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Proposed Water Quality Standards Sent to Lawmakers
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia would mostly follow the lead of federal environmental officials under the latest draft of proposed water quality standards setting limits on pollution that enters the state’s streams and rivers.
The state Department of Environmental Protection responded to nearly 200 pages of comments following a July public hearing. The agency-approved rules now go to the Legislative Rule-Making Committee for review, and then to the full Legislature for the 2019 session. The rules can be altered at any time along the process.
The rules are up for review every three years.
The new rules will comply with changes already passed in the 2017 legislative session to the way the state handles overlapping mixing zones and “harmonic mean flow,” both of which would allow increased levels of toxins into the water.