Construction General Permit for Stormwater - Adopted September 8, 2022
Update: State Water Board Adopts NEW Construction General Permit (CGP) for Stormwater on September 8, 2022 - Final Order Documents Posted On-Line
On September 8, 2022, the California State Water Resources Control Board approved the Construction General Permit, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit regulating stormwater discharges from construction sites.
The final approved permit (also known as Order) underwent numerous changes – even as recently as the day of the hearing. A majority of those changes occurred due to concerns raised by the building and construction industry and its technical and legal team. Access the entire 471-page adopted order and attachments below:
Regarding the primary issue of concern with the permit – the inclusion of numeric effluent limits (NELs) – the construction industry successfully removed almost all NELs from the permit. For the remaining NELs, the State Water Board incorporated a re-opener provision allowing stakeholders to generate data that will assist the building and construction industry in pushing back on the remaining NELs before they go into effect.
Keep in mind that the newly adopted permit does include new provisions that will add costs to the compliance of the permit.
However, major victories are minimizing the threat of third-party citizen lawsuits and being subjected to fines and penalties from the State and Regional Boards.
Final Draft Release – Construction General Permit (CGP) for Stormwater
Applicability and Adoption Schedule
The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is renewing the CGP for stormwater and will hold an adoption hearing on Thursday September 8, 2022 at 9:30 AM. The CGP and its requirements are extensive and impact almost all public and private construction projects greater than 1 acre in size in California.
The CGP applies to a wide array of construction and land development activities, including housing, retail and commercial development, linear utilities, and public works. In California, collectively, private and public project proponents spend millions of dollars each year complying in the spirit of protecting water quality.
State Water Board staff released a Final Draft CGP for public review and comment on July 22, 2022, with comments limited to revised Anti-Degradation Findings. Comments are due to the State Water Board on August 23, 2022 at noon.
State Water Board held a staff workshop to present the revised Final Draft CGP on August 9, 2022.
CICWQ and other construction industry representatives provided comments at the workshop, covering industry concerns and key issues with the proposed CGP requirements. A copy of the presentation made at the workshop is available below, along with the CICWQ advocacy team’s comment packages and presentations made in 2022, and permit and support documents and resources from the State Water Board.
Ways to learn and participate in the process:
>> State Water Board Notice of Date for Adoption Hearing
>> Construction Industry Workshop Presentation: August 9, 2022
Review construction industry presentation on the Final Draft CGP, organized by CICWQ, California Building Industry Association, Building Industry Association of Southern California and Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation.
>> State Water Board Responses to Comments - Submitted by May 2nd, 2022
Review the State Water Board staff Response to Comment Document for comments submitted by interested parties on May 2, 2022.
>> Construction Industry Comments on Final Draft Construction General Permit: May 2nd, 2022
Review construction industry detailed comments on the final draft CGP, submitted by CICWQ, California Building Industry Association, Building Industry Association of Southern California and Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation.
>> Construction Industry Workshop Presentation: April 19, 2022
A coalition of construction and building industry interests prepared and delivered a short summary presentation at the April 19, 2022 State Water Board Meeting of the industry’s key concerns with the final draft of the CGP. The presentation highlights problems and concerns with the State Water Board’s proposal to include numeric effluent limits (NELs) and numeric action levels (NALs) for stormwater discharges from construction sites in some locations in California. For construction stormwater, technologies do not exist which could achieve the numeric limits proposed in the final draft CGP.
>> State Water Board Staff Workshop: April 12, 2022
Public Workshop Video Recording | Link
Detailed overview of the proposed Permit reissuance, including proposed revisions to the final draft CGP in response to previously submitted public comments
Final Draft Permit Documents - Released July 22, 2022
The State Water Board has posted an updated, and redline version of the final draft CGP on its website. On the website, scroll down to access Clean PDF and Word Markup of the July 22, 2022 documents.
Key Revisions and Requirements/Areas of Concern
New emphasis on pollutants other than sediment—nutrients, metals, and toxic organics; incorporation of Total Maximum Daily Load requirements
Permit contains new requirements for site inspections and testing of runoff water, vis a vis changes to the Qualifying Precipitation Event definition
Permit proposes numeric effluent limits (NELs) in some locations in S. California; nutrients, metals, and toxic organics
Technologies don’t exist to meet the NELs for the pollutants in the CGP; Legal actions will be taken against contractors (Citizen lawsuits)
Permit proposes a “surrogate” of 100 mg/L Total Suspended Solids (TSS) for certain pollutants; State lacks sufficient data to demonstrate surrogate is appropriate measurement for construction site stormwater runoff
