OLYMPIA — The state Department of Ecology is accepting public comment on an update to a technical document that evaluates available data on fish consumption by Washington residents.
Comments will be accepted on the Fish Consumption Rates Technical Support Document through Oct. 26.
The agency said it will consider any comments it receives before finalizing the document in the late fall.
Ecology is working to accurately identify how much fish residents eat so that protective standards may be set for water quality and in-water sediments.
Ecology distributed the first draft of the technical support document for public review in October.
After receiving several hundred comments on the first draft, Ecology revised the technical support document.
The update:
■ Focuses on scientific and technical issues, and removes perceived regulatory decisions, including a recommended range for fish-consumption rates.
Decisions on how to use the data will be part of the formal public regulatory process of revising the state’s surface water-quality standards with human health criteria, which will include a fish-consumption rate.
■ Adds more information about fish consumption and exposure to contamination faced by both the general and recreational fishing population.
The second draft of the Fish Consumption Rates Technical Support Document is at www.ecy.wa.gov/toxics/fish.html.
To submit comments, mail them to Adrienne Dorrah, Washington Department of Ecology, Toxics Cleanup Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, or email them to fishconsumption@ecy.wa.gov.