Statewide Toxicity Provisions
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is developing statewide numeric water quality objectives for both acute and chronic toxicity and a program of implementation to control toxicity, which are collectively known as the Toxicity Provisions. The Provisions would provide consistent protection of aquatic life beneficial uses in inland surface waters, enclosed bays, and estuaries throughout the state, and protect aquatic habitats and life from the effects of known and unknown toxicants.
This project also includes the establishment of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California.
Project Timeline
Dates are tentative and subject to change.
| October 30, 2020 | October 30, 2020, or soon thereafter | December 1, 2020 |
| Release of the Proposed Final Toxicity Provisions and Staff Report | Release of Responses to Appendices J and K Comments and Differences Between the October 2018 and July 2020 Toxicity Provisions and Staff Report Comments | State Water Board Consideration |
Current Announcements
- October 12, 2020 – Notice of Public Meeting, Consideration of Adoption, and Document Availability (PDF)
2020 Revised Draft Toxicity Provisions Documents
- July 27, 2020 - Summary of Significant Changes Made Between the October 2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions and the July 2020 Draft Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- July 22, 2020 - Summary of Comments and Responses on the 2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions and 2018 Draft Staff Report (Word Document)
- July 7, 2020 - Second Revised Draft Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries; and Toxicity Provisions (Word Document)
- July 7, 2020 - Second Revised Draft Staff Report, Including Substitute Environmental Documentation for the Proposed Establishment of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California; and Toxicity Provisions (Word Document)
- July 7, 2020 - Revised Notice (Word Document) | Notice of Public Staff Workshop, Public Comment Period, 2018 Response to Comments, and Proposed Second Revised Toxicity Provisions and Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (PDF)
- July 20, 2020 - Economic Considerations of Proposed Whole Effluent Toxicity Control Provisions for California (PDF Document)
2020 Staff Workshop Presentations
- July 29, 2020 - Staff Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
- January 9, 2020 - Staff Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
2019 Revised Draft Toxicity Provisions Documents
- January 10, 2020 – First Revised Staff Report Appendix J. Evaluating Laboratory Performance with the Chronic Ceriodaphnia dubia Reproduction Toxicity Test (PDF)
- January 6, 2020 – Staff Report Appendix J Reference: Fox 2019 Memorandum: Probability of Failing TST and WET Maximum Monthly Effluent Limit (PDF)
- January 6, 2020 – Staff Report Appendix J Reference: Data used in Staff Analysis portion of Appendix J (Microsoft Excel format)
- January 6, 2020 – Staff Report Appendix J Reference: EPA’s Test of Significant Toxicity: Impact on the Permit Compliance of Honolulu’s Wastewater Treatment Plants (PDF)
- December 24, 2019 – Staff Report Appendix J. Evaluating Laboratory Performance with the Chronic Ceriodaphnia dubia Reproduction Toxicity Test (PDF)
- December 24, 2019 – Staff Report Appendix K. Survey of Laboratory Toxicity Testing Logistical Capacities (PDF)
- December 24, 2019 – Notice of Availability of Staff Report Appendices and Opportunity for Public Comment and Public Staff Workshop and Proposed First Revised Toxicity Provisions and Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (PDF)
- July 25, 2019 – First Revised Draft Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries; and Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- July 25, 2019 – First Revised Draft Staff Report, Including Substitute Environmental Documentation for the Proposed Establishment of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California; and Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- December 5, 2019 – Fox et al. 2019 publication is available at: https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/etc.4347
- October 25, 2019 – Notice of Public Staff Workshop and Proposed First Revised Toxicity Provisions and Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (PDF)
- September 30, 2019 – Aquatic Toxicity Provisions: Improving Protection for California’s Rivers, Lakes, Enclosed Bays and Estuaries (Fact Sheet) (PDF)
- August 6, 2019 – Revised Notice of Public Staff Workshops and Public Board Workshop and Proposed First Revised Toxicity Provisions and Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California (PDF)
2019 Staff Workshop Presentations
- November 15, 2019 – Fourth Public Staff Workshop Presentation (PDF)
- October 3, 2019 - Board Workshop Presentation (PDF)
- August 28, 2019 – Third Staff Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
- August 16, 2019 – Second Staff Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
- August 13, 2019 – First Staff Public Workshop Presentation (PDF)
2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions Documents
- 2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions and Staff Report Comment Letters
- October 19, 2018 – Draft Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries; and Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- October 19, 2018 – Draft Staff Report, Including Substitute Environmental Documentation for the Proposed Establishment of
the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California; and Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- Revised Appendix G. Flow Chart (PDF). Appendix G contains a flow chart that illustrates the proposed Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Process. The Draft Staff Report that was released on October 19, 2018 contained an incorrect version of this flow chart. This PDF is the correct version.
- November 11, 2018 – Agenda for the State Water Board Hearing on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 (PDF; see Item 6).
