Kentucky is a member of the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. This task force was established with the goal of reducing hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and alleviating eutrophication issues and harmful algal blooms in the streams and lakes of the respective states. The federal EPA has not developed national numeric criteria and has advised the states to establish state requirements. Some states have developed numeric criteria for nutrients; however, Kentucky, like most states, retains narrative water quality-based criteria for nutrients, including total nitrogen and total phosphorus. In efforts in address the nutrient loading from Kentucky point sources, the Kentucky Division of Water will begin implementing nutrient optimization requirements in 2024 within its Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permitting program for certain Publicly-Owned Treatment Works (POTWs). These requirements will include the completion of a nutrient reduction evaluation by permittees. This evaluation requires the permittee to gather and evaluate source reduction measures, operational procedures, and unit process configurations, as well as, consideration of associated costs and potential savings for reducing nutrients in the effluent discharge. The goal of the evaluation is to further the development of site-specific best management practices and to further the development of plans that lead to the optimal removal of total nitrogen and total phosphorus. This presentation will cover these new nutrient optimization requirements and how they are implemented in the KPDES permitting program.