This antidegradation standard shall be applicable
to any action or activity by any source, point or nonpoint, of pollutants
that is anticipated to result in an increased loading of BCCs to surface
waters of the Great Lakes system and for which independent regulatory
authority exists requiring compliance with water quality standards.
Pursuant to this standard:
A. Existing in-stream water uses, as defined pursuant
to 40 CFR 131, and the level of water quality necessary to protect
existing uses shall be maintained and protected. Where designated
uses of the water body are impaired, there shall be no lowering of
the water quality with respect to the pollutant or pollutants which
are causing the impairment.
B. Where, for any parameter, the quality of the waters
exceeds levels necessary to support the propagation of fish, shellfish,
and wildlife and recreation in and on the waters, that water shall
be considered high quality, and that quality shall be maintained and
protected unless the Tribe finds, after full satisfaction of intergovernmental
coordination and public participation provisions of the Tribe's continuing
planning process, that allowing lower water quality is necessary to
accommodate important economic or social development in the area in
which the waters are located. In allowing such degradation, the Tribe
shall assure water quality adequate to protect existing uses fully.
Further, the Tribe shall assure that there shall be achieved the highest
statutory and regulatory requirements for all new and existing point
sources and all cost-effective and reasonable best management practices
for nonpoint source control. The Tribe shall utilize the antidegradation
implementation procedures adopted pursuant to the requirements of
this article in determining if any lowering of water quality will
be allowed.
(1) Where high-quality waters constitute an outstanding
national resource, such as waters of parks and wildlife refuges and
waters of exceptional recreational or ecological significance, that
water quality shall be maintained and protected; and
(2) In those cases where the potential lowering of water
quality is associated with a thermal discharge, the decision to allow
such degradation shall be consistent with Section 316 of the Clean
Water Act (CWA).
Any entity seeking to lower water quality in a high-quality water or create a new or increased discharge of Lake Superior bioaccumulative substances of immediate concern in a Reservation water must first, as required by §
512-24 of this article, submit an antidegradation demonstration for consideration by the Director. The Tribe should tailor the level of detail and documentation in antidegradation reviews to the specific circumstances encountered. The antidegradation demonstration shall include the following:
A. Pollution prevention alternatives analysis. Identify
any cost-effective pollution prevention alternatives and techniques
that are available to the entity that would eliminate or significantly
reduce the extent to which the increased loading results in a lowering
of water quality.
B. Alternative or enhanced treatment analysis. Identify
alternative or enhanced treatment techniques that are available to
the entity that would eliminate the lowering of water quality and
their costs relative to the cost of treatment necessary to achieve
applicable effluent limitations.
C. Lake Superior. For waters designated as outstanding national resource waters pursuant to this article, any entity proposing a new or increased discharge of any Lake Superior bioaccumulative substance of immediate concern to the Lake Superior basin shall identify the best technology in process and treatment to eliminate or reduce the extent of the lowering of water quality. In this case, the requirements in Subsection
B of this section do not apply.
D. Important social or economic development analysis.
Identify the social or economic development and the benefits to the
area in which the waters are located that will be foregone if the
lowering of water quality is not allowed.
E. Special provision for remedial actions. Entities proposing remedial actions pursuant to the CERCLA, as amended, corrective actions pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, or similar actions pursuant to other federal or tribal environmental statutes or ordinances may submit information to the Director that demonstrates that the action utilizes the most cost-effective pollution prevention and treatment techniques available and minimizes the necessary lowering of water quality, in lieu of the information required by Subsections
B through
D.