Do biological criteria have to be codified in State regulations?
State water quality standards require three components: • designated uses, • protective criteria, and • an antidegradation clause. For criteria to be enforceable they must be codified in regulations. Codification could involve general narrative statements of biological criteria, numeric criteria, and/or criteria accompanied by specific testing procedures. Codifying general narratives provides the most flexibility-specific methods for data collection the least flexibility-for incorporating new data and improving data gathering methods as the biological criteria program develops. States should carefully consider how to codify these criteria.
