Special Considerations:

Under Exceptions, the situations where higher monitoring may be appropriate should be expanded to include species of greatest conservation need, which encompasses a greater number of keystone species in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Accountability

The provision allowing facilities with a history of violations to qualify for reduced monitoring provided they fall below thresholds such as three or more Warning Letters (WLs) or two or more Notices of Violations, may undermine accountability for repeat violators. JRA would prefer more stringent qualification standards, as reduced monitoring is intended for “permittees having exemplary operations,” per GM #98-2005. 

Additionally, the proposed guidance allows facilities to qualify for reduced monitoring "even if a reduction was granted during the previous reissuance," which would be extremely generous.  

Transparency and Data Quality

While the memo emphasizes that reduced monitoring does not exempt facilities from controlling pollutant levels and variability (p. 6), there is a possibility that the public might perceive reduced monitoring as a weakening of oversight, thereby eroding trust in the regulatory process.

Additionally, JRA would recommend that collected data be made available to the public via the DEQ website to increase transparency.

Temperature

JRA would prefer a specific temperature figure to be put in place, rather than a case-by-case basis. As we understand from migratory fish species, variations in the temperature of water bodies due to discharge can have significant negative impacts on spawning behavior.