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July 9, 2003
HONOLULU – The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) today
requests the public’s help to assure the quality of surface water
throughout the state. Under the Federal Clean Water Act, DOH is
updating the criteria that the Department uses to assess the health of
streams and other surface waters. The department is asking for public
comment on the 2004 Listing and Delisting Criteria, as well as
for copies of any data that document the quality of surface waters in
Hawaii. Comments on the draft criteria are due by Friday, August 8,
2003. Any data submitted must be received by October 1, 2003.
Documentation could include environmental assessments, environmental
impact assessments or any information obtained using an acceptable data
quality assurance process including sample collection and analysis.
Data will be screened using the revised 2004 Listing and Delisting
Criteria to sort surface water quality into one of three priority
rankings. A priority 1 ranking indicates the highest priority for
listing as impaired while a priority 3 ranking indicates that
additional monitoring is necessary to make a future listing
decision.
Documents submitted should include contact information for the
person or organization that collected the data. Data to be considered
for the 2004 listing cycle should be submitted to the Environmental
Planning Office no later than October 1, 2003. Any data received after
this date will be considered during the next listing cycle.
The draft criteria are available for public inspection Monday-Friday
between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the DOH Environmental Planning
Office (EPO), Department of Health, 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm. 312,
Honolulu 96814.
The District Health Offices (DHOs) on Hawaii, Kauai and Maui also
have copies of the 2004 Listing and Delisting Criteria available
for review:
- Hawai`i DHO, 1582 Kamehameha Ave. Hilo, HI 96720, (808)
933-0917
- Kealakekua Health Office, 81-980 Halekii St., Ste. 103, Kealakekua,
HI 96750, (808) 322-1507
- Kaua`i DHO, 3040 Umi St., P.O. Box 671 Lihue, HI 96766, (808)
241-3323
- Maui DHO, 54 High St., Wailuku, HI 96793 (808) 984-8230
All comments regarding the 2004 Listing and Delisting
Criteria must be transmitted in writing to the DOH EPO by Friday
August 8, 2003.
For a copy of the draft criteria, contact the EPO at 586-4337, fax a
request to 586-4370, mail a request to the EPO address above, email bmatsunaga@eha.health.state.hi.us
or visit our website at www.hawaii.gov/health/eh/epo/.
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For more information, contact:
Linda Koch
Environmental Planning Office
Phone: (808) 586-7495
E-mail: lkoch@eha.health.state.hi.us
Laura M. Lott
Information Specialist
Phone: (808) 586-4418
E-mail: lmlott@health.state.hi.us
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