At its June 19, 2012 hearing the State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution No. 2012-0032, the Water Quality Control Policy for Siting, Design, Operation and Maintenance of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS Policy) that established statewide standards for septic systems. On April 25, 2014, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted Resolution No. R8-2014-0005 amending the Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan), in part, to incorporate State Board's 2012 OWTS Policy.
The OWTS Policy establishes a statewide, risk-based, tiered approach to the regulation and management of OWTS. It recognizes variability in local conditions by allowing local agencies to propose for approval by regional boards, a Local Agency Management Program (LAMP) under Tier 2 that would achieve the same policy purpose to protect water quality and public health.
Where a county crosses multiple regional board jurisdictions, Attachment 3 of the OWTS Policy designated a lead Regional Board for reviewing and approving the LAMP. The Santa Ana Regional Board is the lead agency for the review and approval of the LAMP for Orange County. Orange County has submitted its LAMP that covers the unincorporated areas within the county. LAMPs submitted by cities are reviewed and approved by the Regional Board with jurisdiction.
Regional Board staff provided comments to the designated regional water board leads for Riverside and San Bernardino County LAMPs applicable to areas within the Santa Ana regional board jurisdiction. Resolution R7-2016-0038 approving the LAMP for unincoporated areas of Riverside County was adopted by the Colorado River Regional Water Quality Control Board at its November 17, 2016 board meeting.
Resolution No. R6V-2014-0032 approving the LAMP for unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County was adopted by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board on July 13, 2017. The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board has received several LAMPs from cities within San Bernardino County. LAMP for Unincorporated Orange County
Comments received from Inter-Canyon League August 9, 2018 and RB8 staff response
LAMPs for Cities within San Bernardino County City of Yucaipa Local Area Management Program
Rancho Cucamonga Local Area Management Program
Below are documents containing septic tanks and minimum lot size requirements information.
Quail Valley Septic Systems
Statewide Septic Systems Policy - Onsite Wastewater Treatment System(s)
Discharge Prohibitions, Subsurface Leaching-Percolation Systems - San Bernardino County Locations
Discharge Prohibitions, Subsurface Leaching-Percolation Systems - Homeland and Surrounding Areas
A Review of the Nitrate Problems in the Ground Waters of the Santa Ana Region and Their Relationship to High Density Developments on the Septic Tank-Subsurface Disposal Systems - September 1989 document
Archived Documents
For more information, please contact Susan Beeson at (951) 782-4902.
Documents are in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf). A link to the free viewer is below
(Page last updated 8/17/18)
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