Santa Ana Region - Surveillance and Enforcement
The Surveillance & Enforcement Section (S&E) is responsible for enforcing a wide range of Board-adopted:
- Waste discharge requirements (for discharges surface waters and ground waters)
- Recycled water producer and primary user requirements
- Waste discharge prohibitions that pertain to continuing use of subsurface disposal systems in designated communities within the Region.
Waste discharge requirements, the Board's discharge "permits," contain discharge conditions and provisions, including effluent limitations and monitoring requirements. Waste discharge requirements implement the California Water Code's Porter Cologne Water Quality Control Act and the federal Clean Water Act (for discharges to surface waters). Under authority delegated to the State by USEPA, waste discharge requirements regulating discharges to surface waters also serve as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Effluent limits and discharge conditions are based on state and federal laws and regulations, the "Water Quality Control Plan for the Santa Ana River Basin" ("Basin Plan"), and scientific guidance documents. See "Permitting for more information about this subject.
S&E staff respond to sewage spills within the region, and to complaints against regulated facilities.
To report sewage spills at any time, contact California's Office of Emergency Services at (800) 852-7550.
To register a complaint, contact the Santa Ana Regional Board , or any S&E staff person shown below.
For more information, view the OES, California Hazardous Material Spill/Release Notification Guidance document.
Surveillance activities include review of self-monitoring reports submitted by regulated dischargers and routine inspection of regulated facilities. Enforcement options available for violations of Board orders or prohibitions range from issuing "Notices to Comply" in the field (for minor violations), to warning letters and Notices of Violation, to formal "Cease and Desist" and "Cleanup and Abatement" orders, to complaints for Administrative Civil Liability, to referral to the Attorney General or District Attorney for injunction or prosecution. Cease and desist orders and referrals require Board action; other enforcement actions may be initiated by the Board's Executive Officer, or in the case of "Notices to Comply" or warning letters, by staff.
The family of regulated dischargers S&E staff actively administer includes:
- All "publicly owned treatment works" (POTW's) and their pretreatment programs, as well as smaller, privately owned and operated wastewater treatment plants
- All dischargers covered by the Board's de minimus general waste discharge requirements, Order No. R8-2003-0061
- Utility companies and others within the Region enrolled in State Water Resources Control Board's general permit for discharges from utilities
- Major industrial and commercial facilities discharging waste directly to waters (ground water or surface water) of the state
- Producers of recycled water
S&E Section staff, and representative responsibilities, include:
Gary Stewart, Senior Water Resources Control Engineer, Section Chief.
Najah Amin, Water Resource Control Engineer, Staff Inspector. Major project responsibilities include POTWs operated by the Cities of Riverside, Rialto, San Bernardino, and Colton, and the Colton / San Bernardino Regional Tertiary Treatment and Reclamation Authority; de minimus dischargers; and sewage spill response and data collection.
Julio C. Lara, Sanitary Engineering Associate, Staff Inspector. Major project responsibilities include POTWs operated by the Orange County Sanitation District, the City of Corona, Western Riverside County Regional Waste Water Authority, Eastern Municipal Water District, and Inland Empire Utilities Agency.
Bill Norton, Sanitary Engineering Associate, Staff Inspector. Major project responsibilities include POTWs operated by the Irvine Ranch Water District, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, and City of Redlands; nurseries; and de minimus dischargers.