Every three years, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) conducts a comprehensive review of the Water Quality Standards (WQS) in 18 AAC 70. This review helps to keep the pollution limits for Alaska's waters up to date by integrating the latest science and technology and federal requirements into how the State regulates water quality.

ADEC went to public notice with a list of 15 potential WQS revision topics in June 2007 and sought feedback on those and other standards that the state should review for potential revisions. ADEC received 68 public comments. After reviewing the public comments and consulting with other state resource agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the ADEC Division of Water has selected the following priority topics for review and potential revision: Antidegradation Policy Implementation Guidance, Groundwater Standards, Dissolved Inorganic Substances/Total Dissolved Solids, Toxics Manual Revisions, and other WQS On-Going Projects. Fact sheets for each of these topics are linked below. Please note that ADEC will continue to research other projects and ADEC may shift priorities during the three years of this review. However, all regulatory proposals will continue to be sent to public notice as required by law.

The following documents are available on the Triennial Review:
Triennial Review Process
Triennial Review Public Comment Summary
2007-2010 Triennial Review Project Plan and Schedules

Triennial Review Priorities Fact Sheets:
Fact Sheet–Antidegradation Policy Implementation
Fact Sheet–Dissolved Inorganic Substances
Fact Sheet–Groundwater Standards
Fact Sheet–On-going projects
Fact Sheet–Toxics Manual

WQS email list: Subscribe or Unsubscribe to receive information on upcoming changes to the Water Quality Standards

For more information, please contact: