Can I provide input about what waters
are placed on the 303(d) list?

The state must allow for public notice and comment on its draft 303(d) list, which it develops every two years. You can request a notice. Look for the water bodies you care about and compare the 303(d) list and the listed pollutants against the information you have for each of them. Does the list include all the water bodies you know have poor water quality? Have all the problems been recognized?

Be especially alert to changes in the list. States are developing procedures for removing water bodies from the 303(d) list. Once water bodies are removed from the list, attention to them is often reduced.

By providing valuable information to the agency responsible for
listing, you can help improve the quality of the list. Any information
that is collected about the health of a water body may be useful to the
state in determining whether designated and existing uses are being
met. If a water body has problems, it will likely receive more
attention and resources in the years ahead if it is placed on the
303(d) list than if it is not. Consequently, it is critical that
citizens provide information to the state to help identify newly
impaired or threatened waters every two years.

Action Checklist

1. Request your state's list of "impaired waters" (its 303(d) list).
   Ask the state to make the list available online, if it is not already.
   Determine when the agency will start collecting data for the next list.
2. Find out if the state has a water quality monitoring program and review it with the EPA.
3. Find out if your state has listed its "threatened waters" and scheduled them for TMDL development.
4. Get on the mailing list for public notices of 303(d) list development.
5. Identify key problems across the state (e.g., high temperatures,
   excessive nitrogen and phosphorus) that most frequently place water
   bodies on the 303(d) list.
6. Request the instructions for "how to get waters off the 303(d)
   list." Ask whether waters will be taken off the 303(d) list once TMDLs
   are developed for them.