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.

According to the Public Notice, comments must clearly relate to one of the above items and may only relate to the above items – comments that address other components of the proposed Permit reissuance will not be accepted. Written comments regarding the above proposed revisions must be received no later than 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Monday, May 2, 2022.

Water Board Staff will hold a remote public workshop to discuss revisions to the proposed Construction Stormwater General Permit on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Instructions for attendance are provided in the Water Board’s Public Notice.

In addition, the State Water Board will hold a Board workshop to hear feedback regarding revisions to the proposed statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. at the CalEPA Building, 1001 I Street in Sacramento.  Interested parties can also attend the April 19 workshop via video and teleconference.  Additional details are available in the Water Board’s Public Notice.

According to the March 30, 2022 Public Notice, the State Water Board will consider adoption of the proposed statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit at its regularly scheduled Board meeting on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.

For more information on how, where, and when to submit comments, please refer to the Water Board’s Public Notice.  Further information on the draft Construction Stormwater General Permit is also available at the Water Board’s Construction Stormwater General Permit reissuance webpage.

Stoel Rives’ California water quality practitioners continue to monitor developments with respect to the adoption of the draft Construction Stormwater General Permit.  We will report on those developments here in the California Environmental Law Blog.  If you may be subject to terms of the draft Construction Stormwater General Permit, we recommend that your attend one of the upcoming virtual workshops or public hearing.

If you have questions regarding water resources or the potential effect of State Water Board actions on your facility, or other environmental, compliance, reporting, or permitting requirements, please contact our California water quality attorneys.