The State Water Board has released the final draft of the Industrial General Stormwater Permit for public comment. The Permit covers a wide range of facilities engaged in “industrial” activities, many of which are facility types operated by local governments. Covered operations include landfills, wastewater treatment plants, transportation maintenance facilities, and recycling facilities.
The Permit has gone through a multi-year process of amendments and stakeholder meetings after the release of an extremely controversial and widely-derided initial draft in January 2011. That initial draft would have resulted in high implementation costs and imposed such strict requirements that compliance would have been nearly impossible for most covered facilities. After a legislative hearing on the draft, as well as an initial round of public comment, Water Board staff worked diligently with stakeholders, including RCRC, to ultimately craft a permit that sets feasible requirements to achieve water quality improvement goals. Comments are being accepted only on the changes made to the Permit since July 2013, and must be submitted by noon on March 4, 2014.
The Permit, supporting documentation and instructions for filing comments can be found on the Water Board website.
For additional information, please contact RCRC Regulatory Affairs Advocate Staci Heaton at 916.447.4806 or sheaton@rcrcnet.org.