PART 4. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

R 323.1041 Purpose.

(Effective December 13, 1973; revised December 2, 1986; May 20, 1994; and January 13, 2006)

  Rule 41.  The purpose of the water quality standards as prescribed by these rules is to establish water quality requirements applicable to the Great Lakes, the connecting waters, and all other surface waters of the state, to protect the public health and welfare, to enhance and maintain the quality of water, to protect the state's natural resources, and to serve the purposes of Public Law 92-500, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., Part 31, Water Resources Protection, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended, MCL 324.3101 to 324.3119, and the Great Lakes water quality agreement enacted November 22, 1978, and amended in 1987.  These standards may not reflect current water quality in all cases.  Water quality of certain surface waters of the state may not meet standards as a result of natural causes or conditions unrelated to human influence.  Where surface waters of the state may have been degraded due to past human activities and attainment of standards in the near future is not economically or technically achievable, these standards shall be used to improve water quality.  These standards are the minimum water quality requirements by which the surface waters of the state shall be managed.