The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is preparing to hold the first and only planned public workshop on the Draft Amendments to Statewide Water Quality Control Plans to Control Trash on July 16, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Headquarters in Sacramento. The amendments relating to trash have surfaced before as part of other permits, most notably in the 2011 first draft of the most recent update of the Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permit. RCRC and a coalition of municipal stakeholders worked with the State Water Board to ensure that the trash provisions were omitted from the final permit adopted in February 2013, but expected them to show up as an independent proposal later.
The trash amendments contain six elements:
1. Water quality objective;
2. Prohibition of discharge;
3. Implementation provisions;
4. Time schedule;
5. Time extension option for State Water Board consideration; and,
6. Monitoring and reporting requirements.
The amendments will impact all municipalities that currently fall under either Phase of the MS4 permitting program, placing additional requirements for trash mitigation on local agencies that are already stretched thin.
The State Water Board has set a public hearing for August 5, 2014, with comments due at noon that same day. Detailed information on the trash program, including the proposed amendments and instructions on filing comments, can be accessed here.
For additional information, please contact RCRC Regulatory Affairs Advocate Staci Heaton at (916) 447-4806 or sheaton@rcrcnet.org.