The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2010-11

REGULATE: WASTE DISCHARGES TO LAND - WDR

GROUP:

AGRICULTURAL WASTE AND ALL OTHER WASTE WDR FACILITIES

MEASURE:

NUMBER OF PERMITS ADOPTED OR RENEWED
NUMBER OF PERMITS PAST RENEWAL DATE AS OF END OF FISCAL YEAR 2010-11

MESSAGE:

Approximately 93% of the permits are renewed within the recommended frequency.

MEASUREMENTS - Data Last Updated on:

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

Facilities under this category include food processing plants, animal feeding operations not discharging to surface waters and all other non industrial and non municipal domestic type of waste. 93% of the permits have been reviewed/updated in accordance within the recommended frequency. 203 permits need to be renewed or reviewed/updated as of June 30, 2011 and may be considered backlogged. 69 permits were reissued during fiscal year 10-11. The backlog of expired permits varies among the different regional boards. Facilities enrolled under a general permit are not considered past expiration date.

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) are issued for the duration of the discharge and do not contain an expiration date. Regional Boards are authorized to review WDRs periodically pursuant to Section 13263(e) of the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. The State Legislature has found that many WDRs are out of date and therefore do not reflect existing laws, regulations, and revised Water Quality Control Plans. The Water Boards recommend that WDRs be reviewed on a frequency of five, ten or fifteen years, based on the discharger’s Threat to Water Quality (TTWQ). WDRs that have not been reviewed/updated are considered to be backlogged. This measure describes the workload associated with existing permits.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Data Source: CIWQS. Period July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. Extracted on July 27, 2011.
Unit of Measure: Number of active facilities discharging agricultural and other waste regulated with waste discharge requirements during FY 10-11.
Data Definitions: Permits issued during FY 10-11: effective date between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Permits Current: permits not expired and not issued in FY 10-11. Permits Expired: permits with an expiration date before June 30, 2011.
References: More information on the Water Boards’ WDR program is available at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/land_disposal/waste_discharge_requirements.shtml
Public reports and data are available at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ciwqs/publicreports.shtml

GLOSSARY

Agricultural Waste: Facilities that treat and/or dispose of the wastes associated with confined and concentrated animal feeding, confined animal feeding, confined animal holding, and confined and concentrated aquatic animal production facilities, and aquaculture. The treatment and/or disposal of agricultural return water is included in this category.
All other facilities: All facilities that treat and/or dispose of wastes that do not fall into one of the Municipal, Industrial and Agricultural Waste categories.
Waste Discharge Requirements Program: The Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) Program regulates all point source discharges of waste to land that do not require full containment (which falls under the Land Discharge Program), or are not subject to the NPDES Program.

( Page last updated: 9/19/11 )