Notice2024-23024
Final Recommended Aquatic Life Criteria and Benchmarks for Select PFAS
Primary source
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Published
October 7, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
As part of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) commitment to safeguard the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the agency is announcing the availability of national "Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)" and "Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)," pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA is also announcing the availability of Acute Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for eight data-limited perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), 2H-perfluoro-2-decenoic acid (8:2 FTUCA), and 2H,2H,3H,3H-pefluorodecanoic acid (7:3 FTCA). These final CWA recommended criteria and benchmarks provide information that States and Tribes may consider when adopting water quality standards. Consistent with Clean Water Act sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2), the EPA expects to update these recommended criteria and benchmark values from time to time as new information becomes available. This announcement is in accordance with Clean Water Act section 304(a)(3), which directs the EPA to publish information developed under sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2) in the Federal Register and make it available to States, Tribes, and the public.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 194 (Monday, October 7, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81077-81079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23024]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0365 and EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0366; FRL 8310-02-OW]
Final Recommended Aquatic Life Criteria and Benchmarks for Select
PFAS
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: As part of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
commitment to safeguard the environment from per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS), the agency is announcing the availability of
national ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for
Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)'' and ``Final Recommended Freshwater
Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Acute Saltwater Aquatic
Life Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS),'' pursuant to the
Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA is also announcing the availability of
Acute Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for eight data-limited
perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA),
perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA),
perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS),
perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), 2H-perfluoro-2-decenoic acid (8:2
FTUCA), and 2H,2H,3H,3H-pefluorodecanoic acid (7:3 FTCA). These final
CWA recommended criteria and benchmarks provide information that States
and Tribes may consider when adopting water quality standards.
Consistent with Clean Water Act sections 304(a)(1) and (a)(2), the EPA
expects to update these recommended criteria and benchmark values from
time to time as new information becomes available. This announcement is
in accordance with Clean Water Act section 304(a)(3), which directs the
EPA to publish information developed under sections 304(a)(1) and
(a)(2) in the Federal Register and make it available to States, Tribes,
and the public.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How can I get copies of these documents and other related
information?
The EPA has established a first docket for the ``Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater
Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)'' under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0365 and a second docket for the ``Final Recommended
Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater
Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)'' under Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0366. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or in hard
copy at the EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC. The Docket Center's hours of
operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except
Federal holidays). For further information on the EPA Docket Center
services and the current status, see: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets</a>.
The ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Ambient Water
Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute Benchmarks for Perfluorooctanoic
Acid (PFOA)'' document can be accessed on the EPA's website through the
following link: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfoa-report-2024.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfoa-report-2024.pdf</a>. The ``Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life
Ambient Water Quality Criteria and Saltwater Acute Benchmarks for
Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)'' document can be accessed on the
EPA's website through the following link: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfos-report-2024.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfos-report-2024.pdf</a>. The ``Final Acute
Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Eight Data-Limited PFAS: PFBA,
PFHxA, PFNA, PFDA, PFBS, PFHxS, 8:2 FTUCA, and 7:3 FTCA'' document can
be accessed on the EPA's website through the following link: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfas-report-2024.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-09/pfas-report-2024.pdf</a>.
II. What are PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made organic
chemical compounds composed of a carbon chain bound to multiple
fluorine atoms. PFAS have been manufactured and used by a broad range
of industries since the 1940s, and there are estimated to be thousands
of PFAS present in the global marketplace that are used in a range of
commercial and industrial products. PFOA and PFOS are two of the most
widely used and studied chemicals in the PFAS group. PFAS are not
naturally occurring and have no biologically important functions or
beneficial properties to aquatic life. PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS,
can persist in the environment and have been detected in U.S. rivers,
lakes, and streams. At elevated concentrations, PFAS can be toxic to
fish and other aquatic species.
III. What are CWA national ambient water quality criteria and
benchmarks developed by the EPA?
