LINKS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARDS

See Environmental Quality Standards for more information on Watts & Crane Associates involvement in this important area.

 The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s Report on Environmental Standards can be found at http://www.rcep.org.uk/standardsreport.htm. Although published in 1998, this remains one of the best summaries of good practice in setting environmental standards. The UK Government’s response to this report can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/rcep/21/index.htm

Progress with the development of standards under the Water Framework Directive can be found at the Europa website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-dangersub/pri_substances.htm and for the UK at the UKTAG website: http://www.wfduk.org/

Information on Environmental Quality Standards in several different countries:

• United States: http://www.epa.gov/ost/standards/
• Canada: http://www.ec.gc.ca/ceqg-rcqe/English/Ceqg/Water/default.cfm
• Australia: http://www.deh.gov.au/water/quality/nwqms/introduction/
• New Zealand: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/laws/standards/index.html

The use of bioaccumulation data to set standards by Dutch regulators can be found here: http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/719101012.html and free Dutch (RIVM) software for constructing species sensitivity distributions and estimating a hazardous concentration for 5% of species (HC5) can be found here: http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/601501028.html

Information on deriving Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNECs) can be found in the European Commission’s Technical Guidance Document at http://ecb.jrc.it/existing-chemicals/

World Health Organisation information on drinking water standards can be found at http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/guidelines/en/index.html