The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will release the draft 2020 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual on May 28, 2019. Virginia’s 2020 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual contains the assessment procedures and methods to be used for the development of Virginia’s 2020 §305(b)/§303(d) Integrated (i.e. combined Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters) Report. The assessment guidance seeks to address all key elements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's)2006 Assessment Guidance and subsequent updates through April 2019. In addition, the assessment guidance includes the assessment methodology for the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Standards established by EPA and adopted by Virginia (Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity, and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries).

A copy of the draft 2020 Water Quality Assessment Guidance Manual will be available for download on May 28, 2019 from the DEQ Water Quality Assessment webpage at:
?https://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterQualityInformationTMDLs/WaterQualityAssessments/2020WQAGuidanceManual.aspx  (if the link does not open, please copy and paste this url into your browser). A hard copy can also be requested from Amanda Shaver, DEQ Water Quality Assessment Coordinator, using the contact information below. Modifications have been made to the guidance document since 2018. The most notable change pertains to the inclusion of the recently effective EPA Chesapeake Bay Technical Addendum. A complete list of significant guidance modifications are described in Part II of the manual.

Section 62.1-44.19:5 C of the Code of Virginia requires DEQ to develop and publish the procedures used for defining and determining impaired waters and provide for public comment on the procedures. The public is invited to submit written comments through June 27, 2019. Comments should include the name, address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the e-mail address of each person and/or organization submitting comments. Comments and related correspondence should be addressed to Amanda Shaver (contact information below). Responses to comments received will be made collectively, via a response document. The response document will be posted on the assessment webpage along with the final guidance manual. This notice appears in the May 27, 2019 Virginia Register (Vol.35:Iss.20).