CWA section 304(a) directs the EPA to develop and publish water
quality criteria that reflect the latest scientific knowledge. The EPA
develops national recommended ambient water quality criteria for the
protection of aquatic life based on the highest numeric concentrations
of pollutants, with specific recommendations on the duration and
frequency of those concentrations, that are protective of aquatic
ecosystems as a whole. The EPA's section 304(a)(1) criteria
recommendations generally follow the Guidelines methods (Guidelines for
Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection
of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses), which recommend toxicity data for
a minimum of eight families of aquatic animals be used in developing
aquatic life criteria to ensure criteria will protect aquatic
ecosystems as a whole. Water quality criteria are based solely on data
and scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. The EPA's
recommended water quality criteria are not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State's water quality standards. States
must adopt into their standards water quality criteria that protect the
designated uses of their water bodies. States can establish water
quality criteria based on the EPA's recommended criteria, modify
[[Page 81078]]
recommended criteria to reflect site-specific conditions, or develop
proposed standards using on other scientifically defensible methods. A
State's or Tribe's water quality criteria are not legally effective
under the Clean Water Act until they have been adopted into a State's
or Tribe's water quality standards and are approved by the EPA.
Aquatic life benchmarks, developed under section 304(a)(2) of the
CWA, are informational values that the EPA generates when there are
limited high quality toxicity data available and data gaps exist for
several aquatic organism families. The EPA develops aquatic life
benchmarks to provide information that States and Tribes may consider
in their water quality protection programs. In developing aquatic life
benchmarks, data gaps may be filled using new approach methods (NAMs),
such as computer-based toxicity estimation tools (e.g., EPA's Web-ICE;
Version 3.3; <a href="https://www.epa.gov/webice/">https://www.epa.gov/webice/</a>) or other new approach methods
intended to reduce reliance on additional animal testing (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/epa-new-approach-methods-work-plan-reducing-use-vertebrate-animals-chemical">https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/epa-new-approach-methods-work-plan-reducing-use-vertebrate-animals-chemical</a>), including the use of read-
across estimates based on other chemicals with similar structures. The
EPA's aquatic life benchmark values are not regulatory, nor do they
automatically become part of a State's water quality standards.
IV. What are the EPA's recommended criteria for PFOA and PFOS in
freshwater for the protection of aquatic life?
The EPA has developed separate PFOA and PFOS criteria to protect
aquatic life from the effects of these individual chemicals. The EPA
developed these final recommended aquatic life ambient water quality
criteria following the general approach outlined in the EPA's
Guidelines.<SUP>1</SUP> The EPA developed the final PFOA and PFOS
recommended criteria to protect aquatic life designated uses
established for freshwaters. The final criteria documents contain acute
and chronic water column criteria for freshwaters (see Table 1 of this
document). Acute criteria protect aquatic species from short-term
exposures to high pollutant concentrations while chronic criteria
protect aquatic species from long-term and repeated pollutant
exposures. The final criteria also contain chronic criteria expressed
as PFOA and PFOS concentrations in fish muscle tissue, fish whole-body
tissue, and in invertebrate tissue (see Table 1 of this document). Many
States and Tribes measure PFAS in fish tissues and these tissue-based
criteria values allow States and Tribes to assess the health of fish
and invertebrates in their freshwaters. The chronic freshwater and
chronic fish/invertebrate tissue-based criteria for both chemicals are
intended to be independently applicable and no one criterion takes
primacy.
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\1\ The EPA's Guidelines for Deriving Numerical Water Quality
Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses can
be accessed through the EPA web page at: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-02/documents/guidelines-water-quality-criteria.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-02/documents/guidelines-water-quality-criteria.pdf</a>.
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The PFOA and PFOS criteria establish maximum concentrations (i.e.,
magnitude component), averaged over a given time period (i.e., duration
component), that if not exceeded more than the allowable number of
times during a specified time period (i.e., frequency component), are
expected to protect aquatic ecosystems as a whole. The duration
components of criteria are set to be substantially shorter than the
length of toxicity tests used to derive the criteria magnitude and
restrict allowable fluctuations in pollutant concentrations over time.
The frequency components of aquatic life criteria ensure aquatic
communities have adequate time to recover following a criteria
exceedance event. The EPA's final recommended PFOA and PFOS criteria
magnitudes combined with the associated duration and frequency
components are expected to protect fish and other aquatic species in
freshwaters (see Table 1).
Table 1--Final Recommended Freshwater Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for PFOA and PFOS
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Acute water column Chronic water
Criteria component (CMC) \1\ column (CCC) \2\ Invertebrate whole-body Fish whole-body Fish muscle
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PFOA Magnitude.................. 3.1 mg/L........... 0.10 mg/L.......... 1.18 mg/kg ww \4\....... 6.49 mg/kg ww \4\....... 0.133 mg/kg ww.\4\
PFOS Magnitude.................. 0.071 mg/L......... 0.00025 mg/L....... 0.028 mg/kg ww \4\...... 0.201 mg/kg ww \4\...... 0.087 mg/kg ww.\4\
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Duration........................ 1-hour average..... 4-day average...... Instantaneous.\3\
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Frequency....................... Not to be exceeded Not to be exceeded Not to be exceeded.\5\
more than once in more than once in
three years, on three years, on
average. average.
