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The State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) is in the final stages of developing a revised Statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit (“Construction Stormwater General Permit” or “Permit”).  The State Water Board is currently accepting public comments on a limited set of revisions to the draft Construction Stormwater General Permit, has noticed one last public workshop to discuss the contents of the proposed Permit, and has scheduled a hearing to consider adoption of the proposed Permit.  Important dates are as follows:Continue Reading State Water Board to Consider Adoption of proposed Statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit at September 8, 2022 Meeting

The State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) is now receiving public comments on certain components of its revised proposed statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Construction Stormwater General Permit (“Construction Stormwater General Permit”).

The first draft Construction Stormwater General Permit was released by the Water Board on May 28, 2021, following Staff’s preliminary draft released in November 2020 and consideration of public comments raised in public workshops held in December 2020.  A revised proposed draft Construction Stormwater General Permit was released on March 30, 2022.  Water Board Staff is now accepting comments on the following items in the revised draft Permit:

  • Anti-degradation findings set forth in Order, Findings 9-18;
  • Regulatory transition requirements set forth in Order, Section III.C;
  • Sediment-based numeric effluent limitations for 14 pollutants as set forth in total maximum daily load (“TMDL”) implementation requirements in Attachment H section I.G.5, and the Fact Sheet sections I.G.5.g and I.W.6.g; and
  • Nitrogen-based nutrient numeric action levels for the Los Angeles Area Lakes TMDL, the Los Angeles River Nutrients TMDL, the Santa Clara River Nitrogen Compounds TMDL, and the Ventura River Algae TMDL in Table H-2 of Attachment H, and in Fact Sheet sections I.G.5.d and I.W.6.d.

Continue Reading State Water Board Receiving Limited Comments on Its Proposed Reissuance of the Statewide NPDES Construction Stormwater General Permit; Will Consider Adoption At July 19, 2022 Meeting

Last month, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region (“Central Valley Water Board”) published a Food Safety Project White Paper (“White Paper”) on the use of oil field produced water for food crop irrigation. The White Paper did not find any evidence that using produced water for irrigation creates an elevated threat to human or crop safety.
Continue Reading White Paper Finds No Evidence of Elevated Threat to Human or Crop Safety from Use of Oil Field Produced Water to Irrigate Crops

On June 10, 2021, the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) issued a Revised Public Notice that changed certain dates noted in our June 2, 2021 blog post.  The Water Board’s public hearing to receive public comments on the draft Construction Stormwater General Permit reissuance is now scheduled to occur at 9:00 a.m. on…

The State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) is now receiving public comments on its proposed reissuance of the statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Construction Stormwater General Permit (“Construction Stormwater General Permit”).

I.     Background

The Construction Stormwater General Permit regulates discharges to waters of the United States from stormwater and authorized non-stormwater associated with construction activities that disturb one or more acres of land, or are part of a common plan of development or sale that disturbs one or more acre of land surface.  California’s previous Construction Stormwater General Permit expired in September 2014 but has been administratively extended until a reissued permit is adopted.
Continue Reading State Water Board Now Receiving Public Comments on Its Proposed Reissuance of the Statewide NPDES Construction Stormwater General Permit

As a follow-up to our March 11, 2021 blog post, as part of implementation of its Final Adopted Winery General Order, the State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB” or “Board”) announced that it will be holding a second Winery General Order Fees Stakeholder Meeting on April 28 from 1:00-3:00 PM via Webcast.…

As part of implementation of its Final Adopted Winery General Order, the State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB” or “Board”) will be holding a Winery General Order Fees Stakeholder Meeting on March 15 from 1:00-3:00 PM via Webcast. The updated notice for the Fees Stakeholder Meeting can be found here.

In addition…

On November 30, 2020, State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) staff released a preliminary staff draft of the Statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit (Preliminary Draft General Permit).  In conjunction with its release of the Preliminary Draft General Permit, State Water Board staff also announced that they will hold two public workshops regarding the preliminary staff draft.  According to the Public Notice, the workshops are intended to: (1) provide stakeholders and interested parties information regarding the preliminary draft General Permit, and (2) allow stakeholders and interested parties to provide feedback to staff.

The Preliminary Draft General Permit includes:

  • New requirements to implement existing Total Maximum Daily Loads;
  • New regulation of passive treatment technology uses and discharges from dewatering activities;
  • Updated criteria for Notices of Non-Applicability;
  • Efficiency to the existing Notice of Termination process;
  • Requirements to implement the California Ocean Plan, the Inland Surface Waters Plan, and statewide Trash provisions;
  • Updated requirements for demolition activities;
  • Updated water quality sampling requirements per the federal Sufficiently Sensitive Test Methods Rule; and
  • Updated monitoring and reporting requirements.

Continue Reading State Water Board Staff Releases Staff Preliminary Draft Statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit and Announces Virtual Workshops

In July, we blogged about the State Water Resources Control Board’s (“State Water Board’) release of proposed General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water Treatment Systems (see: July 15, 2020 blog post on proposed General Order and July 20, 2020 blog post on noticed stakeholder meetings).  The State Water Board recently issued a revised…

Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (“CDFW”) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (“OSPR”) issued notice that it proposes to add ten new regulations (sections 830.1 through 830.11 to Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations) to implement statutory changes resulting from Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1197.  AB 1197 establishes criteria and a process for the certification of oil spill management teams.
Continue Reading CDFW Proposes New Regulations for Oil Spill Management Team Certification with a September 14 Comment Deadline

As a follow-up to our July 15, 2020 blog post regarding the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) release of proposed General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water Treatment Systems (proposed General Order), today the State Water Board issued a public notice regarding the first stakeholder meeting to discuss fees…

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