- November 21, 2018 – Summary of Changes from Draft June 2012 Toxicity Policy to Draft October 2018 Toxicity Provisions (PDF). In response to requests from stakeholders at the October 2018 Staff Workshops, this document provides a comparison of the 2012 Draft Toxicity Policy to the 2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions.
- October 31, 2018 – Toxicity Workshop Presentation (PDF).
- October 1, 2018 – Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment, Public Staff Workshops, Public Board Hearing, and Notice of Filing for the Proposed Establishment of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries of California; and Toxicity Provisions (PDF)
- October 26, 2018 – Response to Comments on the 2012 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control (PDF)
- July 2018 – Economic Considerations of Proposed Whole Effluent Toxicity Control Provisions for California (posted 10/1918) (PDF)
- April 2017 Outreach Document (Posted 10/03/17) (PDF)
- April 2017 Outreach Presentation (Posted 10/03/17) (PDF)
2012 Draft Toxicity Policy
In 2012, the State Water Board released a draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control for public comment.
- Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control - Public Review Draft, June 2012
- Draft Staff Report for Toxicity Assessment and Control - Public Review Draft, June 2012
- Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment, Public Hearing, and Filing for the Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control - Public Review Draft, June 2012 (posted 06/27/12)
- Comments Received August 21, 2012 Public Hearing Documents:
- Staff Presentation (posted 10/01/12)
- Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control Brochure (posted 10/01/12)
- Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control - Public Review Draft, June 2012
- Staff Report for Toxicity Assessment and Control - Public Review Draft, June 2012
External Peer Review
- Dr. Gerald A. LeBlanc Review
- Dr. Michael C. Newman Review
- Responses to draft Policy Peer Review
- External Peer Review Documents for the Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- External Peer Review Documents for the Test of Significant Toxicity (TST)
The following journal articles are referenced in the TST peer review synopsis.
- Response to TST Peer Review
- Tests for Bioequivalence of Control Media and Test Media in Studies of Toxicity
- Test of Significant Toxicity: a statistical application for assessing whether an effluent or site water is truly toxic
- It is Time for Changes in the Analysis of Whole Effluent Toxicity Data
Test of Significant Toxicity (TST)
- Toxicity Assessment and Control in California’s Surface Waters (Fact Sheet) - issued August 2011
- TST Spreadsheet Tool - BETA VERSION 1.8 (updated 12/31/13) This spreadsheet tool is being provided to assist interested stakeholders in evaluating their current data using the TST. The user should note that this spreadsheet tool is a developmental beta release. It is subject to change without notice and should not be used for official data interpretation.
TST Test Drive
- Raw Data from the Final Whole Effluent Toxicity Test Drive Analysis of the TST is now available. In response to stakeholder requests, the State Water Board is publishing the raw data used for the 2011 TST Test Drive Analysis. These datasets aggregate the replicate and test endpoint values for each individual test, as well as the intermediate and final calculations for the statistics used in the analysis.
The Appendix A files are data from tests of effluent from individual dischargers, as summarized in Appendix A in the Test Drive Analysis. The data are separated into individual files that compile the data for specific type of tests. The Appendix B file is the entire dataset of ambient data used in Appendix B of the Test Drive Analysis.- Appendix A
- Acute Mysid Survival Test Data
- Acute Daphnid Survival Test Data
- All Fish Species Acute Survival Test Data
- Chronic Ceriodaphnia dubia Reproduction and Survival Test Data
- Chronic Fathead Minnow Growth and Survival and Reproduction Test Data
- Chronic Macrocystis pyrifera (Giant kelp) Growth and Germination Test Data
- Chronic Mysid Growth, Survival and Fecundity Test Data
- Chronic Mytilis edulis (Blue Mussel) Development and Survival Test Data
- Chronic Haliotis rufescens (Red Abalone) Development Test Data
- Chronic Selanstrum (Green Alga) Growth Test Data
- Chronic Atherinops affinis (Topsmelt) Growth and Survival Test Data
- Chronic S. purpuratus (Purple Sea Urchin) Fertilization Test Data
- Appendix B
- Appendix A and Appendix B data from the Final Whole Effluent Toxicity Test Drive Analysis of the TST in Microsoft Excel format
- Final Whole Effluent Toxicity Test Drive Analysis of the TST - updated December 2011
2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control and 2011 Workshops
- Notice of Staff Workshop for 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control - August 22, 2011
2011 Staff Workshop Presentations:
- Policy Presentation (Staff)
- Test Drive Analysis Presentation (Tetra Tech Inc.)
- Prevailing Comments on the 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- Alternatives to Select Provisions of the 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- Whole Effluent Toxicity Test Drive Analysis of the TST - issued July 2011
- Public Notice of Opportunity to Comment: Extended Deadline and Cancellation of Adoption Hearing for the 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- Public Notice and Public Comment Period for the 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- 2010 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
- 2010 Draft Staff Report for Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control
2006 Public Scoping Meeting
Get updates by email regarding the draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control, subscribe online to the “Freshwater Plans and Policies” mailing list.
