The definitive guide to all there is to know about the TMDL requirements of clean water legislation.

This report discusses the total maximum daily load (TMDL) program which regulates pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained; section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. The report focuses on new challenges facing the TMDL program, including more complex TMDLs, larger scale impairments, and nonpoint sources.

TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loading) define how much of a pollutant a water body can tolerate on a daily basis & still meet the relevant water quality standards. All of the sources of the pollutant in the watershed combined, including non-point sources, are limited to discharging no more than that total limit. EPA is suing states to force them to produce TMDLs. A growing number of California's water bodies are either subject to consent decrees to develop TMDLs, or are the subject of notices of intent to file lawsuits that may have that outcome. This report addresses California's many problems in establishing TMDLs for its impaired water bodies.

TMDL Fact Vs. Fiction Factsheet -- Saving Our Watersheds -- National Wildlife Federation Factsheet on TMDLs: Myths Vs. Fact The Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Loads Program (April 2000) Code Red for Watersheds Factsheet MYTH: The TMDL program requires non-point sources of pollution to be permitted. FACT: Non-point sources of pollution are NOT required to obtain federal permits. The TMDL program does not allow EPA to require NPDES permits, or any other kind of permits, for non-point.