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REGIONAL WATER BOARD RESPONSE (SWRCB/OCC File A-1846(a) and A-1846(b)) -26- <br /> PETITIONS FOR REVIEW OF Wj DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS <br /> ORDER NO. R5-2007-0036 (NPDEs NO. CA0079154) AND f <br /> TIME SCHEDULE ORDER NO. R5-2007-0037 <br /> CITY OF TRACY, WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT <br /> schedules and interim effluent limitations established in Order No. R5-2007-0036 are illegal <br /> and must be removed. <br /> The SIP is the governing policy in California for implementing the CTR and it allows <br /> compliance schedules. USEPA approved the section of=the SIP concerning compliance <br /> schedules. The SIP allows compliance schedules that are short as practicable but in no case <br /> (1) allows a discharger more than 5 years to come into compliance with CTR-based effluent <br /> limitations and (2) allows the compliance schedule to extend beyond 10 years from the <br /> effective date of the SIP (18 May 2000) to establish and comply with CTR-based effluent <br /> limitations. EPA approved the SIP provisions allowing compliance schedules through <br /> 18 May 2010 for effluent limitations based on CTR criteria. (Letter, dated 1 May 2001, from <br /> Alexis Strauss, Water Division Director, EPA, to Edward C. Anton, former Acting Executive <br /> Director, State Water Board.) <br /> The Order, therefore, includes a time schedule to comply with CTR-based effluent limitations <br /> by 18 May 2010 (i.e., 10 years from SIP effective date). In addition, the Order requires the <br /> discharger to (1) provide a justification for the compliance schedule in accordance with Section <br /> 2.1 of the SIP, (2) comply with interim effluent limitations (as required by the SIP), and (3) <br /> submit quarterly progress reports. <br /> CSPA — CONTENTION U: The Regional Boards' Approach To Compliance Schedules Is <br /> Unlawful under the CWA. CSPA comments that the Regional Water Board does not <br /> have authority under the Clean Water Act to include compliance schedules in NPDES <br /> permits for water quality based effluent limits. Clean Water Act section 301(b)(1)(C) <br /> establishes a deadline of 1 July 1977, even for new standards established after that <br /> deadline. The Clean Water Act only allows compliance schedules in limited <br /> circumstances. Effluent limitations may not be less stringent than required by the <br /> Clean Water Act. <br /> CSPA is correct that in most circumstances the Regional Water Board may not include <br /> compliance schedules in NPDES permits. In general, an NPDES permit must include final <br /> effluent limitations that are consistent with Clean Water Act section 301 and with 40 CFR <br /> 122.44(d). There are exceptions to this general rule. The State Water Board has concluded <br /> that where the Regional Water Board's Basin Plan allows for schedules of compliance and the <br /> Regional Water Board is newly interpreting a narrative standard to require more stringent <br /> limits, it may include schedules of compliance in the permit to meet effluent limits that <br /> implement the narrative standard. (See, In the Matter of Waste Discharge Requirements for <br /> Avon Refinery (State Board Order WQ 2001-06 at pp. 53-55: see also, Communities for a <br /> Better Environment et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board (2005) 132 Cal.AppAth <br /> 1313, 1334-1335.) The Basin Plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers includes a <br /> provision that authorizes the use of compliance schedules in NPDES permits for water quality <br /> objectives that are adopted after the date of adoption of the Basin Plan, which was 25 <br /> September 1995 (See Basin Plan at page IV-16). Consistent with the State Water Board's <br /> Order in the CBE matter, the Regional Water Board has the discretion to include compliance <br />