Updates On Michigan’s Integrated Report

In March 2024, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Water Resources Division (WRD) published the newest version of Michigan’s Integrated Report, “Water Quality and Pollution Control in Michigan 2024” (Integrated Report or Report). The Report is prepared every two years pursuant to the requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA) to provide water quality protection and monitoring information to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Congress, and state and local agencies.

What does the update include?

The most important part of the publication is the identification of impaired water segments statewide, referred to by the regulatory citation mandating it, the 303(d)/305(b) List. The Report also provides information on the drainage basin codes for the state and public comments received and responded to before publication. The Report provides the updates made to the 303(d)/305(b) lists since the previous publication, specifically the 303(d) portion of the list identifies all the state waterbodies that currently have or were identified as requiring a total maximum daily load (TMDL), and the 305(b) portion of the list provides an assessment of the quality of surface waters. The full Integrated Report can be found on the EGLE website.

What effect does the update have on the industry?

When a surface water is identified as impaired, EGLE develops a TMDL for the pollutant(s) identified with the intention to restore the waterbody to attain the designated use and maintain the water quality standards. Once U.S. EPA approves the TMDL, the waterbody is removed from the 303(d) list, but its quality status continues to be tracked in the 305(b) list. Discharges to impaired waterbodies identified on the 303(d)/305(b) List impose more stringent requirements on industrial dischargers.

The updates affect facilities that discharge either stormwater or industrial wastewater discharges into waterbodies that have had their status or TMDL changed. If your facility discharges to an impaired waterbody, additional compliance activities may be automatically imposed based on your current permit(s). These activities could include, but are not limited to, adding increased monitoring, structural or non-structural best management practices (BMPs), or imposing a Pollutant Minimization Plan (PMP) that the facility would have to operate under. A list of potentially applicable BMPs can be found on the EGLE website and U.S. EPA’s website.

What should you do next?

Ensuring compliance with the new updates will require an understanding of your facility stormwater and wastewater discharges. Permitting requirements for stormwater and wastewater may be triggered or removed if your facility discharges into a waterbody that was added or removed from the 303(d)/305(b) lists. Therefore, review the 303(d)/305(b) lists to see if any waterbodies near your facility have recently been added or removed. If your local waterbodies have not been added to the Lists, no further actions are needed. However, if the opposite is true, additional actions may be required to reach compliance.

ALL4 is here to help evaluate how the updated Report will affect your operations and will help facilitate your company in meeting environmental compliance. If there are any questions about the updated Report and how your Facility may be affected, please reach out to me at bhsieh@all4inc.com or your ALL4 project manager for more information.