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If you have any questions or comments regarding South Carolina’s Water Quality Standards, please contact wqs@des.sc.gov.
Water quality standards protect and restore the quality of our surface waters in accordance with the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA is the primary Federal statute regulating the protection of the nation’s water. The CWA aims to prevent, reduce, and eliminate pollution in the nation's water to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters," as described in CWA section 101(a). Water quality standards define the goals for a waterbody by designating its uses, setting criteria to protect those uses, and establishing provisions to protect water quality from pollutants. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services works with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise existing standards and create new standards based on changing water quality conditions, changing waterbody uses, and new scientific information on the effects of pollutants in the environment.
Water quality standards establish the foundation on which other programs work to achieve and maintain protective water quality conditions, such as:
- Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)
- Waste load allocations (WLAs) for point source dischargers
- Load allocations (LAs) for non-point source dischargers
- Water quality management plans
- Effluent limits for NPDES permits
- Water quality certifications under Section 401 of the CWA
- State of South Carolina Integrated Report (i.e. 303(d) list and 305(b) report)
- Section 319 non-point source pollution grants
The three core components of water quality standards are designated uses, water quality criteria, and antidegradation requirements. Additional components of water quality standards may include general policies, variances, provisions authorizing the use of compliance schedules in permits.
South Carolina's water quality standards are promulgated in S.C. Regulation 61-68, Water Classifications and Standards (R.61-68). This regulation sets forth the classifications of our state's waters and establishes water quality standards that protect and maintain the existing and classified uses of those waters. Those beneficial uses, criteria set to protect and maintain those uses, and our antidegradation policy are all required components of the water quality standards as set forth in the CWA.
S.C. Regulation 61-69, Classified Waters (R.61-69), is a compilation of many of the waters of the State listed by name, the county(ies) where the waterbody is located, the classification of the waterbody, any designation for that waterbody, and a brief description of the waterbody including any site-specific numeric criteria that apply to the listed waterbody. R.61-69 must be amended each time a waterbody is reclassified to another classification. To ensure consistency between the state's regulations, R.61-69 must also be amended if changes are made to the classification systems found in R.61-68. All waters of the state of South Carolina are classified even if they are not specifically named or listed in R.61-69. For those waters not specifically listed in R.61-69, the classification of the waterbody that they are tributary to is the assigned class for those waters pursuant to the rules in both R.61-68 and R.61-69.
Section 303(c)(2)(B) of the CWA requires that South Carolina's water quality standards be reviewed and revised, where necessary, at least once every three years for the purposes of considering the Environmental Protection Agency's most recent numeric and narrative criteria and complying with recent Federal regulatory revisions and recommendations. This process is known as the triennial review. Regulations to be reviewed during the triennial review include R61-68 and R.61-69. Topics that are typically considered during each triennial review include, but are not limited to:
- Review and, where appropriate, adoption of revised federal water quality criteria to reflect the most current final published criteria according to Sections 304(a) and 307(a) of the CWA.
- Addition or revision of definitions.
- Stylistic changes which may include corrections for: readability, grammar, punctuation, typography, codification, references, and language style.
- Additional topics are addressed during the triennial review process as needed.
Details of past rulemakings are provided below.
Promulgation Process Updates
This triennial review will follow a similar promulgation schedule as previous reviews. However, on May 19, 2023, Governor McMaster signed 2023 S.C. Act 60 (Act), restructuring the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Pursuant to that legislation, DHEC and the DHEC Board were abolished, and South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES or Department) was created, effective July 1, 2024. Pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. Section 48-6-20(A) and Section 14(B) of the Act, SCDES is vested with all the functions, powers, and duties of the environmental divisions, offices, and programs of DHEC including the power and duty to promulgate associated regulations. Therefore, some changes to the promulgation process are necessary.
The preliminary stage consists of Department staff planning and preparation for the upcoming promulgation process. The Notice of Drafting officially kickstarts the rulemaking process, which will be immediately followed by a thirty-day public comment period. Stakeholder engagement provides multiple opportunities for the public to engage Department staff with questions or comments regarding regulation development. The Notice of Proposed Regulation reveals the Department’s proposed regulatory revisions to the public. This is typically followed by further stakeholder engagement and another opportunity for the public to ask questions or provide comments. The public hearing will take place either before the Administrative Law Court or at SCDES to meet the requirements of CWA Section 303(c) and 40 CFR 131.20. The Notice of Final Regulation shows the final version of the regulation once the Department has considered all comments received from stakeholders. The regulation is then delivered to the General Assembly for Legislative Review. Once approved by the General Assembly, the Department submits the final version of the regulation to EPA for review. If EPA chooses to approve the revisions, then the new or revised water quality standards may be used for purposes under the CWA.
The Notice of Final Regulation shows the final version of the regulation once the Department has considered all comments received from stakeholders. The regulation is then delivered to the General Assembly for Legislative Review. Once approved by the General Assembly, the Department submits the final version of the regulation to EPA for review. If EPA chooses to approve the revisions, then the new or revised water quality standards may be used for purposes under the CWA.
Notice of Drafting
The Notice of Drafting for the 2026 triennial review of R. 61-68 and R. 61-69 will be published in the State Register on Friday, February 27, 2026. A public comment period will open on February 27th and close on March 30th. Please submit any comments to Andrew Edwards at Bureau of Water, South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201 or wqs@des.sc.gov. To be considered during this triennial review, the Department must receive comments no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 30, 2026.
EPA has produced guidance in the form of a four-part test to answer the question of what makes a new or revised water quality standard.- Department staff prepared a strategy to pursue the adoption of numeric nutrient criteria for all surface waters of the state in 2004. The plan has since been revised in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2021. EPA has reviewed the Department’s most recently updated strategy and granted mutual agreement with the plan.
- Department staff worked alongside staff from EPA and Georgia EPD to develop a strategy for adopting numeric nutrient criteria in the state’s estuaries.
- One core component of the Department’s water quality standards is the antidegradation policy. This policy establishes the decision-making procedures which the Department follows to determine whether lowering the existing water quality is warranted and appropriate.
- A section of the Department’s antidegradation policy describes naturally low dissolved oxygen waterbodies. The Department has established a dissolved oxygen methodology to determine whether to allow a de minimis deficit in waters not meeting numerical standards due to natural conditions.