The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2013-14

MEASUREMENTS  - Data Last Updated on: 

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

The number of municipal waste facilities with a permit past the recommended review date is relatively high compared to total number of municipal wastewater facilities regulated under the program. Although 222 permits need to be reviewed or updated, only 17 individual permits (Waste Discharge Requirements) were updated reissued during fiscal year 13-14. The backlog of reviewed permits varies among the different regional boards.

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Large Municipal facilities regulated under individual Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) typically represent a greater threat to water quality and greater complexity. 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 The State Legislature has found that many WDRs are out of date and therefore do not reflect existing laws, regulations, and revised Water Quality Control Plans.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 requirements.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Data Source: CIWQS. Period July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014.
• Unit of Measure: Number of active large municipal facilities regulated under an individual WDR during FY 13-14.
• Data Definitions:Permits updated during FY 13-14: review/adoption date between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Permits Current: permits not expired and not adopted/updated in FY 13-14. Permits Expired: permits with an expiration date before June 30, 2014.
• References: Information on the Water Boards’ WDR - NON15 program
  Public Reports and Data
  Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Information

GLOSSARY

Large Municipal Facilities

Facilities discharging municipal waste serving a population equivalent to 1,000 people and with a design flow of greater than 100,000 gallons a day. This group only includes those facilities regulated with individual Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR).

Municipal Sources

Facilities that treat sewage or a mixture of predominantly sewage and other waste from districts, municipalities, communities, hospitals, schools, and publicly or privately owned systems (excluding individual surface leaching systems disposing of less than 1,000 gallons per day).

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.

Review/Update Actions

The Waste Discharge Requirements WDRs are to be reviewed according to a schedule based upon their TTWQ Category as follows: TTWQ 1= Every 5 years, TTWQ 2= Every 10 years and TTWQ 3= Every 15 years. TTWQ 1 has the highest priority. There are three possible actions which may result from the WDR review/update process: rescission, continuance, or revision. A revision requires the issuance of a new WDR with a new adoption date. No formal Regional Board action is required to continue WDRs without change. A memorandum signed by the Regional Board Executive Officer (EO), documenting that the review concluded that the existing WDR is appropriate and that no changes are necessary at this time, is placed in the WDR file.

( Page last updated:  10/22/14 )