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2006 Integrated Report Guidance
EPA has released the Guidance for 2006 Assessment, Listing, and Reporting Requirements Pursuant to Sections 303(d), 305(b), and 314 of the Clean Water Act [2006 Integrated Report Guidance (IRG)]. This guidance is for states, territories, authorized tribes, and interstate commissions that help prepare and submit section 305(b) reports (hereinafter referred to as "jurisdictions"). It outlines development of biennial Integrated Reports (IR) that would support EPA's strategy for achieving a broad-scale, national inventory of water quality conditions.
The objective of this guidance is to provide jurisdictions
a recommended reporting format, and
suggested content to be used in developing a single document that integrates the reporting requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) sections 303(d), 305(b), and 314 (pursuant to the CWA, jurisdictions report to EPA biannually on the condition of waters within their boundaries).
Each IR will:
report on the water quality standards attainment status of all waters,
document the availability of data and information for each water,
identify certain trends in water quality conditions, and
provide information to managers in setting priorities for future actions to protect and restore the health of our nation's water resources.
This document is a comprehensive compilation of relevant guidance EPA has issued to date regarding the IR; however, there are few specific changes from the 2004 guidance. The 2006 guidance provides:
increased emphasis on the use of the Assessment Database (ADB) or compatible electronic format (the ADB is being modified to accommodate the recent format, content, and multi-category listing option that the guidance suggests),
greater clarity on the content and the format of those components of the IR recommended and required under CWA sections 303(d), 305(b) and 314,
greater clarity on issues associated with data solicitation, collection, consideration, and interpretation of water quality standards,
additional information on the option to report water quality status of individual segments in more than one category (e.g., to show that some designated uses of water are being attained and some designated uses are not), and
additional clarity and flexibility on undertaking and reporting alternatives to total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for attaining water quality standards (e.g., utilization of reporting "Category 4b").
If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Furtak at (202) 566-1167.
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Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the final 2006 Integrated Report Guidance (published Aug. 12, 2005) (HTML, PDF, 54 KB, 2 pages)
2006 Integrated Report Guidance Fact Sheet (HTML, PDF, 17 KB, 1 page)
2006 Integrated Report Guidance Highlights (HTML, PDF, 18 KB, 2 pages)
2006 Integrated Report Guidance Full Document in PDF Format (PDF, 725 KB, 89 pages)
Download Memo, Cover Page, Table of
Contents, and Abbreviations and Acronyms (PDF, 127 KB, 7 pages)
Download Section I - Introduction (PDF, 143 KB, 3 pages)
Download Section II - Reporting Requirements under the Clean Water Act sections 303(d), 305(b), 314 and Corresponding Regulations (PDF, 123 KB, 4 pages)
Download Section III - Recommended Organization of an Integrated Report (PDF, 189 KB, 16 pages)
Download Section IV - Issues Concerning the Development and Use of an Assessment Methodology (PDF, 196 KB, 17 pages)
Download Section V - Five-Part Categorization of Waters (PDF, 214 KB, 19 pages)
Download Section VI - Reporting Results (PDF, 112KB, 1 page)
Download Glossary (PDF, 128 KB, 4 pages)
Download Appendix - Data Elements for 2006 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report and documentation for Defining and Linking Segments to the National Hydrography Dataset (PDF, 482 KB, 17 pages)