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\1\ Criterion Maximum Concentration.
\2\ Criterion Continuous Concentration.
\3\ Tissue data provide instantaneous point measurements that reflect integrative accumulation of PFOA or PFOS over time and space in aquatic life
population(s) at a given site.
\4\ Wet-Weight.
\5\ PFOA and PFOS chronic freshwater tissue-based criteria should not be exceeded, based on measured tissue concentrations representing the central
tendency of samples collected at a given site and time.
V. What are the EPA's saltwater acute benchmarks for protecting aquatic
life from PFOA and PFOS?
Data limitations did not allow for derivation of PFOA or PFOS
national recommended water quality criteria to protect saltwater
organisms. Therefore, the EPA derived PFOA and PFOS aquatic life
benchmark values under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA using the best
available data on the effects of PFOA and PFOS to provide information
that States and Tribes may consider in their water quality protection
programs. These benchmark values are based solely on data and
scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the EPA's acute PFOA and PFOS
aquatic life benchmark values for saltwater are nonbinding and
nonregulatory.
The EPA derived acute saltwater benchmarks using available toxicity
data on PFOA and PFOS, supplemented with data estimated using the EPA's
Web-ICE tool. With data gaps addressed using both laboratory and
estimated toxicity test data, the acute saltwater benchmarks for PFOA
and PFOS were calculated following methods outline in the EPA's
Guidelines.\1\ The EPA's acute saltwater benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS
values are the maximum concentrations of these PFOA and PFOS
(individually, not in mixture), with associated frequency and duration
specifications, that are expected to support protection of aquatic life
from acute effects in saltwater (see Table 2).
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Table 2--Acute Saltwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS
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Chemical PFOA PFOA
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Magnitude................................................... 7.0 mg/L 0.55 mg/L.
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Duration.................................................... One hour average.
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Frequency................................................... Not to be exceeded more than once in three years
on average.
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VI. What are the EPA's freshwater acute benchmarks for protecting
aquatic life from eight additional PFAS?
Toxicity data to support benchmarks for these eight PFAS benchmarks
were limited relative to the data requirements traditionally used to
develop aquatic life criteria. Therefore, the EPA derived PFAS aquatic
life benchmark values under section 304(a)(2) of the CWA using the best
available data on the effects of these PFAS to provide information that
States and Tribes may consider in their water quality protection
programs. These benchmark values are based solely on data and
scientific judgments about the relationship between pollutant
concentrations and potential environmental effects. Like national
recommended water quality criteria, the EPA's eight separate acute
aquatic life benchmark values for eight different data-limited PFAS in
freshwater are nonbinding and nonregulatory.
Compared to PFOA and PFOS, acute freshwater data were more limited
for these eight PFAS that the EPA evaluated. The EPA developed the
benchmarks by using the available laboratory-based data on the effects
of those chemicals on freshwater organisms, supplemented with data
estimated using the EPA's Web-ICE tool, following the same peer-
reviewed approach applied in development of the acute saltwater
benchmarks for PFOA and PFOS. With data gaps addressed using both
laboratory and estimated toxicity test data, the acute benchmarks for
these eight PFAS were calculated following methods outline in the EPA's
Guidelines.\1\
The EPA's acute freshwater benchmark values are the maximum
concentrations of these PFAS (individually, not in mixture), with
associated frequency and duration specifications, that are expected to
support protection of aquatic life from acute effects in freshwaters
(see Table 2 of this document). These acute benchmarks for these eight
PFAS (Table 3) provide information for States and Tribes to consider as
protective values in their water quality protection programs.
Table 3--Acute Freshwater Aquatic Life Benchmarks for Eight PFAS
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Chemical PFBA PFHxA PFNA PFDA PFBS PFHxS 8:2 FTUCA 7:3 FTCA
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Magnitude \1\........................................... 5.3 4.8 0.65 0.50 5.0 0.21 0.037 0.012
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Duration................................................ One hour average.
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Frequency............................................... Not to be exceeded more than once in three years on average.
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\1\ Values expressed as mg/L, or ppm.
Bruno Pigott,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-23024 Filed 10-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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