Waste Discharge Requirements for Wastewater, Waste Residuals, & Recycled Water

The Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) Program regulates all discharges of waste to land.  Waste discharge requirements adopted under the WDR Program protect surface water by either prohibiting discharge of a pollutant to waters of the U.S. or prescribing requirements for discharge to surface waters that are not waters of the U.S., and they protect groundwater by prescribing waste containment, treatment, and control requirements. The WDR program, also known as the Non-Chapter 15 Permitting, Surveillance and Enforcement Program, is a mandated program issuing WDRs to regulate the discharge of municipal, industrial, commercial and other wastes to land that will or have the potential to affect groundwater.

Section 13260(a) of the California Water Code requires that any person discharging waste or proposing to discharge waste within any region, other than to a community sewer system, that could affect the quality of the waters of the State, must file a report of waste discharge. All waste discharge requirements issued by the Regional Water Board include self-monitoring programs requiring the waste discharger to collect pertinent water quality data and to submit it to the Regional Water Board for evaluation of compliance with waste discharge requirements.

WDRs are written for a specific discharger (individual WDRs) or to regulate a similar group of dischargers (general WDRs). In recent years, the Program staff has also used conditional waivers, which may be used to regulate those discharges that have the lowest threat to water quality. WDRs and waivers issued in the North Coast Region can be viewed on the Adopted Orders Page.

    Waste Classification

    Section 13260(a) of the California Water Code requires that any person discharging waste or proposing to discharge waste within any region, other than to a community sewer system, that could affect the quality of the waters of the State, must file a report of waste discharge. This report must outline the types of wastes to be discharged in order to determine appropriate waste management unit design, operation, monitoring, closure and post closure maintenance requirements. The first step in obtaining Waste Discharge Requirement is determining the classification of wastes discharged to land according to risk they pose to water quality, and determine appropriate waste management options. This link provides a conceptual framework for waste classification and determination of waste management options

    The WDR program does not regulate facilities that do not:

    • Require full containment (which falls under the Land Disposal Program)
    • Involve confined animal facilities (Which falls under the Dairy Program)
    • Involve Forsestry Management Practices (Which falls under the Forestry Activities Program)
    • Discharge pollutants to a surface water of the United States (which falls under the NPDES Program), but does include discharges to surface waters not subject to the NPDES Program. Each point of potential release of waste constituents, whether a feature for waste storage, treatment, disposal, or recycling, must be evaluated separately to determine under what program it must be regulated.

Resources and Other Documents

none at this time