I attended the June 2022 Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting remotely.  The board is currently supporting hybrid meeting attendance, though there are occasional technical glitches with the remote access

 

My meeting notes, the agenda, the Executive Officer (EO) Report (which includes an interesting item about recycled water), and the tentative order for the Marinwood Plaza site cleanup  are attached.  

 

There were several highlights from this meeting.  

 

• The statewide drought remains a topic of concern, and the State Board liaison gave an update on the state’s drought-related actions.
• Board chair Jim McGrath mentioned the Alameda Creek Fish Ladder grand opening, and several members mentioned the significant accomplishment by Alameda County Water District to complete this complicated, long-time project.
• Updated site cleanup requirements were issued for Marinwood Plaza in San Rafael.  This location has been an issue of concern for approximately 20 years, and the board has issued additional requirements and compliance deadlines to get this cleanup project completed.  If there are Marin County readers of this report, this item may be particularly relevant.

I attended the March 2022 Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting remotely.  My meeting notes, the agenda, and the Executive Officer (EO) Report for this meeting are attached.  

 

This was a short meeting.  The RWQCB and the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies (BACWA, the municipal wastewater agencies) jointly received a national award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), for working collaboratively to change some permit requirements in a way that will use less chemicals, cost less, and be beneficial to the environment, all at the same time. This is a great example for other organizations nationwide, especially since many think that California regulatory agencies are always heavy-handed.  

 

The East Bay Dischargers Authority (a subset of Bay Area wastewater agencies) and NACWA announced a 5,000 scholarship focusing on non-male people of color, who are currently under-represented in the clean water profession.  They encourage publicity for this scholarship, the Bruce Wolfe Memorial Scholarship.  Here’s the link for the scholarship information: https://ebda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-CASA-Ed-Foundation-Scholarships-Flyer.pdf

 

There were two uncontested permits, and an interesting information item about planning stream projects for communities with flood damages.

 

The RWQCB plans to return to in-person meetings in April.  They are unsure if their hybrid meeting technology will be fully in place for that meeting.

 

 

I attended the December 2021 Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting remotely.  My meeting notes, the agenda, and the Executive Officer (EO) Report for this meeting are also attached.  The items about the Turk Island landfill (Union city) and the Lower Walnut Creek restoration project in the EO report are particularly interesting.  There were several additional documents with more details about individual items, so I can forward those also if anyone wants that background information.

 

This meeting was in mid-December, during the rainy period that month, and some notes reflect that period.  Highlights from the December meeting include:

• The State Water Resources Control Board liaison noted that the drought continues, and the state requests 15% water savings.
• The state is also working on a technical approach for micro-plastics, and are developing testing for these plastics in drinking water sources.
• The Infrastructure Act will provide a significant amount of money for water, wastewater, and stormwater projects in the Bay Area.
• A Tesoro refinery in Martinez has converted from diesel to recycled diesel.  This is very new technology, and the project will be monitored closely to develop a technology-based wastewater discharge permit.  This facility is using material that was formerly a waste, and turning it into usable product.
• There was information and an update to the Cease and Desist Order for CalTrans for their trash controls (keeping trash out of waterways).  This is a long-term project with full compliance not anticipated until 2030.
• Staff gave updates about a wide range of projects and priorities for the RWQCB’s watershed/stormwater programs, wastewater discharge permits, and groundwater programs.

Highlights from the November meeting include:

• The State Water Resources Control Board liaison noted that October rains bought some time regarding the drought.  However, recent conservation statewide has been only 5% statewide, and 9% in the Bay Area, although 15% conservation was requested by the Governor.
• The state now has requirements in place for recycled water from wastewater treatment plants, with indirect potable reuse in the works.
• The state is cutting checks for water agencies to make up for customers in billing arrears due to Covid.  Checks for wastewater agencies will follow.
• Legislation has authorized looking at micro-plastics in drinking water.  There are many technical issues, such as getting reliable lab tests for micro-plastics.
• Funding from the federal infrastructure bill will change their work for years.  There is $24 million for SF Bay in this bill, which will have a significant impact.  Board members discussed ways to ensure shovel-ready and collaborative projects are ready to compete well for these funds.
• The Board issued a Clean-up and Abatement to the City and County of San Francisco for sewer overflows to the streets from SF’s combined wastewater and stormwater system.  San Francisco has agreed not to appeal this order, and the Regional Board will not issue further enforcement on this issue.
• The important triennial review of the Basin Plan was discussed and approved.  This updated plan lays out priorities for projects for the next 3 years, including a climate change and wetlands policy update, designation of tribal and subsistence fishing beneficial uses, and 3 other projects noted in my attached report.
• An update on the status of PCBs in the Bay.  Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are called legacy pollutants, because they were banned in the 1970s, but remain a concern because they are still found in fish tissue and in Bay sediments.  It takes a very long time for some of these legacy pollutants to go away.

Full Observer Report

 

My report and the meeting agenda for the Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting on October 12 and 13 are attached.   Additional documents, including the Executive Officer’s report and the municipal regional stormwater permit tentative order (almost 700 pages) are available as links in the agenda.

