The bioassay laboratory that had been constructed on the grounds of the 

 Ohio Department of Conservation hatchery at Newtown, Ohio, was made a field 

 station of the Duluth laboratory. Construction of the National Marine 

 Water Quality Laboratory at Narragansett, Rhode Island, was delayed, but 

 construction of the National Water Quality Laboratory at Duluth proceeded, 

 and it was completed in the summer of 1967 and dedicated on August 12, 

 1967. Construction of the National Marine Water Quality Laboratory was not 

 initiated until August 12, 1975, 13 years after authorization. 



The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Public Law 84-660, as amended 

 by P.L. 87-88, P.L. 89-234, and by the Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966 

 (P.L. 89-753), required the states to establish water quality standards for 

 interstate waters by June 30, 1967. In case a state did not do this and 

 failed to call a pbulic hearing, the Secretary of the Interior was 

 authorized to set water quality standards for the interstate waters of that 

 state. On February 27, 1967, the Secretary appointed an advisory committee 

 to recommend water quality criteria for the following uses: Aesthetics and 

 recreation; public water supply; fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife; 

 and agricultural and industrial water supplies. 



The committee on fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife was composed of 

 28 members of varied training and experience who collectively covered all 

 phases of the subject and represented a great deal of experience in 

 bioassay studies and water quality requirements for aquatic life. Their 

 task was to review available data on the water quality requirements of 

 aquatic life and then, on the basis of available data, their experience, 

 and judgement, to recommend water quality criteria. Their report was 

 completed by mid-June 1967. Their report on research needs was completed 

 in the spring of 1968, and both reports were published in April 1968 along 

 with the reports of the other committees. This report was updated and 

 expanded by a large committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the 

 National Academy of Engineering and was published in 1974 under the title 

 "Water Quality Criteria 1972." 



The compilation of data for the 1968 report demonstrated that practi- 

 cally all the bioassay studies were of short duration and indicated only 

 the acute effects of toxicants on fishes. Methods had been suggested for 

 the use of application factors with data from acute toxicity studies to 

 predict long-term effects of toxicants, but few data were available to 

 indicate the maximum concentration of a toxicant in the aquatic environment 

 that was not harmful with continuous exposure. Studies of physical environ- 

 mental requirements, especially temperature and O2, has received the most 

 attention, and several field studies that extended over longer periods had 

 been made. Oxygen and temperature requirements of fishes were investigated 

 by a number of workers in the 1920's and 1930' s. However, most of the 

 investigators reported on temperature and oxygen levels that were lethal, 

 and \/ery few dealt with conditions that were favorable for the survival of 

 the species or that enabled them to compete successfully with their 

 competitors and predators. In the late 1920's Belding gave a good analysis 

 of the problem. There was no overall planning or coordination of the 

 investigations of environmental requirements, which were carried on by 

 investigators of diverse training, experience, and interests who were 



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