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New Jersey Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report
(includes 305(b) Report and 303(d) List)
General Information
The federal Clean Water Act mandates that states submit biennial reports to USEPA describing the quality of their waters. The biennial Statewide Water Quality Inventory Report or "305(b) Report" must include the status of principal waters in terms of overall water quality and support of designated uses, as well as strategies to maintain and improve water quality. The 305(b) reports are used by Congress and USEPA to establish program priorities and funding for federal and state water resource management programs. The biennial List of Water Quality Limited Waters or "303(d) List" identifies waters that are not attaining designated uses because they do not meet surface water quality standards despite the implementation of technology-based effluent limits. States must prioritize waters on the 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Waters for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analyses and identify those high priority waters for which they anticipate establishing TMDLs in the next two years. The Integrated Report satisfies the reporting and public participation requirements of Sections 303(d), 305(b), and 314 of the federal Clean Water Act.
New Jersey's Integrated Reports
The New Jersey Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Reports are intended to provide effective tools for maintaining high quality waters and improving the quality of waters that do not attain their designated uses. The Integrated Reports describe attainment of the designated uses specified in New Jersey's Surface Water Quality Standards (N.J.A.C. 7:9B), which include: aquatic life; recreation; drinking, industrial, and agricultural water supply; fish consumption; and shellfish harvest for consumption. The Integrated Report includes the following information to inform and guide water resource management at statewide, regional, and local levels:
- Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Methods (Methods Document), which details the assessment methods used to by the Department to generate the Integrated List.
- The Integrated List of Waters , which identifies the use assessment results for each assessment unit as one of five categories, called "sublists", ranging from full attainment to non-attainment/requires a TMDL;
- The 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Waters, which identifies waters assessed as impaired for specific pollutants based on non-attainment of the designated use i.e., Sublist 5);
- Sources and causes of pollutants causing impairment, where known;
- A schedule of TMDLs to be developed in the next two years to address impaired waters identified on Sublist 5 (303(d) List);
- Ongoing and planned strategies to maintain and improve water quality statewide, including summaries of the Department's water pollution control programs; improve and expand water quality monitoring, including the Department's Water Monitoring & Assessment Strategy (2005-2014); and improve water quality assessment methods.
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- 2002 Integrated Report
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The Integrated List of Waters
The primary deliverable of the statewide water quality assessment process is the Integrated List of Waters, which identifies the use attainment and assessment status of all waters of the State. The Integrated List of Waters is generated by assigning all of the State's waters to one of five possible categories (called sublists) based upon the following considerations: 1) the degree of attainment of the designated uses, 2) how much information is available to determine use attainment, and 3) the cause(s) and source(s) of non-attainment. Placement conditions for each sublist are described below:
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Assessment Category |
Placement Conditions |
| Sublist 1 |
The designated use is assessed and attained AND all other designated uses in the assessment unit are assessed and attained (except for fish consumption). |
| Sublist 2 |
The designated use is assessed and attained BUT one or more designated uses in the assessment unit are not attained and/or there is insufficient information to make a determination. |
| Sublist 3 |
Insufficient data is available to determine if the designated use is attained. |
| Sublist 4 |
The designated use is not attained or is threatened; however, development of a TMDL is not required for one of the following reasons: |
| A. A TMDL has been completed for the pollutant causing non-attainment. |
| B. Other enforceable pollution control requirements are reasonably expected to result in conformance with the applicable water quality standard(s) in the near future and the designated use will be attained. |
C. Non-attainment is caused by something other than a pollutant (e.g., “pollution”). |
| Sublist 5 |
The designated use is not attained or is threatened by a pollutant(s) and a TMDL is required. |
The Department's goal is for all waters to attain all uses (i.e., assigned to Sublist 1). Sublist 1 identifies assessment units where all designated uses (except fish consumption) are assessed and attained ("full attainment"). Fish consumption is not considered for Sublist 1 since non-attainment of the fish consumption use is addressed through public health advisories rather than pollution control measures, and because the source of contamination is generally due to legacy pollutants or air deposition, rather than active point source discharges.
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303(d) List: List of Water Quality Limited Waters
The Federal Clean Water Act mandates that states submit to USEPA, on a biennial basis, a list of waters that are not attaining designated uses because they are not meeting surface water quality standards despite the implementation of technology-based effluent limits. All such waters must be identified on this List of Water Quality Limited Waters or "303(d) List." States must prioritize 303(d)-listed waters for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analyses and identify those high priority waters for which they anticipate establishing TMDLs in the next two years. Since 2002, New Jersey has developed and submitted its 303(d) List as part of the Integrated Report.
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Preparation of the Integrated Report
The first phase in developing the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report begins with the solicitation of water quality-related data to support the development of the 303(d) List. The Department provides notice of solicitation in the New Jersey Register and on the Department's Web site. A minimum of six months is provided for the submittal of data from a specific reporting period for use in developing a given year's 303(d) List. Data received after the closing date for submission of data may be used for subsequent year's 303(d) Lists or other water quality assessments.
During the second phase, the Department updates the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Methods Document. This document includes a description of the quality assurance requirements as well as the rationale for the assignment of waters to Sublists 1 through 5 of the Integrated List of Waters based on the results of their designated use assessments. A notice of availability for public review of the draft Methods Document is published in the New Jersey Register and a thirty-day comment period is provided. After review and consideration of comments received on the proposed Methods Document, the Department finalizes the Methods Document, including a Response to Comments Document.
The third phase is the assessment of all data, waters, and designated uses for the Integrated Report and the 303(d) List of Water Quality Limited Waters (303(d) List). The Department prepares the Integrated Report, including assessment results represented in a spatial context, detailed descriptions of data sources, monitoring needs and schedules, and TMDL schedules, along with other strategies for use attainment, and makes it available for public review. However, pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, only the draft 303(d) List is subject to public participation requirements. The Department publishes the draft 303(d) List in the New Jersey Register and newspapers of general interest as a proposed amendment to the Statewide Water Quality Management (WQM) Plan pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:15-6. A thirty-day public comment period is provided. The draft 303(d) List is submitted to USEPA for approval along with the two-year TMDL schedule and priority ranking. After review and consideration of comments received on the proposed 303(d) List, the final 303(d) List is revised as needed, approved by USEPA, and adopted as a Statewide WQM Plan amendment. A notice of adoption is published in the New Jersey Register along with the Response to Comments and the entire Integrated Report, including the Integrated List of Waters and the final 303(d) List, is posted on the Department's Web site.
Older (prior to 2002) water quality assessment reports and related documents are also available on the Technical Support Documents Web page.
For more information, please contact the Bureau of Water Quality Standards and Assessment at (609) 777-1753. |
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