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Bacteria Rule for Coastal and Great Lakes Recreation Waters
Our bacteria rule ensures human health protection for coastal and Great Lakes recreation waters . This is an important step in fulfilling the Administration’s commitment to further protect water quality at our nation’s beaches.
Background
We publish criteria
To make coastal waters safe for swimming and other recreation, the Clean Water Act requires us to publish "criteria," or scientifically justified limits for various pollutants. For example, a criterion for a pollutant says that there can be no more than a certain concentration of that pollutant (e.g 10 parts per million) in the water or else that water fails to protect human health.
States adopt criteria
States, under the Clean Water Act, have the responsibility for writing "standards," or legal limits on pollutants that protect coastal recreation waters for swimming use. The states must adopt protective criteria into their standards. They can do this three ways:
- adopt our recommended criteria
- modify our recommended criteria to reflect site-specific conditions; or
- adopt criteria that is "as protective as" our recommendation based on scientifically-defensible methods.
The BEACH Act ensures protection
Although states are required to write the standards, we have to approve them. As of 2000, many states hadn't adopted our recommended bacteria criteria or an "as protective" alternative into their standards for coastal recreation waters.
In response, Congress passed the BEACH Act giving states until April 2004 to adopt protective bacteria criteria into their state standards. For states that didn't meet this deadline, the BEACH Act required us to issue federal standards to ensure national protection. With this new rule, we are putting federal standards into place for those states without criteria that are as protective of health as our criteria for coastal recreation waters.
For more information, including a list of states and their current status, see the final rule fact sheet.
Bacteria Rule
Final rule
- Press release (November 8, 2004)
- Fact sheet (summary) of the final rule
- Final rule published in the Federal Register (November 16, 2004) | Print version (PDF) (225 K, 27 pages, About PDF)
- Frequent questions
- Background material on this rule at Regulations.gov.
- Acceptable risk levels in Great Lakes waters, providing information on the flexibility states have regarding determining appropriate risk | Print version (PDF) (32 K, 3 pages; August 2006)
- Using a single sample maximum bacteria count in state water quality standards for coastal recreation waters, clarifying clarifies EPA's expectation for how this value would be used. | Print version (PDF) (44 K, 7 pages; August 2006)
For more information
Other web resources
- Frequent Questions
- Clean Beaches Plan
- Beaches Web site
- Water Quality Standards Web site
- BEACH Act
- Status Report: Bacterial Water Quality Standards for Recreational Waters (Freshwater and Marine Waters)
- Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria - 1986 (PDF) (662 K, 24 pages, About PDF)
- Background material on this rule at Regulations.gov.
- Waterborne disease information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Agency contact
Lars Wilcut (wilcut.lars@epa.gov) 202-566-0447
Proposed rule
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
- Press Release (July 2, 2004)
- Fact Sheet about the proposed rule
- Proposed rule published in the Federal Register (July 9, 2004) | Print version (PDF) (213 K, 25 pages, About PDF)
Letters to states and territories
Please contact Richard Healy (healy.richard@epa.gov) for section 508 accessible letters.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download, to view these files. See EPA's PDF page to learn more about PDF, and for a link to the free Acrobat Reader.
| Alabama (PDF) (124 K) | Louisiana (PDF) (129 K) | Ohio (PDF) (78 K) |
| Alaska (PDF) (128 K) | Maine (PDF) (78 K) | Oregon (PDF) (126 K) |
| American Samoa (PDF) (78 K) | Maryland (PDF) (127 K) | Pennsylvania (PDF) (130 K) |
| California (PDF) (137 K) | Massachusetts (PDF) (127 K) | Puerto Rico (PDF) (133 K) |
| Connecticut (PDF) (78 K) | Michigan (PDF) (78 K) | Rhode Island (PDF) (123 K) |
| Delaware (PDF) (78 K) | Minnesota (PDF) (126 K) | South Carolina (PDF) (126 K) |
| Florida (PDF) (128 K) | Mississippi (PDF) (125 K) | Texas (PDF) (78 K) |
| Georgia (PDF) (125 K) | New Hampshire (PDF) (78 K) | Virginia (PDF) (78 K) |
| Guam (PDF) (78 K) | New Jersey (PDF) (135 K) | Virgin Islands (PDF) (127 K) |
| Hawaii (PDF) (144 K) | New York (PDF) (123 K) | Washington (PDF) (123 K) |
| Illinois (PDF) (129 K) | North Mariana Islands (PDF) (130 K) | Wisconsin (PDF) (123 K) |
| Indiana (PDF) (78 K) | North Carolina (PDF) (130 K) |
