Response to Public Comment - Hawaii's 2004 Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters

Response to Public Comment Hawaii’s 2004 Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) June 16, 2004 General Observations - Process: Each April 1st of even-numbered years a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters (List) is due to EPA. The process of compiling and reviewing information for the 2004 List began on July 9, 2003, with the publication of both a "Call for Data" and a 30-day public comment period for the 2004 Draft Listing/Delisting Criteria. These criteria describe the process for adding or removing waters from the List, and includes the screening out of data that did not meet the written criteria. The draft List was published for public comment on February 29, 2004, with comments due March 30, 2004; six commenters sent in responses. Lists are prepared at two-year intervals, and the latest list in the series represents an update of older information, but only to the extent that new listing/delisting decisions are based on verifiable data and consistent with the listing/delisting criteria. The List is always a work in progress. Because comments can be addressed better if received earlier, we encourage interested parties to commence working with DOH on the List when the listing criteria and "Calls for Data" are published in July of odd-numbered years. General Response: Some comments challenged the underlying water quality standards (WQS) and ...