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Loren Faulkner

Court Order Halts New Storm Water Discharge Rules
July 9, 2008

An Orange County Court has surprised construction industry representatives by issuing a peremptory writ of mandate, effectively stopping the State Water Resources Control Board and The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region, from enforcing new strict water runoff rules at construction sites. These included a six month construction ban during “wet seasons”.

The Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quailty (CIAWQ) has summarized what the proposed regs would have required:

Revised General Construction Permit for Storm Water Discharges

1. The Revised General Construction Permit requires you to do a

complicated construction site risk analysis to determine which Best

Management Practices (BMPs) you will have to use. You’ll have to hire a

consultant to prepare the analysis and prepare your Storm Water Pollution

Prevention Plan (SWPPP).

2. The Revised Permit requires most site operators to take water samples

during rainfall events that produce more than ½ inch of rain and test the

water for turbidity and pH. If you are a “medium” or “high” risk site, you

will have to sample the water at the discharge point into a stream or

municipal storm drain system.

3. The Revised Permit forces site operators to comply with a “numeric

effluent limit” for turbidity. If you exceed the number, then you will be

fined $32,500 per day for every day you exceed the number.

4. The Revised Permit forces you to re-do your SWPPP if you prepared it

under the current system, and depending upon your location in California,

you may have to re-engineer your project to comply with new post-construction

runoff handling standards.

5. The Revised Permit allows the public to protest the contents of your

SWPPP after you’ve received a Waste Discharge Identification (WDID)

number from the State and started installing your BMPs and working on

your site. Also, the Regional Board can disagree with your site risk

analysis, and force you to re-do your SWPPP and install more or different

BMPs, even after you’ve started your project

The cities of Arcadia, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Claremont, Commerce, Downey, Duarte, Gardena, Glendora, Hawaiian Gardens, Irwindale, Lawndale, Monterey Park, Paramount, Santa Fe Springs, Signal Hill, Vernon, Walnut, West Covina and Whittier and the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation joined the case against the State Water Resources Control Board and The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region, which includes the Ventura Board, according to CIAWQ.

The State will undoubtedly readdresses its perceived need for these strict water run-off regulations.

Posted by Loren Faulkner on July 9, 2008 | Comments (0)