Proposed Basin Plan Amendment—Freshwater Water Quality objectives, Dilution Credits, and Mercury Triggers

Background:

Water Board staff has proposed several changes to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay Basin (Basin Plan) to 1) correct errors in freshwater objective calculation formulas for selected metals to be consistent with the California Toxics Rule (CTR) or National Toxics Rule (NTR), from where these objectives originate; 2) clarify that additional applicable policy and guidance documents beyond the State Implementation Policy (SIP) may be based on when developing dilution credits for non-priority pollutants; 3) allow establishment of alternative cyanide dilution credits and mercury concentration triggers to reflect changes in wastewater treatment operations that implement water recycling projects or use new materials in industrial production process, and 4) general cleanup, for example, add clarifications, update obsolete information, and improve document formatting.

Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center (Photo courtesy of Valleywater.org)

San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board Adoption Process

We are currently seeking public input on the proposed changes.

The Public Notice and the draft Staff Report, which includes a description of the proposed changes, the rational for the proposed changes, a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analyses, a discussion on the consistency of the proposed amendment with federal and state antidegradation policies and antibacksliding requirements, and a CEQA environmental checklist, which serves in its entirety as a substitute CEQA environmental document, can be found here.

The Public notice will also be published on the XXXX, 2023 San Francisco Chronicle, and the XXXX, 2023 San Jose Mercury News, in the legal advertisement section.

The Regional Water Board plans to consider a resolution approving this Basin Plan amendment at its December 14, 2023 Board meeting (agenda will be available a week before the meeting date).

Basin Plan Amendment Approval Process

After the Regional Water Board adoption of the Basin Plan amendment, the Basin Plan amendment will need state Water Resources Control Board, Office of Administrative and Law, and U.S. EPA review and approval, for the proposed changes to be incorporated into the Basin Plan. Information on each step will be provided along the process.

Other Related Resources

Subscribe to Our Mailing List

The Regional Water Board maintains email notification lists. To ensure you receive future information on this and other Basin Plan amendments, please subscribe to the “All Basin Planning/TMDL” under “Basin Planning/TMDLs.” The instructions for subscribing to the list are provided on the subscription page, which you can reach by clicking here.

For more information contact:
Tong Yin, Ph.D., P.E.
Water Resource Control Engineer
San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 622-2418
E-mail: Tong.Yin@waterboards.ca.gov

(Page last updated 8/31/23)

Water is a precious resource in California, and maintaining its quality is of utmost importance to safeguard the health of the public and the environment.

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