Effluent Guidelines Biennial Plan

Past Effluent Guidelines Plans

The following documents and links provide information on previous effluent guidelines program plans. EPA also uses its Draft Strategy to guide its annual review of existing effluent guidelines.

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2008
2006 Effluent Guidelines Plan
2004/2005 Effluent Guidelines Plan
2002 Effluent Guidelines Plan
2000 Effluent Guidelines Plan
1998 Effluent Guidelines Plan
1996 Effluent Guidelines Plan
1994 Effluent Guidelines Plan

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Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2008

EPA issued a Federal Register Notice presenting our 2008 annual review and solicited public comment. In particular, this notice presented the current status of studies identified in the 2006 annual review of the Steam Electric Power Generating, Coal Mining, Coalbed Methane, and Health Care industries that we will use to decide whether to identify any of these categories for effluent guidelines rulemaking.

The Federal Register notice also updates two preliminary industry reviews identified in the 2006 Plan. Because the Textile Mills industry did not rank among the top toxic pollutant dischargers in the 2007 review, EPA will not pursue further action for this industry. Due to a lack of data, EPA will continue its review of the Ore Mining and Dressing industry.

Additionally, we started reviews for two more industries: Centralized Waste Treatment and Waste Combustors.

EPA will gather the following information for the Ore Mining and Dressing, Centralized Waste Treatment, and Waste Combustors industries:

What toxic pollutants are discharged from these industries in non-trivial amounts on an industry and per-facility basis?
What raw material(s) or process(es) are the sources of these pollutants?
What technologies or management practices are available (technically and economically) to control or prevent the generation and/or release of these pollutants?

Fact Sheet about the Preliminary Plan (October 2007)
Federal Register Notice of the Effluent Guidelines Plan | Print Version (PDF) (280 K, 21 pp., About PDF) (October 30, 2007)

Supporting Documents

Technical Support Document (PDF) (183 pp., 1.5 MB; EPA-821-R-07-007)
- Appendices:
  1. A: Supplemental materials for EPA's screening level analysis (PDF) (180 pp., 1.5 MB)
  2. B: Results of TRI Releases 2004 and PCS Loads 2004 (PDF) (48 pp., 1.1 MB)
  3. C: Supplemental materials for development of TRI Releases 2004 (PDF) (28 pp., 630 K)
  4. D: Supplemental materials for development of PCS Loads 2004 (PDF) (64 pp., 2.2 MB)
  5. E & F: Coal mining detailed study status memorandum; Health care industry detailed study status memorandum (PDF) (7 pp., 58 K; EPA 821-R-07-008)
Steam Electric Detailed Study: Summary Paper (PDF) (19 pp., 364 K)

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Final Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2006

Federal Register Notice | Print Version (PDF) (24 pp., 276 K) (December 21, 2006)
Fact Sheet (December 18, 2006)
Support Documents
- Final User Guide to the Docket for the 2005 and 2006 Annual Reviews and the 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (PDF) (507 pp., 1.9 MB)
- Tobacco Products Processing Detailed Study (PDF) (86 pp., 1.0 MB) (December 27, 2006)
- Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Detailed Study (PDF) (208 pp., 1.9 MB) (December 27, 2006)
- Steam Electric Power Generating Interim Detailed Study (PDF) (128 pp., 1.1 MB) (November, 2006)
- Technical Support Document (EPA-821R-06-018) (December 2006)
  - Cover and Table of Contents (PDF) (29 pp., 1.4 MB)
  - Part I: Introduction (PDF) (71 pp., 842 K)
    - Background
    - Public Comments
    - The Effluent Guidelines Planning Process
    - Methodology, Data Sources, and Limitations
  - Part II: Results of the 2006 Annual Review (PDF) (239 pp., 1.3 MB)
    - 2006 Annual Review
    - Coal Bed Methane Subcategory
    - Coal Mining
    - Fertilizer Manufacturing
    - Inorganic Chemicals Manufacturing
    - Nonferrous Metals Manufacturing
    - Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers
    - Ore Mining and Dressing
    - Pesticide Chemicals
    - Petroleum Refining
    - Plastics Molding and Forming
    - Porcelain Enameling
    - Rubber Manufacturing
    - Textile Mills
  - Part III: Review of Industrial Discharges not Covered by Categorical Regulations (PDF) (72 pp., 932 K)
    - Review of Indirect Dischargers
    - Review of Direct Dischargers
  - Complete Technical Support Document (PDF) (408 pp., 4.4 MB)

Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2006

EPA sought comment on a preliminary plan for reviewing effluent guidelines, regulations that improve water quality by controlling discharges from industrial sources. This is the first step in meeting that requirement for the 2006-07 planning cycle.

EPA held a public meeting on this preliminary Plan on September 20, 2005 in Washington, DC. To find additional information supporting the preliminary Plan, visit Regulation.gov, searching for Docket ID No. OW-2004-0032 among EPA "closed for comment" documents.

