Ecology is conducting this rulemaking to provide clarity on the water pollution limits that protect human health and are used in clean water programs in Washington state. This action would transfer the existing federal limits into state rules and would not change any of the existing human health criteria for Washington. The human health criteria protect people, particularly those who eat fish and shellfish and drink untreated water, from experiencing long-term health effects from pollution in rivers, lakes and marine water in Washington. This is a unique rulemaking as it does not change the pollution limits that are already in place for Washington. In 2016 and 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set some of the human health criteria for Washington, so those limits are in federal rule, instead of state rule like the rest of Washington’s pollution limits. Ecology aims to provide clarity on the regulations by adopting the federal human health criteria. Ecology received feedback from the public and Tribes during prior rulemakings that making this change should be a priority for the state. This rulemaking is a shorter process than most. Because this rulemaking will adopt federal regulations without changing them, this rulemaking is exempt from the usual requirements to complete a pre-proposal statement of inquiry (CR-101) and will instead move starting to the rule proposal (CR-102).