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.

ANNOUNCEMENT! The First Revised Draft Toxicity Provisions and First Revised Draft Staff Report are now available. A workshop will take place on November 15, 2019 in Rancho Cordova, CA to discuss: 1) the development of a new Appendix section in the draft Staff Report summarizing recent data and publications, 2) the intent and the development of a study to determine sources of laboratory variability when using the C. dubia chronic toxicity reproduction test , and 3) the details of an option to delay inclusion of the median monthly effluent limitation using the C. dubia chronic toxicity reproduction tests in permits that do not already have numeric effluent limitations until a future date.

Project Timeline

Dates are tentative and subject to change.

October 19 to December 21, 2018	July 25, 2019	August 2019	October 3, 2019	November 15, 2019	Late Fall, 2019	Winter 2020
Public Comment Period	Release of Revised Provisions	Staff Public Workshops	Board Workshop	Staff Public Workshop	Release of Responses to Comments	State Water Board Consideration

2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions and Staff Report Comment Letters

2019 First Revised Draft Toxicity Provisions Documents

NEW! 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 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)
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)
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)

2018 Draft Toxicity Provisions Documents

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)
- A Revised 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) is now available.
October 26, 2018 – Response to Comments on the 2012 Draft Policy for Toxicity Assessment and Control (PDF)
- 2012 Comment Letters with Numbered Comments
July 2018 – Economic Considerations of Proposed Whole Effluent Toxicity Control Provisions for California (posted October 19, 2018) (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

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

The following journal articles are referenced in the TST peer review synopsis.

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
  - All Ambient Toxicity Test Data

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:

2006 Public Scoping Meeting

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