Extension of Comment Period for the Preliminary 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (October 26, 2005)
Fact Sheet (August 2005)
Federal Register Notice (August 29, 2005)
Support Documents
- User Guide to the Docket for 2006 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan (PDF) (140 pp., 1.4 MB)
- Minutes of the September 20, 2005 Public Meeting (PDF) (9 pp., 28 K)
- Slide presentations from the September 20, 2005 Public Meeting (PDF) (2.6 MB, 84 pp.). This slide presentation
  - gives an overview of effluent guidelines and standards and the planning process,
  - discusses EPA's 2005 annual review of ELGs and industrial categories without ELGs, and
  - details the industry sectors EPA identified for detailed studies in 2006 annual review and additional data needs.
- 2005 Annual Screening-Level Analysis Report (PDF) (191 pp., 1.5 MB) This document supports EPA's 2005 review of industrial dischargers with and without effluent guidelines and pretreatment standards. It presents EPA's screening level analyses that support the 2005 annual review.
- Screening Level Analysis Report (Attachments) (PDF) (208 pp., 3.2 MB) This document presents the data supporting EPA's review of industrial dischargers.
- Preliminary 2005 Review of Prioritized Categories of Industrial Dischargers (PDF) (109 pp., 1.4 MB) This document supports EPA's 2005 review of industrial dischargers with effluent guidelines and focuses on eleven industrial sectors with the largest amounts of toxics pollution reported to EPA's national databases (TRI and PCS).
- Preliminary Engineering Report: Steam Electric Power Detailed Study (PDF) (80 pp., 651 K) This document presents an overview of the Steam Electric Power industrial sector and focuses on the wastewater discharges and related regulations.
- Preliminary Economic Profile: Steam Electric Detailed Study (PDF) (30 pp., 481 K) This profile compiles and analyzes economic and operational data for the electric power generating industry.
- Preliminary Report: Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Detailed Study (PDF) (121 pp., 1.3 MB) This document presents an overview of the Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard industrial sector and focuses on the wastewater discharges and related regulations.
- Tobacco Products Processing (PDF) (8 pp., 218 K) This document presents an overview of the Tobacco Products industrial sector and focuses on the wastewater discharges and related regulations.
- Draft Toxic Weighting Factor Development in Support of CWA 304(m) Planning Process (PDF) (104 pp., 1 MB) This document summarizes the use and development of toxic weighting factors that are used in the effluent guidelines planning process.

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Final Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2004/2005

Fact Sheet (August 2004)
Federal Register notice (September 2, 2004)
This notice describes EPA's 2004 annual review of existing effluent guidelines under Clean Water Act section 304(b) and presents EPA's final 2004 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan under Clean Water Act §304(m).
Technical Support Document (PDF) (4.6 MB, 559 pp.)
View other support documents using Regulation.gov, searching for Docket ID No. OW-2003-0074 among EPA "closed for comment" documents.

Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Plan for 2004/2005

Record Index for the Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2004/2005 (PDF) (336 K, 79 pp.) This document lists all the record items for the preliminary plan and will help you identify those documents of interest to you.
Extension of Comment period to March 18, 2004
- Federal Register Notice (February 12, 2004)
- Fact Sheet (February 2004)
Slide presentations from the January 28, 2004 Public Meeting (PDF) (3.1 MB)
Fact Sheet (December 2003)
Federal Register Notice (December 31, 2003)
Support Documents
- Factor 1 Analysis: Human Health and Environmental Impacts (PDF) (555 Kb) This report discusses the status of the EPA's initial screening level review phase for Factor 1, Human Health and Environmental Impacts. This factor considers the extent to which the pollutants discharged by industry categories pose adverse impacts, and more specifically, potential risk to human health or the environment.
- Factor 2 Analysis: Technology Advances and Process Changes - Status of Screening Level Review Phase (PDF) (192 K) This draft summarizes the Factor 2 screening level information gathered on some of the twenty industries identified for further data collection.
- Factor 4 Analysis: Implementation and Efficiency Considerations, Status of Screening Level Review Phase (PDF) (370 K) This report documents the efforts made and discusses the status of screening level analysis for Factor 4, Implementation and Efficiency.
- Description and Results of EPA Methodology to Synthesize Screening Level Results for the Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2004/2005 (PDF) (347 K) Memorandum regarding methodology EPA used to synthesize screening level data used for the Clean Water Act (CWA) preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2004/2005. This memorandum will also describe initial results.
- View other support documents using Regulation.gov, searching for Docket ID No. OW-2003-0074 among EPA "closed for comment" documents.

Draft Strategy for National Clean Water Industrial Regulations (November 2002)
EPA published a draft Strategy that describes a process EPA may use to identify industries for which effluent guidelines need to be revised or developed, in compliance with Section 304(m) of the Clean Water Act.

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