Elizabeth Miller Jennings Office of the Chief Counsel State Water Resources Control Board Peter Bowes 5/20/2009 Flickr REGULATION OF STORM WATER DISCHARGES

STORM WATER OVERVIEW Applicable statutes Applicable regulations Phase I and Phase II Special Water Code provisions Permits Legal Issues and court decisions

Federal Clean Water Act §402(p) –Industrial discharges –Large and medium municipal discharges (MS4s) –Other Water Code §13376 STATUTORY BASES

40 CFR § –Phase I Application requirements for industry and medium and large municipalities –Phase II Permit requirements from small municipalities, small construction, and state and federal facilities STORM WATER REGULATIONS

PHASE II PROVISIONS Small municipalities –Small municipalities in urbanized areas –Small municipalities already permitted not affected –6 minimum mandatory controls –Protect “water quality” Industrial changes –Conditional exclusion for “no exposure” for all industries, except construction –Construction covered to 1 acre

WATER CODE PROVISIONS Storm Water Enforcement Act of 1998 (§ et seq.) –Non-Filers –Annual Reports NPDES provisions (§13370 et seq.) –Monitoring requirements (§ )

STORM WATER ENFORCEMENT ACT Mandatory penalties for failing to submit “notice of intent” and “notice of non- applicability” Mandatory penalties for failing to submit annual report Minimum penalties –$5000/year for Notice of intent –$1000/year for Notice of non-applicability and annual report

STORM WATER PERMITS Statewide construction permit Statewide industrial permit Areawide municipal permits Statewide small MS4 permit Statewide Caltrans permit Individual permits Statewide utility permit (<5 acres)

TECHNOLOGY-BASED STANDARDS MS4s: maximum extent practicable (MEP) Industrial and construction: BAT/BCT Permits may require best management practices (BMPs) In establishing requirements, permit writers use best professional judgment (BPJ) NRDC v USEPA: states establish BMP requirements

MS4s: CWA §301(b)(1)(C) does not apply, but §402(p) allows permit writer to require compliance with water quality standards State Water Board requires iterative compliance by MS4s: WQO Industrial and Construction: Must require compliance with WQS, but can be through BMPs WATER QUALITY-BASED STANDARDS

RECURRING LEGAL ISSUES Water quality standards Numeric effluent limitations Post-construction requirements Level of detail in municipal permits Approval of NOIs/SWMPs

Defenders of Wildlife v. Browner: compliance discretionary for MS4s Industrial dischargers must comply MS4 dischargers – iterative compliance Phase 2 dischargers - larger small MS4s iterative compliance BIA v Water Board; Rancho Cucamonga v Region 8 COMPLIANCE WITH WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

EPA policy against numbers: BMPs v numeric effluent limits Effluent limits v WQS Water Boards have discretion Court upheld permit without numbers: Divers v Water Board State Board upheld permit with numbers: Boeing NUMERIC EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS

POST-CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS Bellflower Order upheld SUSMPs Phase II municipal permit required SUSMPs for larger small MS4s Draft statewide construction permit includes low-impact development requirements

LEVEL OF DETAIL IN MS4 PERMITS MS4 permits have become lengthy— requirements to specify BMPs Courts have upheld permits: Rancho Cucamonga Issues: inspections of facilities

APPROVAL OF NOIs & SWMPs Issue: Do NPDES procedural requirements apply to enrollments under general permits? –Public notice –Opportunity for hearing –Agency approval Cases: EDC v USEPA; WaterKeeper Alliance v USEPA; Texas Independent Producers v USEPA Small MS4 approach

CITATIONS Defenders of Wildlife v Browner (9th Cir. 1999) 191 F.3d 1159 BIA v Water Boards (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 866 Divers v Water Board (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 246 National Resource Defense Council v USEPA (9th Cir. 1992) 966 F.2d 1292 Rancho Cucamonga v Regional Board (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 1377

Environmental Defense Center v USEPA (9th Cir. 2003) 344 F.3d 832 WaterKeeper Alliance v USEPA (2nd Cir. 2005) 399 F.3d 486 Texas Independent Producers v USEPA (7th Cir. 2005) 410 F.3d 964 CITATIONS, cont’d.

In re Boeing WQO In re BIA WQO In re Bellflower et al WQO