DESIGNATED WATER USES AND WATER QUALITY CRITERIA
§ 93.9. Designated water uses and water quality criteria.
(a) The tables in § § 93.9a—93.9z display designated water uses and water quality criteria in addition to the water uses and criteria specified in Tables 2 and 3. Designated uses shall be protected in accordance with Chapters 95 and 96 (relating to wastewater treatment requirements; and water quality standards implementation) and any other applicable State and Federal laws and regulations. The tables also indicate specific exceptions to Tables 2 and 3 on a stream-by-stream or segment-by-segment basis by the words ‘‘add’’ or ‘‘delete’’ followed by the appropriate symbols described elsewhere in this chapter. The county column in § § 93.9a—93.9z indicates the county in which the mouth of the stream or the downstream limit of the zone described for that entry is located. Abbreviations used in the Stream and the ‘‘Zone’’ columns are as follows:
FAS—Federal Aid Secondary Highway
I—Interstate Highway
LR—Pennsylvania Legislative Route
RM—River Mile; river miles are used to indicate the distance from a point on the waterbody to its mouth and are based on the DEP’s River Mile Index
SR—Pennsylvania State Route
T—Township Road
UNT—Unnamed Tributaries
US—United States Federal Route
(b) When appropriate, ‘‘Exceptions to Specific Criteria’’ provide reference to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) water quality regulations, Orsanco (Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission) pollution control standards and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) which specify the criteria that apply if a water quality standard is more stringent than those in this title. The applicable criteria can be obtained from the following:
Delaware River Basin Commission
P. O. Box 7360
West Trenton, New Jersey 08628
(609) 883-9500
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
5735 Kellogg Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45228
(513) 231-7719
GLWQA: International Joint Commission
Great Lakes Regional Office
100 Ouellette Ave., 8th Floor
Windsor Ontario, Canada N9A 6T3
(519) 257-6700
(c) With respect to hydrological order, the numbers appearing on the left-hand column of the drainage lists represent stream entries to aid in identifying hydrological order: 1 identifies the most downstream hydrologic order; 2 is triburary to 1; 3 is tributary to 2, and so on.
(d) An overview appears as follows:
Delaware River Basin § 93.9a. Drainage List A. PA-NY State Border to Lackawaxen River. § 93.9b. Drainage List B. Lackawaxen River Basin. § 93.9c. Drainage List C. Lackawaxen River to Lehigh River. § 93.9d. Drainage List D. Lehigh River Basin. § 93.9e. Drainage List E. Lehigh River to Schuylkill River. § 93.9f. Drainage List F. Schuylkill River Basin. § 93.9g. Drainage List G. Schuylkill River to PA-DE State Border. Susquehanna River Basin § 93.9h. Drainage List H. Tioga River Basin. § 93.9i. Drainage List I. PA-NY State Border to Lackawanna River. § 93.9j. Drainage List J. Lackawanna River Basin. § 93.9k. Drainage List K. Lackawanna River to West Branch. § 93.9l. Drainage List L. West Branch Susquehanna River Basin. § 93.9m. Drainage List M. West Branch to Juniata River. § 93.9n. Drainage List N. Juniata River Basin. § 93.9o. Drainage List O. Juniata River to PA-MD State Border. Ohio River Basin § 93.9p. Drainage List P. Allegheny River Basin, PA-NY State Border to Tunungwant Creek. § 93.9q. Drainage List Q. Allegheny River Basin, Tunungwant Creek to Clarion River. § 93.9r. Drainage List R. Clarion River Basin. § 93.9s. Drainage List S. Allegheny River Basin, Clarion River to Kiskiminetas River. § 93.9t. Drainage List T. Kiskiminetas River Basin. § 93.9u. Drainage List U. Allegheny River Basin, Kiskiminetas River to Monongahela River. § 93.9v. Drainage List V. Monongahela River Basin. § 93.9w. Drainage List W. Confluence of Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers to PA-OH State Border. Lake Erie § 93.9x. Drainage List X. Lake Erie Basin. Genesee River Basin § 93.9y. Drainage List Y. Genesee River Basin. Potomac River Basin § 93.9z. Drainage List Z. Potomac River Basin.
Authority The provisions of this § 93.9 amended under sections 5(b)(1) and 402 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. § § 691.5(b)(1) and 691.402); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 510-20).
Source The provisions of this § 93.9 amended through September 4, 1987, effective September 5, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 3602 and 3604; amended September 9, 1988, effective September 10, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 4089; amended November 25, 1988, effective November 26, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 5260; corrected December 9, 1988, effective November 26, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 5260; amended March 10, 1989, effective March 11, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 968; corrected March 24, 1989, effective February 25, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 1288; amended May 19, 1989, effective May 20, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 2158; amended June 23, 1989, effective June 24, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 2645; amended June 28, 1991, effective June 29, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 2885; amended November 29, 1991, effective November 30, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 5511; amended March 6, 1992, effective March 7, 1992, 22 Pa.B. 1037; amended November 17, 2000, effective November 18, 2000, 30 Pa.B. 6059; amended October 31, 2003, effective November 1, 2003, 33 Pa.B. 5420; amended February 11, 2005, effective February 12, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 1197. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (304256), (300701) to (300702) and (272037).
Notes of Decisions In General
Regulations contemplate that the Department will evaluate the degree to which phosphorus contributes to the impairment designated uses on a case-by-case basis and may impose more stringent limitations where necessary. Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Department of Environmental Resources, 513 A.2d 979, 981 (Pa. 1986).
Judicial Review
Petition filed under Commonwealth Court’s original jurisdiction, challenging new regulations which removed specific numeric phosphorus content limits in favor of evaluation by a general model, was premature since petitioner would ‘‘not suffer direct and immediate harm which would render the statutory administrative review, process inadequate.’’ Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Department of Environmental Resources, 513 A.2d 979, 981 (Pa. 1986).
Regulations removing specific numeric phosphorus content limits in favor of evaluation by a general model must be challenged on a case-by-case basis by individual phosphorus discharges; said challenges do not cause direct and immediate harm to a petitioner and are deemed more efficient than judicial speculation as to how the Department will implement amended regulations. Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Department of Environmental Resources, 513 A.2d 979, 981 (Pa. 1986).
Since amended regulations provided that existing point sources of phosphorus would continue to operate at current levels and since the amended regulations also provided for DER evaluation of effects of phosphorous on a case-by-case basis with the likelihood that more stringent limitations would be imposed, the impact of the new regulations on petitioner was uncertain, not direct and immediate, thereby precluding exercise of the court’s equitable jurisdiction. Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Department of Environmental Resources, 498 A.2d 1000, 1002 (Pa. Commw. 1985).
Although court had jurisdiction under Declaratory Judgement Act to consider a preenforcement challenge to new regulations, the court declined to do so because it remained to be seen how the Department would apply the regulations to phosphorus discharges in Petitioner’s area. Neshaminy Water Resources Authority v. Department of Environmental Resources, 498 A.2d 1000 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985).
Quality Water
Where a body of water is designated ‘‘high quality’’ under this section, that fact together with the provisions of 25 Pa. Code § 95.1(b) demand that the permit holder developer and the Department be the parties responsible for justifying the permit after evidence has been presented showing the likelihood of environmental harm. Marcon, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Resources, 462 A.2d 969 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 71.64 (relating to small flow treatment facilities); 25 Pa. Code § 250.309 (relating to MSCs for surface water); 25 Pa. Code § 250.406 (relating to relationship to surface water quality requirements); and 25 Pa. Code § 269a.50 (relating to environmental assessment considerations).
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