Water Quality and Supply Issues Monthly Update-Mar 2022
With the new year comes new water-related legislation under consideration by our legislators in Sacramento. We are closely watching AB 2106 (Rivas and Garcia), which, if approved, imposes new and unnecessary water quality regulations on existing commercial, industrial and institutional properties in California. The targets of this water quality legislation are already covered under existing permits and state authority.
The renewal process for the California Construction General Permit (CGP) for stormwater, which affects nearly all CICWQ member companies and workforce, continues to move along in 2022. The CGP is administered by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWB) in Sacramento and enforced regionally by one of nine California Regional Water Quality Control Boards.
The Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality (CICWQ) team met with the SWB executive management, staff, and a few governing board members several times in February 2022. We discovered that a revised Draft CGP would be released in late March 2022, with a 30-day comment period to follow. Additionally, we learned the state would be holding a workshop to discuss the revised Draft CGP on April 19, 2022.
We just updated our CGP Industry News blog based on the latest information from our advocacy team. Dr. Mark Grey from CICWQ prepared a new 6-year review of State of California Construction General Permit enforcement violation data.
The DRAFT Santa Ana Watershed Regional Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit covering portions of Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties have been released for public review and comment.
Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District are moving forward with a new Stormwater Resource Plan for the county. This will allow it to expand its opportunities to develop collaborative water quality protection and water reliability improvement projects and funding identified projects. A call for projects is currently underway.
5 ISSUES WORTH YOUR TIME
1.) AB 2106 (Rivas and Garcia) Water Quality: Permits/Modernizing Stormwater Program
This proposed legislation from California Coastkeeper Alliance would impose new, duplicative, and costly unnecessary regulation on nearly every commercial, industrial, or institutional property in California. The legislation is based on a very narrow Clean Water Act legal case recently decided for two specific, heavily industrialized and urban watersheds in southwest Los Angeles County.
U.S. EPA and Los Angeles Regional Water Board Presentation >>
2.) Renewal of the State of California Construction General Permit for Stormwater
The State of California Water Resources Control Board plans to release a revised construction general permit (CGP) draft in late March 2022, based on public and stakeholder input submitted to the State in August 2021. We expect a State Water Board workshop on April 19, 2022, with comments on the revised Draft CGP due April 30.
3.) Renewal of the Santa Ana Watershed Regional Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit
The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board updates and revises three MS4 permits issued between 2009 and 2012 for Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties into one regional permit. This permit impacts CICWQ members working in private and public land development and building, including urban redevelopment, and contains engineering requirements to manage stormwater runoff.
A public review draft of the new regional permit was released in late January 2021, and the Regional Board held a workshop to discuss it on Friday, February 4. Comments on the Draft MS4 permit are due March 10. Regional Board staff tell CICWQ to expect permit adoption sometime in late 2022.
4.) Riverside County Santa Ana River Watershed Stormwater Resource Plan Development
The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District is preparing a Stormwater Resource Plan for Riverside County and held its second stakeholder meeting in February 2022. Such a plan is required by California law to receive state funding for multi-benefit, watershed-based stormwater capture facilities which protect water quality and improve water supply reliability.
The goal is to create an integrated regional watershed-based plan which addresses challenges and opportunities for managing stormwater and dry weather runoff and identifies and prioritizes multi-benefit capture projects.
5.) Six-Year Review and Analysis of California CGP Enforcement Data
CICWQ uses State of California Water Resources Control Board data collected on water quality permit enforcement to examine the types of compliance issues that arise, document the frequency of occurrence, and identify trends.
