Key Concepts

Introduction: What's Covered in This Module?

This module addresses submission of a State or Tribe's water quality standards to the EPA Regional Office for review, including consideration of timelines and types of Agency determinations. EPA approval is required before a State/Tribe can use its standards as the basis for implementation actions, such as establishing effluent limitations.

The module also touches on the requirement that States/Tribes periodically review their water quality standards to identify any modifications needed to better focus the standards on the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

In particular, this module provides answers to the following:

• What steps are required of States/Tribes before submitting water quality standards to the EPA Regional Office for review?
• What must States/Tribes include in the submission to EPA?
• What types of responses can a State/Tribe expect from EPA and when?
• How often must a State/Tribe revisit its approved standards and what's involved in revising the standards?

At the end of the module is a brief quiz intended to touch on some key concepts regarding State/Tribe submission and EPA review of water quality standards—concepts that will be further examined in the classroom session of this module.

This module's main pages and brief quiz at the end take about 15 minutes to complete.