(a) This part constitutes the Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System (Guidance) required by section 118(c)(2) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) as amended by the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-596, 104 Stat. 3000 et seq.). The Guidance in this part identifies minimum water quality standards, antidegradation policies, and implementation procedures for the Great Lakes System to protect human health, aquatic life, and wildlife.

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(b) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes States, and Great Lakes Tribes will use the Guidance in this part to evaluate the water quality programs of the States and Tribes to assure that they are protective of water quality. State and Tribal programs do not need to be identical to the Guidance in this part, but must contain provisions that are consistent with (as protective as) the Guidance in this part. The scientific, policy and legal basis for EPA’s development of each section of the final Guidance in this part is set forth in the preamble, Supplementary Information Document, Technical Support Documents, and other supporting documents in the public docket. EPA will follow the guidance set out in these documents in reviewing the State and Tribal water quality programs in the Great Lakes for consistency with this part.

(c) The Great Lakes States and Tribes must adopt provisions consistent with the Guidance in this part applicable to waters in the Great Lakes System or be subject to EPA promulgation of its terms pursuant to this part.

(d) EPA understands that the science of risk assessment is rapidly improving. Therefore, to ensure that the scientific basis for the methodologies in appendices A through D are always current and peer reviewed, EPA will review the methodologies and revise them, as appropriate, every 3 years.

(e) Certain documents referenced in the appendixes to this part with a designation of NTIS and/or ERIC are available for a fee upon request to the National Technical Information Center (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. Alternatively, copies may be obtained for a fee upon request to the Educational Resources Information Center/Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education (ERIC/CSMEE), 1200 Chambers Road, Room 310, Columbus, Ohio 43212. When ordering, please include the NTIS or ERIC/CSMEE accession number.