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STORM WATER REGULATION In 1972, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA), was amended to provide that the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source is effectively prohibited, unless the discharge is in compliance with an NPDES permit. The 1987 amendments to the CWA added Section 402(p) which establishes a framework for regulating municipal and industrial storm water discharges under the NDPES program. On November 16, 1990, EPA published final regulations that establish application requirements for storm water permits. The regulations require owners or operators of specific categories of industrial facilities (dischargers) which discharge storm water associated with industrial activity (industrial storm water) to obtain an NPDES permit. Discharge of industrial storm water either directly to surface waters or indirectly, through municipal separate storm sewers„ must be covered by a permit. This includes the discharge of "sheet flow" through a drainage system or other conveyance. The regulations allow authorized states to issue either general permits or individual permits to regulate industrial storm water discharges. The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) has elected to issue a statewide general permit that applies to all discharges requiring a permit except construction activity discharges and industrial storm water discharges in Santa Clara County. Separate general permit(s) are issued for construction activity discharges. To obtain coverage under the General Permit, discharges must submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the State Board. Robertson-Ceco Corp. submitted an NOI to cover the entire Robertson-Ceco Corp. site. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System(NPDES) Program is focused on improving water quality by addressing point source and non-point source discharges to surface waters of the United States. The General Permit authorizes the discharge of industrial storm water. It prohibits non-storm water discharges unless authorized by a NPDES permit, with the exception of certain permissible discharges. Storm Water Pollution Prevention (SWPP) Plans The General Permit requires development and implementation of Storm Water Pollution Prevention (SWPP) Plans emphasizing storm water best management practices (BMPs). This approach provides the flexibility necessary to establish controls to appropriately address various sources of pollutants at different facilities. Dischargers must prepare, retain on-site, and implement a SWPP Plan. The SWPP Plan has two major objectives: (1) to help identify the sources of pollution that affect the quality of industrial storm water discharges; and (2) to describe and ensure the implementation of practices to reduce pollutants in industrial storm water discharges. Required elements of the SWPP Plans are: (1) identification and assessment of potential pollution sources and materials inventory, (2) preventive maintenance and good housekeeping procedures,