Without this  ability, it is difficult for states to determine if a facility’s discharge is  exceeding GLI water quality criteria and if a discharge limits are required. As we reported in 2005, developing the analytical  methods needed to measure pollutants at the GLI water quality criteria  level is a significant challenge to fully achieving GLI goals. Although  methods have been developed for the nine BCCs for which GLI water  quality criteria have been established, EPA has only approved the methods  to measure mercury and lindane below GLI’s stringent criteria levels. Analytical methods for the other BCCs either have not received EPA  approval or cannot be used to reliably measure to GLI criteria levels. Once  EPA approves an analytical method, Great Lakes states are able to issue  point source permits that require facilities to use that method unless the  EPA region has approved an alternative procedure. According to EPA  officials, specific time frames for developing and approving methods that  measure to GLI criteria have not yet been established. Table 1 shows the status of the methods for  the nine BCCs. The Great  Lakes states’ experience with mercury illustrates the impact of sufficiently  sensitive measurement methods on identifying pollutant discharges from  point sources. Since this method was approved, the number of permits  with discharge limits for mercury rose from 185 in May 2005 to 292 in  November 2007. Moreover, EPA and state officials are expecting this trend  to continue. Permit Flexibilities Allowing Discharges in Excess of GLI Water Quality Standards Delay Achievement of GLI Goals

Permit flexibilities often allow facilities’ discharges to exceed GLI water  quality criteria. Allows dischargers to exceed the GLI discharge limit for a  particular pollutant specified in their permit. According to EPA and state officials, in many cases, facilities cannot meet  GLI water quality criteria for a number of reasons, such as technology  limitations, and the flexibilities are intended to give the facility time to  make progress toward meeting the GLI criteria. With the exception of  compliance schedules, the GLI allows for the repeated use of these permit  flexibilities. As a result, EPA and state officials could not tell us when the  GLI criteria will be met. EPA Has Taken Some Actions to Ensure Consistent Implementation of the GLI as Recommended in Our 2005 Report

In our 2005 report, we described several factors that were undermining  EPA’s ability to ensure progress toward achieving consistent  implementation of GLI water quality standards. To help ensure full and  consistent implementation of the GLI and to improve measures for  monitoring progress toward achieving GLI’s goals, we made a number of  recommendations to the EPA Administrator. In 2005, we reported that EPA’s efforts to assess  progress in implementing the GLI and its impact on reducing point  source discharges have been hampered by lack of information on these  discharges. EPA has begun to  review the efforts and progress made by one category of facilities— municipal wastewater treatment facilities—to reduce their mercury  discharges into the basin. However,  additional efforts will be needed to ensure consistency at other types of  facilities, such as industrial sites, across the Great Lakes states. As methods are developed to  determine whether facilities’ discharges for other BCCs meet GLI criteria  and EPA approves them, and as more permits include discharge limits,  more information will be available on pollutant discharges in the basin. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the  United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

Millions of people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation, and economic livelihood. During the 1970s, it became apparent that pollutants discharged into the Great Lakes Basin from point sources, such as industrial and municipal facilities, or from nonpoint sources, such as air emissions from power plants, were harming the Great Lakes. Some of these pollutants, known as bioaccumulative chemicals of concern (BCC), pose risks to fish and other species as well as to the humans and wildlife that consume them. In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Great Lakes Initiative (GLI). The GLI established water quality criteria to be used by states to establish pollutant discharge limits for some BCCs and other pollutants that are discharged by point sources. The GLI also allows states to include flexible permit implementation procedures (flexibilities) that allow facilities' discharges to exceed GLI criteria. This testimony is based on GAO's July 2005 report, Great Lakes Initiative: EPA Needs to Better Ensure the Complete and Consistent Implementation of Water Quality Standards (GAO-05-829) and updated information from EPA and the Great Lakes states. This statement addresses (1) the status of EPA's efforts to develop and approve methods to measure pollutants at the GLI water quality criteria levels, (2) the use of permit flexibilities, and (3) EPA's actions to implement GAO's 2005 recommendations.

What GAO Found

As GAO reported in 2005, developing the sensitive analytical methods needed to measure pollutants at the GLI water quality criteria level is a significant challenge to achieving GLI's goals. Of the nine BCCs for which criteria have been established, only two--mercury and lindane--have EPA-approved methods that will measure below those criteria levels. Measurement methods for the other BCCs are either not yet approved or cannot reliably measure to GLI criteria. Without such measurement, it is difficult for states to determine whether a facility is exceeding the criteria and if discharge limits are required in the facility's permit. As methods become available, states are able to include enforceable discharge limits in facilities' permits. For example, since EPA approved a more sensitive method for mercury in 1999, the number of permits with mercury limits has increased from 185 in May 2005 to 292 in November 2007. EPA and state officials expect this trend to continue. Similar increases may occur as more sensitive analytical methods are developed and approved for other BCCs. Flexibilities included in permits allow facilities' discharges to exceed GLI water quality criteria. For example, one type of flexibility--variances--will allow facilities to exceed the GLI criteria for a pollutant specified in their permits. Moreover, the GLI allows the repeated use of some of these permit flexibilities, and does not set a time frame for facilities to meet the GLI water quality criteria. As a result, EPA and state officials do not know when the GLI criteria will be met. In the 2005 report, GAO made a number of recommendations to EPA to help ensure full and consistent implementation of the GLI and to improve measures for monitoring progress toward achieving GLI's goals. EPA has taken some actions to implement the recommendations. For example, EPA has begun to review the efforts and progress made by one category of facilities--municipal wastewater treatment plants--to reduce their mercury discharges into the basin. However, until EPA gathers more information on the implementation of GLI and the impact it has had on reducing pollutant discharges from point sources, as we recommended, it will not be able to fully assess progress toward GLI goals.