1. Paul Whitehouse Chair, EG-EQS
Technical Guidance for deriving Environmental Quality Standards under the WFD Update from EG-EQS
Paul Whitehouse
Chair, EG-EQS

2. Outline Background Terms of Reference Way of working Progress
Timetable to completion
Issues for WG-E to consider

3. EQSs - background Environmental Quality Standards
“the concentration of a pollutant, or group of pollutants, in water, sediment or biota that should not be exceeded in order to protect human health and the environment”
Used to …
classify waterbodies (alongside biological and physical metrics)
Calculate discharge permits

4. EQSs - background EQS derivation Control of emissions
Role in waterbody classification
Priority Hazardous Substances
set at EU level
Phase out emissions, discharges and losses
Chemical assessment in parallel to ecological assessment
Priority Substances
Emissions managed to ensure EQS compliance
‘Specific Pollutants’
set by Member States
Forms part of ecological assessment

5. Technical guidance - background
Annex V of the WFD sets out principles for deriving EQSs - based on effects assessment paradigm for chemical risk assessment
Requires supporting technical guidance, including
protection of sediments
risks from secondary poisoning of wildlife and humans
Setting EQSs for TraC and marine waters
Lepper 2005
Some outstanding technical issues remain
CSTEE comments
Paper by Bonnomet and Alvarez (2006)
scientific developments e.g. SETAC 2006

6. EG-EQS: Terms of Reference
EG-EQS established in 2007 under WG-E to address these outstanding issues
Terms of Reference:
Identify themes to address
Develop interim methodology
Help the Commission to derive these EQSs
Guidance should:
be consistent with REACH guidance as far as possible
balance best available science with achievability
be applicable to revised list of priority substances and ‘Specific Pollutants’

7. Agreed themes EQSs for the water column
EQSs to protect biota (predators and humans) from secondary poisoning
Sediment EQSs
Dealing with metals
Non-testing methods / dealing with groups of chemicals
‘Generic’ issues

8. Non-testing methods / chemical groups Editing and compiling guidance
Technical groups work to agreed principles
‘Instructions’ to assessors i.e. “ how to”
Scientific principles in background documents
Common template
Way of working
Water standards
Biota standards
Sediment standards
Drafting Groups
EG-EQS members
invited experts
led by rapporteur
Metals
Non-testing methods / chemical groups
Generic issues
Editing and compiling guidance
Chair, EG-EQS
Final draft guidance

9. Which receptors does the Technical Guidance cover?
Environmental compartment
Water
Sediment
Biota
Receptor(s) at risk
Humans 
(drinking water) 
(secondary poisoning)
Benthic biota
Pelagic biota

10. EQS derivation - overview
Identify receptors and compartments at risk
Identify assessments that need to be undertaken (‘trigger’ criteria)
Identify critical properties of substance and collect ecotoxicity (and possibly computational) data for use as input to standard-setting process.
Collate and quality assess data
Extrapolation to threshold concentration using deterministic or probabilistic methods applied to toxicity data from laboratory or field studies.
Extrapolation
Proposed EQS
Proposed threshold concentration that applies in water column, sediment or biota. Identify key assumptions and uncertainties. Select ‘overall’ EQS
Implement EQS
Appropriate expression of EQS and technical advice on compliance assessment regime

11. Technical working groups EQS derivation (priority substances)
Timetable
Kick-off meeting
(plenary EG-EQS)
plenary
EG-EQS
plenary
EG-EQS
Review of guidance
(national experts
and EG-EQS)
First
edit
Final
edit
Deliver
draft
guidance
Review
guidance
2007
2008
2009
Technical working groups
EQS derivation (priority substances)

12. Progress to date (Sept 2008)
Introduction
Generic issues
Water column
Biota EQSs
Sediment EQSs
Metals
Non-testing methods
complete
75%
60%
90%
95%
All issues raised by CSTEE addressed in guidance

13. Working drafts of the guidance documents can be found at:

14. Issues for discussion - 1
‘Good’ ecological status does not require pristine biology. Should the protection goals for EQSs be consistent with biological definitions of ‘Good’ status?
Priority substances vs ‘Specific Pollutants’
Link level of protection afforded by EQS to ecological status - refer to normative definitions of ecological status when selecting assessment factors to derive EQSs
BIOLOGICAL METRICS
CHEMICAL METRICS
High
<LOD
Good
Pass EQS
Moderate
Fail EQS
Poor
Bad

15. Issues for discussion - 2
Some EQSs may be subject to high levels of uncertainty e.g. because of a lack of data.
To what extent should the guidance influence how an EQS is implemented e.g. as a statutory standard or guideline value?
Sediment and biota standards only for trend analysis – not for waterbody classification?
Derivation of EQSs is a technical issue but the intended use of an EQS is a policy decision.
Assessor advises policy by highlighting uncertainty associated with a proposed EQS and the steps that could be taken to reduce uncertainty (e.g. commissioning new data – a specific CSTEE recommendation). Report template prompts for this information.

16. Issues for discussion – 3 + 4
What is the role for EG-EQS in deriving EQSs for new priority substances?
Is there any intention to review EQSs for existing priority substances? FHI factsheets recommended to incorporate new data in Pb and PAH EQSs.
EG-EQS to advise Commissions’ contractor and provide technical review of their outputs
Sediment and biota EQSs should be derived where they are not yet available. Review existing EQSs where there are significant amounts of new data (e.g. Pb and PAHs) - the values could change.

17. Issues for discussion - 5
The WFD requires derivation of EQSs (that apply in ‘raw’ water) to protect drinking water. The process uses existing DW standards but some of these are not toxicologically-based.
Derivation of new drinking water standards lies outside the remit (and expertise) of EG-EQS

19. Generic issues – key points
Protection goals for EQSs
Triggers for biota and sediment EQSs
Selecting an ‘overall’ EQS
Data collection and quality assessment
Relationship with existing risk assessments
How to express EQSs and links to monitoring guidance

20. EQSs for the water column – key points
Guidance on deriving long-term and short term EQSs to protect against direct toxicity to aquatic organisms + humans (drinking water source)
Data
Combining FW and SW data
Use of mesocosm data
Non-testing methods
Preferred methods of extrapolation
Relationship between AA and MAC
Translating water column EQS into EQS on SPM

21. EQSs for biota – key points
EQSs for bioaccumulative substances
Guidance on deriving EQSs to protect predators and humans from secondary poisoning
EQS expresses as conc in diet – links to monitoring
Additional guidance for top predators
Guidance on conversion to equivalent water standard – inadvisable for highly hydrophobic substances

22. EQSs for sediment – key points
Guidance on derivation of EQSs to protect sediment biota
Lack of data means we have to be more ‘inclusive’
‘Weight of evidence’ approach, combining ecotox data, field data and equilibrium partitioning
Role and statutory status of sediment EQSs?

23. Metals – key points
Guidance on deriving EQSs for metals (water, biota and sediment)
(Bio)availability covered in detail
Added risk approach accepted when EQS ~ background
Adherence to TGD AFs can result in EQSs < background
Physical effects of metals e.g. Fe, Al requires different approach – field evidence

24. Non-testing methods/chemical groups – key points
Acknowledge role of non-testing methods: consistent with REACH
QSARs, category approaches (to infer physicochemical and toxicological properties)
Main role is to help reduce uncertainty (reduce AF) rather than act as ‘critical’ data