Water Quality and Supply Issues Monthly Update-MAY 2023
May 2023 finds the construction industry and its advocates fighting hard over proposed major and sweeping changes from the California Air Resources Board concerning the phase-out of diesel and gasoline engines, which are the heart of our workforce’s ability to get the job done. Our colleagues at CIAQC fought against this proposal at the CARB hearing held on Thursday, April 27th.
Meanwhile, our elected officials and regulators are not taking any breaks from developing proposed water quality and water supply reliability legislation or enacting new rules that impact the construction industry and its workforce.
Several proposed bond measure bills introduced into the California State Assembly and Senate are top of mind. While it is unlikely all the bills will move forward, elements of the proposed measures may be combined into one large bond package, addressing long-term water storage, flood control, and groundwater recharge needs. The legislative process will sort out the details; perhaps the voters will have their say in 2024.
Several water quality-related bills have been introduced to try and capitalize on the wet winter and the aftermath of flooding and property damage many areas in California experienced. Some of these bills are helpful to the construction industry and property development (AB 990) while others are problematic and don’t help address core water conservation and reuse issues we face (SB 597).
On the regulatory development front, we want our readers to know about a new, post-construction water quality permit compliance pathway that was just approved by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. The program, known as Water Quality Credit Trading, will allow the City of Anaheim (and hopefully other cities in California) to create and use water quality credits to comply with Santa Ana region post-construction stormwater runoff treatment standards for new and re-development.
Finally, we want to ensure our members keep up to speed and know key dates and availability of required training for compliance with the recently renewed Construction General Permit for Stormwater. The effective date of the new permit is fast approaching, and existing credentials must be updated in order for your projects to maintain compliance.
WATER ISSUES WORTH YOUR TIME IN MAY
1) California Water Quality and Water Supply Legislation 2023
The record-setting water year of 2022-2023 hasn’t gone unnoticed by our elected officials in Sacramento. Several bills have been introduced into both houses of the legislature: bond measures. Of note are bond measure bills providing funding for infrastructure, including stormwater capture and groundwater recharge.
These include:
It is likely based on past legislative cycles and results, elements of all the bond measure bills introduced will coalesce into a single bond measure for potential voter approval in 2024.
Also notable is AB 990 (Grayson). Water quality: low impact development: infill housing. This bill, if enacted, would require the San Francisco Regional Water Board to address impacts on infill housing from the recently renewed municipal separate storm sewer system permit. Regulatory relief for infill housing would be welcomed by our CICWQ members anywhere they work in California.
Conversely, SB 597 (Glazer) Building standards: rainwater catchment systems would mandate the installation of rainwater capture systems in all new residential homes in California. This is a monumentally bad idea for so many reasons...we just had a 3-year drought? We need big storage projects at a watershed scale, not tiny ones in infill housing….really?
2) City of Anaheim Water Quality Credit Trading Program Approved by Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board
In April 2023, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board approved the City of Anaheim’s water quality credit trading program. After a year-long submission and review process by the agency, including a 30-day public comment period, the City can now implement the program.
Several years in the making, the program allows the City to create water quality credits within its limits by capturing polluted urban stormwater, which otherwise would go untreated. Credits generated can then be used on any City land development project where capturing and treating stormwater is infeasible or is less beneficial than using the credit program.
CICWQ has worked for many years with public works agencies to help advance this alternative compliance pathway approach. Working collaboratively, a research team led by CICWQ set up case studies of projects capturing urban stormwater runoff, analyzed several different hydraulic and engineering configurations, performed detailed benefit and cost analysis, and published the results.
3) Stormwater Construction General Permit (CGP) Training Coming Up
The newly revised CGP goes into full effect this year on September 1, 2023. For existing Qualified SWPPP Developers (QSDs) and Qualified SWPPP Practitioners (QSPs), CGP refresher training is required to update existing credentials that are necessary to perform work on CGP-approved projects starting after September 1.
The State is recording 15 training modules that cover a range of areas in the revised permit. Key changes include important compliance elements like the definition of a Qualified Rain Event and when pre- and post-rain event inspections must be completed, new procedures for filing and obtaining a Notice of Termination to stop paying permit fees, and complying with new pollution standards, known as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).
State-sponsored online training classes will be available summer 2023. Keep checking the CICWQ Events webpage for registration information when it’s available.
