§ 49-223 — Aquifer water quality standards

A. Primary drinking water maximum contaminant levels established by the administrator before August 13, 1986 are adopted as drinking water aquifer water quality standards. The director may only adopt additional aquifer water quality standards by rule. Within one year after the administrator establishes additional primary drinking water maximum contaminant levels, the director shall open a rule making docket pursuant to section 41-1021 for adoption of those maximum contaminant levels as drinking water aquifer water quality standards. If substantial opposition is demonstrated in the rule making docket regarding a particular constituent, the director may adopt for that constituent the maximum contaminant level as a drinking water aquifer water quality standard upon making a finding that this level is appropriate for adoption in Arizona as an aquifer water quality standard. In making this finding, the director shall consider whether the assumptions about technologies, costs, sampling and analytical methodologies and public health risk reduction used by the administrator in developing and implementing the maximum contaminant level are appropriate for establishing a drinking water aquifer water quality standard. For purposes of this subsection "substantial opposition" means information submitted to the director that explains with reasonable specificity why the maximum contaminant level is not appropriate as an aquifer water quality standard.

B. The director may adopt by rule numeric drinking water aquifer water quality standards for pollutants for which the administrator has not established primary drinking water maximum contaminant levels or for which a maximum contaminant level has been established but the director has determined it to be inappropriate as an aquifer water quality standard pursuant to subsection A of this section. These standards shall be based on the protection of human health. In establishing numeric drinking water aquifer water quality standards, the director shall rely on technical protocols appropriate for the development of aquifer water quality standards and shall base the standards on credible medical and toxicological evidence that has been subjected to peer review.

C. Any person may petition the director to adopt a numeric drinking water aquifer quality standard for any pollutant for which no drinking water aquifer quality standard exists. The director shall grant the petition and institute rule making proceedings adopting a numeric standard as provided under subsection B of this section within one hundred eighty days if the petition shows that the pollutant is a toxic pollutant, that the pollutant has been, or may in the future be, detected in any of the state's drinking water aquifers, and that there exists technical information on which a numeric standard might reasonably be based. Within one year of the commencement of the rule making proceeding, the director shall either adopt a numeric standard or make and publish a finding that, pursuant to subsection B of this section, the development of a numeric standard is not possible. The decision to not adopt a numeric standard shall, for purposes of judicial review, be treated in the same manner as a rule adopted pursuant to title 41, chapter 6.

D. For purposes of assessing compliance with each aquifer water quality standard adopted pursuant to this section, the director shall for purposes of articles 3 and 4 of this chapter, and may for purposes of other provisions of this title, identify sampling and analytical protocols appropriate for detecting and measuring the pollutant in the aquifers in the state.

E. Within one year from the reclassification of an aquifer to a non-drinking water status, pursuant to section 49-224, the director shall adopt water quality standards for that aquifer. For any pollutants which were not the basis for the reclassification, the applicable standard shall be identical with the standard for those pollutants adopted pursuant to subsections A and B of this section. For any pollutants which were the basis for reclassification, the standard shall be sufficient to achieve the purpose for which the aquifer was reclassified but shall minimize unnecessary degradation of the aquifer by taking into consideration the potential long-term uses of the aquifer and the short-term and long-term benefits of the activities resulting in discharges into the aquifer.

F. The director shall adopt water quality standards for an aquifer for which a petition has been submitted pursuant to section 49-224, subsection D sufficient to achieve the non-drinking water use for which that aquifer was classified, taking into consideration the potential long-term uses of that aquifer and the short-term and long-term benefits of the discharging activities creating that aquifer.

G. In any action pursuant to this title, aquifer water quality protection provisions, including monitoring requirements, may be imposed only for pollutants for which aquifer water quality standards have been established that are likely to be present in a discharge. Indicator parameters and quality assurance parameters appropriate for such pollutants also may be specified.