Legislative Mandated Reports - Water Code Section 13385(0) Enforcement Report

This section presents a compilation of the number of violations of Waste Discharge Requirements - NPDES Wastewater

Wastewater facilities discussed in this report are those facilities that are permitted to discharge pollutants to surface waters and include sewage treatment plants, food processors, oil refineries, power plant cooling waters, pulp and paper mills, mining operations, fish hatcheries, etc.

• Table 1: NPDES Wastewater Permits by Category and Regional Office
• Table 2: Number of Violations of NPDES Wastewater Permits 2000 to 2013
• Table 3: Number of Violations per Wastewater Facility for 2013
• Table 4: NPDES Wastewater Violations by Category for 2013
• Table4a: NPDES Wastewater Violations by Ranking for 2013

Violations of Waste Discharge Requirements - NPDES Stormwater

The Stormwater Program has five categories of dischargers subject to the federal Stormwater permit requirements.  At the time of this report, nearly 25,000 facilities or permittees are regulated by NPDES stormwater permits in California. Stormwater permits are generally issued as individual permits to the Phase 1 MS4s and as general permits to the other categories.  Dischargers eligible for coverage under a general permit must enroll and agree to comply with the conditions of the general permit. Table 5 shows active NPDES stormwater facilities by category and Regional Board.

Tables:

• Table 5: NPDES Stormwater Permittees by Permit Types and Regional Office
• Table 6: Number of Violations of NPDES Stormwater Permits 2000 to 2013
• Table 7: NPDES Stormwater Violations by Category for 2013
• Table 8: Federal Facilities Regulated Under the NPDES Program by Region

Glossary

Compliance and Enforcement at Federal Facilities

Federal facilities include facilities owned or operated by the federal government.  These include national parks, Department of Energy facilities, Department of Defense (DOD) facilities, etc. DOD facilities fall under one of the following three categories:

• Active bases where the military currently conducts operations,
• Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) installations which are being cleaned up and prepared for transfer to communities and to other federal, state, and local agencies, and
• Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) which are properties that DOD once owned, operated or leased.

Major facilities

Facilities with an average daily discharge greater than 1 million gallons per day or those that pose a high degree of threat to water quality.

Minor facilities

Facilities with an average daily flow less than 1 million gallons per day and that have a lower threat to water quality.

Industrial Activities

The Industrial Storm Water General Permit Order 97-03-DWQ (General Industrial Permit) is an NPDES permit that regulates discharges associated with 10 broad categories of industrial activities other than construction.  In general, discharges from manufacturing, transportation, and recycling facilities are subject to this permit.

Construction Activities

Dischargers whose projects disturb one or more acres of soil or are part of a larger common plan of development or sale are required to obtain coverage under the General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (Construction General Permit - CGP - Order No. 2009-0009-DWQ). Construction activity subject to this permit includes clearing, grading and disturbances to the ground such as stockpiling, or excavation, but does not include regular maintenance activities performed to restore the original line, grade or capacity of the facility.  Typical CGP permit coverage lasts about 1 year, so this permit program sees a lot of turnover. Because construction activities are temporary and the most prevalent pollutant problem is sediment discharges, the State Water Board has adopted this permit separate from the General Industrial Permit.

Linear Stormwater Facilities

Underground/Overhead Projects disturbing at least 1 acre but less than 5 acres (including trenching and staging areas) are covered by the Statewide General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity from Small Linear Underground/Overhead Projects (Small LUP General Permit).

Municipal Stormwater Phase I Facilities

The Municipal Storm Water Permits regulate storm water discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s).  Under Phase I, which began in 1990, the Regional Water Boards have issued NPDES MS4 permits to permittees serving populations greater than 100,000 people.  Many of these permits are issued to a group of co-permittees encompassing an entire metropolitan area.

Municipal Stormwater Phase II Facilities

Under Phase II, the State Water Board adopted a General Permit for the Discharge of Storm Water from Small MS4s (WQ Order No. 2003-0005-DWQ) to provide permit coverage for smaller municipalities (10,000 to 100,000 people), including non-traditional small MS4s which are governmental facilities such as military bases, public campuses, prisons and hospital complexes.

 

 

( Updated 3/4/14 )