California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year  2018-19 

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

GLOSSARY

Construction Storm Water Program
Dischargers whose projects disturb 1 or more acres of soil or are part of a larger common plan of development that in total disturbs 1 or more acres, are required to obtain coverage under the General Permit for Discharges of Storm Water Associated with Construction Activity (Construction General Permit, 2009-0009-DWQ).

Industrial Storm Water Program
Discharges associated with 10 broad categories of industrial activities are regulated under the Industrial Storm Water General Permit Order 2014-0057-DWQ (General Industrial Permit), which is an NPDES permit.

Municipal Storm Water 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. These permits are reissued as the permits expire.

Municipal Storm Water 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. 2013-0001-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.

General Permit
An NPDES permit issued under 40 CFR 122.28 that authorizes a category of discharges under the Clean Water Act (CWA) within a geographical area. A general permit is not specifically tailored for an individual discharger.
Annual Report
All dischargers must prepare and electronically submit an annual report no later than September 1 of each year using the Storm water Multi-Application Reporting and Tracking System (SMARTS). The Annual Report must include a summary and evaluation of all sampling and analysis results, original laboratory reports, chain of custody forms, a summary of all corrective actions taken during the compliance year, and identification of any compliance activities or corrective actions that were not implemented.).

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
The NPDES permit program (Section 402 of the Clean Water Act) controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters. US EPA has approved the Water Board's program to issue NPDES permits.