Regulation of Timber Harvest and Vegetation Management Projects in the Lahontan Region

Overview

The Forest Activities Program of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) addresses nonpoint source (NPS) discharges associated with the use of our forested landscapes.  Forest use activities with the potential to discharge sediment and remove stream shading primarily include: timber harvesting, fuels management, vegetation management, salvage logging and post-fire impacts, road construction and road reconstruction. Regulating potential water quality impacts from these forest use activities is consistent with the abundance of timber, precipitation, water resources, sensitive geologies, and threatened and endangered species in the Lahontan Region.

Our forested watersheds are of significant economic importance, providing a source of water supply, timber, fisheries, and recreational use, while supporting a diverse array of both terrestrial and aquatic species, including several threatened and endangered species. Potential impacts from land disturbing activities in our forests include sediment discharges from felling trees; yarding and hauling of logs; road construction and reconstruction; watercourse crossing construction, reconstruction, or removal; herbicide applications; and road use and maintenance. Impacts to stream temperature can result from removal of vegetation providing shade to streams.  These activities can impact the beneficial uses of water by: 1) silting over fish spawning habitats; 2) clogging drinking water intakes; 3) filling in pools creating shallower, wider, and warmer streams, and increasing downstream flooding; 4) creating unstable stream channels; 5) losing riparian habitat and function; and 6) increasing stream temperatures and 7) increasing the turbidity of streams and lakes.

Some forest use activities have the potential to positively affect the beneficial uses of our surface waters. Timber harvesting and fuels reduction operations provide an opportunity to decommission replace or reconstruct legacy roads which are frequent sources of chronic sediment inputs to surface waters. Fuels reduction projects can assist in reducing wildfire severity and thus can reduce post-fire sediment discharges. Salvage logging operations in the post fire environment have the potential to reduce erosion and sediment discharge when carefully implemented.  Mitigation and restoration work can provide opportunities for addressing legacy erosion sites and removal of fish migration barriers. 

Applicability

The Lahontan Timber Waiver applies to vegetation management projects that range from homeowner defensible space operations to local Fire Protection Districts' community protection plans, to large Wildland Urban Interface projects proposed by the CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation, the BLM, and the USFS. Commercial timber harvest conducted by small landowners, industrial timber companies, and the USFS and BLM are also covered under the Timber Waiver categories.

The Timber Waiver structures the enrollment conditions and implementation and monitoring requirements based on levels of increasing potential risk to water quality. The primary impacts to water quality from timber harvesting are sedimentation from disturbed land and solar/thermal heating of surface waters after vegetation is removed.  The Timber Waiver provides non-notifying permit coverage for defensible space and some forest health projects to support community protection and wildfire resilience as California works to address the ongoing wildfire crisis fueled by climate change and a legacy of poor forestry practices.  Forestry Program staff can verify the applicability of non-notifying coverage for your project, staff are available to discuss project specific activities, site setting and the associated requirements; contact information is provided at the bottom of this page.

For commercial logging projects the State of CA has developed a Review Team process that involves the Water Boards, the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, the CA Department of Conservation, and CALFire. The Review Team process satisfies the California Environmental Quality Act requirements, and CALFire is the lead agency.

2024 Timber Waiver

On August 20, 2024, the Water Board adopted Board Order No. R6-2024-0035, which waives waste discharge requirements for discharges resulting from timber harvest and vegetation management activities in the Lahontan Region (2024 Timber Waiver).

• The 2024 Timber Waiver

The Scope of Coverage section of the 2024 Timber Waiver is presented on page 3 and a summary of Timber Waiver categories is presented as Table 1 of the 2024 Timber Waiver, located on page 13 and 14 of the Order.

PLEASE NOTE: The 2014 Timber Waiver (Board Order No. R6T-2014-0030) and the 2019 renewal (Board Order No. R6T-2019-0240) was replaced by the 2024 Timber Waiver on April 20, 2024. If your ongoing project is still enrolled under the 2014 Timber Waiver, you are automatically enrolled under the 2024 Timber Waiver and subject to the requirements and conditions of the 2024 Timber Waiver.

Some previously enrolled projects may qualify for enrollment under a lower category of coverage based on the new category specific eligibility criteria and conditions of the 2024 Timber Waiver.  To request a change in the category of coverage for your project, please perform the following actions:

1. Review the general conditions, eligibility criteria and category specific conditions for the requested category of coverage in the 2024 Timber Waiver.
2. Prepare and submit the Material Change and Amendment Form (Attachment R), indicate the new category of coverage requested and describe specific project activities and site settings that meet the requirements of the requested category.
3. In your email submittal of Attachment R, please indicate your availability to accompany Water Board staff on a field inspection of the subject site to support acceptance of the requested change in the category of coverage.

Attachments:

1. Findings

1. Definitions and List of Acronyms
2. Waterbody Buffer Zones
3. Category 4 Application Form and Monitoring and Reporting Program
4. Category 4 Implementation Monitoring Form
5. Category 4 and 6 Daily Winter Period Monitoring Program (No longer in use)
6. Category 5 Application Form and Monitoring and Reporting Program
7. Fall Implementation Monitoring Form (Category 5 & 6)
8. Winter Implementation Monitoring Form (Category 4, 5 & 6)
9. Forensic Monitoring Form (Category 5 & 6)
10. Effectiveness Monitoring Form (Category 5 & 6)
11. Category 6 Application Form and Monitoring and Reporting Program
12. Photo-Point Monitoring Form
13. Notice of Activity Completion Form
14. Waste Discharge Prohibition Information for Activities in 100-Year Floodplains of the Truckee River or Little Trucker River Hydrologic Units, or Stream Environment Zones and 100-Year Floodplains of the Lake Tahoe Hydrologic Unit
15. USFS Monitoring and Reporting Program (No longer in use)
16. Summary of Monitoring and Reporting Required for Categories 4, 5, and 6
17. Requirements for Pile Burning within SEZs
18. Material Change and Amendment Form
19. Expedited Enrollment Notification Form

California Environmental Quality Act Environmental Review

Water Board staff prepared an Initial Study/ Mitigated Negative Declaration to analyze and disclose potential environmental impacts associated with adopting the Timber Waiver in 2009.  Staff reviewed updates to the Lahontan Timber Waiver in 2014 and 2024 pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and prepared addendums for each update to analyze new Timber Waiver environmental impacts.  This analysis indicates that management practices required by both the 2014 and 2024 Timber Waiver result in environmental impacts which are less than significant.

• Initial Study with attachments and late revisions
• Notice of Determination

Questions about this Policy?

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