 

The first highlight of the October meeting was an amendment of wastewater discharge requirements for municipal dischargers.  Chlorine has long been used to disinfect wastewater before it is discharged to receiving waters.  This amendment removes the “chlorine residual” limit and monitoring requirements, and eliminates the oil and grease limit and monitoring requirements.  These changes are a win for the environment and a cost-saving for the dischargers. By issuing an amendment, the change will takes place as soon as they receive EPA approval, instead of as individual permits are renewed. This item was uncontested.

 

The main item for this two full-day meeting was the workshop/hearing for the Regional Board to receive comments from stakeholders for the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit re-issuance.  The permit has been under development for about two years.  The tentative order (= draft permit) was issued in September, and written comments will be accepted until November.  They are projecting issuance of the final permit in February 2022, with implementation in July 2022.

 

This regional permit is for 79 permittees, including most cities and counties in the Bay Area, but not San Francisco because it has a combined wastewater/stormwater system.  Most of the co-permittees work together within each county to coordinate as many compliance requirements as possible, such as outreach, sampling, and some reporting.  RWQCB staff gave presentations on several aspects of the permit.  Trash and roadway pollution controls were discussed extensively, and legacy pollutants such as PCBs and mercury were highlighted.  They also mentioned “urban slobber,” the gunk that leaks from dumpsters and many other sources and goes directly to storm drains.

 

Stakeholders spoke at the hearing, and some will also give written comments.

• Dischargers (cities and counties) are concerned about time frames, increased monitoring requirements, the administrative burden, and increased costs.  They want reasonable requirements and more time for some requirements.
• Environmental groups said the permit goes backwards regarding water quality, and want monitoring requirements at least as robust as other areas of the state.
• EPA is generally supportive of the permit, recognizes that it will increase costs for permittees, and wants to be a funding partner for green infrastructure.
• A public commenter said dischargers want to loosen requirements, and that the draft permit is a good starting point.

 

There was no RWQCB Meeting in August. The EO mentioned the following items from his August report during the Sept meeting.  

Highlights from the July meeting include:

 

Highlights from this meeting were:

 

• There was extensive discussion about the drought, the rapidly changing conditions and significance of the drought, and thoughts about long-term planning and strategies regarding drought conditions.
• The Statewide Construction Stormwater Permit, which expired in 2014, has a new draft out for comment through July.
• The Board re-issued a wastewater discharge permit for Eco-Services in Martinez.  This industry operates a sulfuric acid regeneration plant for other nearby industries.  It has conducted cleanups of the adjacent wetlands as part of a longterm marsh restoration.  There is a staff report with more details about the site and the permit.

 

This was a marathon meeting with numerous important items of discussion.  Meeting highlights were:

 

• Uncontested permits were issued for the Livermore-Amador Valley Water Management Agency, the City of Petaluma’s Ellis Creek Water Recycling and Collection System Facility, and the General Permit for filter backwash from drinking water facilities.
• An individual permit and a Cease and Desist Order were issued for the Stevens Creek Quarry in Cupertino.  Extensive presentations and discussion took place to move this facility from the general stormwater permit to an individual permit and enforcement with a time schedule for compliance.  There was also public comment on this facility, which discharges through a creek to Stevens Creek Reservoir.
• There was a staff and board discussion about groundwater management in the Bay Region, focusing on prioritizing specific basins and water quality issues. One of these basins is the Niles Cone, which is managed by the Alameda County Water District. They also talked about indirect potable reuse, which is discharge of highly treated wastewater into groundwater basins.  No permit applications for this type of reuse have been submitted, but it is an area of interest.  I can also send you the 14-page staff report on this topic if you would like it.
• Staff gave an update on the status of PCBs in the bay.  PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are legacy pollutants and suspected carcinogens that have not been used in this area since 1980, and there have been cleanup projects for them ever since.  Staff has prioritized PCB sites and is continuing to focus on major projects, including the old Oakland Army Base.  

 

April meeting highlights were:

• The state and regional boards are increasing their focus on trash in waterways, including requirements and offsets for cities who are dealing with trash as a growing problem.
• The Board approved a resolution authorizing the Chair to establish, as needed, hearing panels of a smaller group of board members regarding administrative civil liabilities.
• The director of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership presented information on the in-progress update of the Estuary Blueprint, looking forward on activities over the next five years to get to 2050 goals for the SF Estuary.  This is a forward-thinking, collaborative project among many stakeholders. 
• There were no contested items at this meeting.

Agenda

 

Highlights from the meeting include:

 

• The RWQCB meeting included several items highlighting climate change and rising water levels in SF Bay, and a focus on metrics for decision-making.
• An issue of local interest was mentioned in the public forum.  A speaker said that an arroyo of Alameda Creek had been diverted.  The chair asked staff for an update (probably at next meeting.
• The chair met with East Bay Regional Parks, and mentioned a diversion to improve Alameda Creek (this was an oral statement with no more info).  This bears watching. 
• Issues of interest regarding authority and process for Board actions were delegation of Mandatory Minimum Penalties to the Executive Officer rather than requiring Board action, and a general discussion on enforcement panels by a subcommittee of the board with full board action to follow.
• Also noteworthy, but not highlighted in the meeting discussion, are two items in the Executive Officer’s Report:
• The extensive information about the Cal-Trans Trash Control Workplan.  This item was also mentioned in the Public Forum part of the meeting.
• An update on mercury and PCB loads in wastewater.

Agenda