On September 14-16, 2015, the U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology, hosted an invited expert meeting to gather information regarding the state of the science for ecological risk assessment as it pertains to revising the 1985 Guidelines (Guidelines for Deriving Numerical National Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Organisms and Their Uses, Stephan et al. 1985). These Guidelines are used as the basis for deriving National Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the protection of aquatic life. This meeting garnered input from technical experts on aspects of ecological risk assessment and criteria derivation and provided an opportunity for a public comment period.

EPA is considering information presented during the meeting regarding new and alternative methods for deriving aquatic life criteria in our effort to update the 1985 Guidelines.

The agenda for the meeting and PowerPoint presentations from the invited experts are presented below.

For further information, contact Mike Elias (Elias.mike@epa.gov).

• Invited Expert Meeting Agenda (PDF)(2 pp, 292 K, 09/14/2015)
  Meeting Agenda
• Updating EPA's Guidelines for Deriving National Recommended Water Quality Criteria (PDF)(27 pp, 817 K, December 1, 2015)
  Presentation
• Australian and New Zealand Water Quality Guideline Values for Toxicants (PDF)(29 pp, 850 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• An Overview of Canadian Water Quality Guidelines (PDF)(23 pp, 368 K, 09/14/2015)
  Presentation
• Deriving European Enviornmental Quality Standards: Comparisons with USEPA AWQC (PDF)(46 pp, 6 MB, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Use of Toxicity Models in ALC (PDF)(43 pp, 283 K, 10/1/2015)
  Presentation
• A Unified Aquatic Life Framework for Addressing Affected Percentages of Individuals, Species, and Time (PDF)(27 pp, 862 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Applying the Assemblage Toxicity Index Concept to Assessing the Risk of Atrazine to Aquatic Plant Communities (PDF)(19 pp, 190 K, 10/1/2015)
  Presentation
• Statistical Tools to Evaluate Species Sensitivity Distribute and Calculate Final Acute and Chronic Values (PDF)(20 pp, 394 K, 12/3/2015)
  Publication
• Statistical and Biological Interpretation of Test Endpoints (PDF)(28 pp, 787 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Augmenting Species Diversity in Water Quality Criteria Derivation Using Interspecies Correlation Models (PDF)(22 pp, 3 MB, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Weight of Evidence Approaches (PDF)(13 pp, 475 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Improving Uncertainty Characterization (PDF)(36 pp, 868 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Minimum Data Requirement for Developing Water Quality Criteria (PDF)(35 pp, 931 K, 9/8/2015)
  Presentation
• Derivation and Application of Taxon-Specific Criteria (PDF)(30 pp, 7 MB, 9/17/2015)
  Presentation
• Cross-Species Evaluation of Molecular Target Sequence (PDF)(26 pp, 4 MB, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Pesticides Present a Special Case for Derivation of Aquatic Life Criteria (PDF)(18 pp, 737 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Stephan et al 1985: Guidelines (PDF)(19 pp, 444 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Field-Based Methods for Deriving Water Quality (PDF)(31 pp, 874 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Explanation for the Disconnection Between the Laboratory and Field in Understanding the Effects of Metals on Aquatic Species (PDF)(44 pp, 5 MB, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Integrating Mesocosm Experiments and Field Data to Support Development of Water Quality Criteria (PDF)(29 pp, 4 MB, 9/8/2015)
  Presentation
• The Use of Multilinear Regression to Derive Water Qulity Criteria for Metals (PDF)(27 pp, 2 MB, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Using the BLM and FMB for Resolving Both Spatial and Temporal Variability in Setting Aquatic Life Criteria for Copper (PDF)(26 pp, 2 MB, 9/16/2015)
  Presentation
• Incorporation of Field or Meso/Microcosm Data to Validate Criteria in Watersheds Supporting Federally Listed Species (PDF)(22 pp, 2 MB, 10/21/2015)
  Presentation
• Ambient Water Quality Criteria: Protectiveness of Threatened and Endangered Species and Aquatic-Dependent Wildlife (PDF)(39 pp, 498 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation
• Application of Weight-of-Evidence Methods to Water Quality Criteria (PDF)(18 pp, 930 K, 12/3/2015)
  Presentation