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Staff Report -2— Waiver 2Waiver of WDRs for Small Food Processors Public Input On 25 March 2003, staff sent a letter to over 400 industry groups, individuals, and interested persons, advising them that a waiver of waste discharge requirements was under preparation and soliciting input on certain items, including the winery size to which the waiver should apply,waste disposal methods which are protective of water quality, and the submittal of a RWD, filing fee, and annual reports. Seven responses were received. Two individuals stated that wastewater from 5,000-6,000 cases of wine per year could be discharged to septic tanks without any adverse impacts. However,this analysis was made based on flow only, not the strength of the waste or depth to groundwater. Three individuals advocated the discharge of wastewater to land as a method to protect water quality, one individual asked that staff follow the direction of the Central Coast Regional Board, and one individual believes that very small wineries produce a low strength waste. On 9 May 2003,the draft waiver was sent to the same 400+person mailing list. Interested persons were provided with a 30 day public comment period, 20 days longer than required by the California Water Code. Staff received 14 comment letters.This staff report describes the changes that were made to the waiver in response to the comments, and the remaining issues. On 24 June 2003, the agenda package, containing the draft revised waiver, will be sent to the entire mailing list. As described in the Notice of Public Hearing, additional written comments will be considered if submitted prior to 8:30 a.m. on 7 July 2003. Any interested person may also provide comments directly to the Regional Board during the hearing to consider adoption of this waiver on I 1 July 2003. Rationale for Specific Components of the Waiver Size Limitation for Wineries Applying Wastewater to Land Staff has carefully considered the size limitation for wineries presented in this Order. Staff have determined that it is not appropriate to use the 1,500 case (approximately 20 tons grapes crushed) limit developed by San Joaquin County to define"boutique"wineries, as the regulations surrounding this limit apply to issues unrelated to wastewater discharge. Staff has reviewed the Central Coast Regional Board's General WDRs for discharges of winery waste, adopted in November 2002. This General Order specifies that a"small"winery may receive a waiver of WDRs if(a)they crush less than 80 tons of grapes or produce less than 5,000 cases of wine annually, (b)provide proof that depth to groundwater at the disposal area is greater than 100 feet(for septic tank/leachfield disposal of waste), (c)provide proof that depth to groundwater is greater than 20 feet if wastewater is incorporated into the vineyard irrigation water and applied at agronomic rates, (d)provide written certification of the intent to comply with the General WDRs, and (e) receive a written notice from the Executive Officer that WDRs have been waived. While Central Valley staff would prefer prescribing a winery size limitation based on the actual annual volume of wastewater produced, we understand that this would require that winery owners install flow meters and periodically record the results. While that is an appropriate cost for the larger facilities covered by WDRs, it may not be necessary for the smallest facilities. Therefore, staff considered a size limitation based on either cases of wine produced or tons of grapes crushed. Neither approach is ideal,as some wineries crush their grapes and then sell bulk wine to other facilities. A limit based on cases of wine produced would not account for the excess wastewater