Request for Comment and Notice of Public Meeting for the Proposed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Lake Luxembourg [29 Pa.B. 498] The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is holding a public meeting on February 3, 1999, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and ending no later than 9:30 p.m., at the Middletown Township Municipal Building, located at 2140 Trenton Road, Levittown, PA 19056, to discuss and accept comments on a proposed TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load), established in accordance with the requirements of the 1996 section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Lake Luxembourg was listed on Pennsylvania's 1996 section 303(d) list because of impairment of designated uses due to sedimentation (Total Suspended Solids--TSS) and excess nutrient (phosphorus) loads to the lake.
The Department currently does not have water quality criteria for nutrients or sediment. Therefore, the Department established a water quality objective for nutrients and sediment. The water quality objective for phosphorus was established using the Trophic Status Index (TSI) rating system established by Carlson. The water quality objectives for TSS were set based on the original lake design sediment storage capacity. These water quality objectives were set with the expectation that they could be reasonably achieved.
The TDML set allowable loading rates for both TSS and phosphorus for each land use category identified. The basis of information used in establishment of this TMDL is the Phase One Clean Lakes Study completed by Coastal Environmental Services in 1994.
The following table shows the current loading to the lake and the necessary reductions to meet the TMDL. The loads are expressed in pounds per year.
Parameter Existing Load TMDL Load % Reduction to (lb/yr) (lb/yr) Meet TMDL Total Phosphorus 5,561 1,686 70 Total Suspended Solids 3,518,975 855,111 76
The data and all supporting information used to develop the proposed TMDL are available from the Department. To request a copy of the proposed TMDL and an information sheet, contact Stuart I. Gansell, Director, Bureau of Watershed Conservation, PA DEP, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8555, (717) 787-5267. E-mail will be received at gansell.stuart@a1.dep.state.pa.us.
The TMDL can be viewed and printed on the DEP Website by going to Navigation, clicking Subjects, clicking Water Management, clicking Surface Water, clicking Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). Please note that at the current time attachments and appendices must be requested through paper mail.
Written comments will be accepted at the above address and must be postmarked by February 22, 1999. Persons who plan to make a presentation at the public meeting should notify the Department no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 1999. The Department will consider all comments in developing the final TMDL, which will be submitted to the EPA for approval.
JAMES M. SEIF,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 99-129. Filed for public inspection January 22, 1999, 9:00 a.m.]
