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DEQ undertakes fish kill investigations in support of § 62.1-44.15(11) which empowers the department to investigate any large-scale killing of fish and recover the costs of investigations and the replacement costs of dead fish. The proposed guidance document replaces the existing DEQ Guidance Memo No. GM02-2002 Fish Kill Guidance Manual Second Edition which outlines the procedures and best practices to determine the cause of fish kill events in the waters of Virginia; to assess environmental damage caused by such kills; and to determine the parties responsible for the kill. This revision is necessary to reflect current agency procedures and to adopt the most up to date methods for conducting thorough, accurate and efficient fish kill investigations. This revised version of the guidance expands upon descriptions of methods to count dead fish under various field conditions using guidelines from the American Fisheries Society. The revision provides more details about preparatory steps staff should take prior to visiting a fish kill and gives additional details on collecting water quality data and samples. In addition, it adds discussions on safety protocols for staff to follow and direction for communicating incidents with the public and media. The revision removes unneeded appendices, internal agency instructions, and forms.

0 Comments     Closes: 7/17/24