS, decisions concerning ground water are within the sole jurisdic-
19 tion of the state, and state ground water quality standards do not require the
20 approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and
21 WHEREAS, any changes in Idaho's water quality standards proposed by the
22 Department of Environmental Quality must comply with the provisions of the
23 Idaho Environmental Protection and Health Act and will be subjected to legis-
24 lative review and approval; and
25 WHEREAS, the Idaho Environmental Protection and Health Act states the
26 Legislature's intent that environmental quality programs be promulgated and
27 managed so that the benefits of pollution control measures have a reasonable
28 relationship to the public health costs, private property rights and the envi-
29 ronmental and economic impacts of such measures; and
30 WHEREAS, the Idaho Water Quality Act states the Legislature's intent that
31 the state of Idaho fully meet the goals and requirements of the Clean Water
32 Act and that the rules promulgated to implement the Clean Water Act not impose
33 requirements beyond those of the Clean Water Act; and
34 WHEREAS, it is the Legislature's intent that Idaho's surface water quality
35 standards not apply to manmade waterways and private waters within the state
36 unless otherwise required by the Clean Water Act; and
37 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that the federal Safe Drinking Water
38 Act regulates public water systems and that drinking water standards may not
39 be appropriate for use as water quality standards when natural conditions make
40 such standards unattainable, such as in the case of arsenic; and
41 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that the water quality standards and
42 the ground water quality rules both contain provisions that allow the use of
43 natural background as a standard when natural conditions exceed numeric stan-
44 dards.
2
1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
2 sion of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and
3 the Senate concurring therein, that the Legislature encourages the Department
4 of Environmental Quality to evaluate, adopt and implement water quality stan-
5 dards, rules and other provisions that fully consider natural conditions that
6 exist in Idaho for all criteria and that the Department adopt uses for water
7 bodies that are attainable.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature encourages the Department of
9 Environmental Quality to propose changes to its rules regarding mixing zones,
10 variances and low flows only when there is broad agreement among affected par-
11 ties concerning those changes.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature encourages the Department of
13 Environmental Quality to take full advantage of the flexibility available
14 under the Clean Water Act, the Idaho Ground Water Quality Plan and Idaho laws
15 and rules in defining, adopting and implementing mixing zones, variances,
16 site-specific conditions, criteria and water quality standards.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16272
This House Concurrent Resolution encourages the Department of
Environmental Quality to fully consider natural conditions in
establishing water quality standards, to seek agreement among
affected parties when setting state water quality standards, and
to fully utilize the flexibility available under federal and
state laws in administering water quality programs.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no fiscal impact.
Contact
Name: Mr. Jack Lyman
Phone: (208) 342-0031
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE HCR 64