State Water Board Seeks Public Comment On 2012 Draft General Permit

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is seeking comments on its latest draft of the proposed General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Industrial Activities (General Permit). The current General Permit was issued in 1997 and is long past the original five-year term, but it remains in effect until a new General Permit is adopted.

The 2012 draft General Permit is being issued for public comment. Written comments are due to the State Water Board by noon on Friday, September 21, 2012; oral comments may be presented at the State Water Board's public hearing on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 9 am, in Sacramento. In addition, the State Water Board has scheduled two workshops to answer questions and receive informal feedback on the General Permit. Further information, including the draft General Permit and commenting instructions, is available on the State Water Board's website at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/industrial.shtml. Companies that are subject to the current General Permit should review the new proposed General Permit carefully to determine if it contains issues of concern and consider submitting written comments, as appropriate. The State Water Board anticipates final adoption in early 2013.

The State Water Board has been working on the development of a new General Permit since 2003, but prior efforts were stymied over disputes regarding the appropriate use of numeric effluent limits for storm water discharges. As we previously reported, in 2011 the State Water Board issued a draft General Permit that proposed a "soft" approach to numeric effluent limits (NELs). Under that approach, NELs would be imposed if a discharger subject to the General Permit repeatedly exceeded Numerical Action Limits (NALs), after taking corrective actions required when the discharger exceeded the NALs for the first and second time.

That 2011 draft General Permit elicited substantial feedback from various stakeholders, and the State Water Board made considerable changes to this latest draft General Permit in response. Perhaps most significant is the elimination of NELs altogether. The State Water Board concluded it does not currently have the information and resources necessary to promulgate NELs. Also notable in the 2012 draft, the State Water Board has made an effort to address concerns raised about the cost of implementation by reducing the number of inspections required as compared to...