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STAFF REPORT • • 13 MUSCO FAMILY OLIVE COMPANY AND THE STUDLEY COMPANY CONSIDERATION OF WDRS AND A C&A ORDER 6 September 2002 Regional Board Agenda Therefore, the Board is asked to consider a companion Cleanup and Abatement Order. The C&A provides a time schedule for Musco to reduce the TDS and sodium in its effluent. Musco must meet the effluent limitations within two years. Staff expect that the final background water quality values, and hence the final effluent limitations, will be less than the interim values. Therefore, once the final background water quality study is completed, it is expected that Musco will need to further reduce the salt in its effluent beyond what is currently required by the C&A. Request for Water Reclamation Requirements One final issue is Musco's request that the Regional Board should consider Musco's discharge under the "Water Recycling Law",beginning with Section 13500 of the Water Code. This request was contained in the Discharger's 8 August 2002 Comments to the Tentative Waste Discharge Requirements. Musco believes that its wastewater should be declared "reclaimed water" and as such, water reclamation requirements, not waste discharge requirements, should be issued. Musco further states "a Regional Board may not deny issuance of water reclamation requirements to a project which violates only a salinity standard in a basin plan." Staff have considered this issue and have consulted with the State Board Office of Chief Counsel. It is our understanding that it is not appropriate to regulate Musco's discharge under the Water Recycling Law and that the appropriate vehicle for regulation is these waste discharge requirements. Although not expressly described in the this section of the California Water Code, "recycled water" typically applies to domestic wastewater which is treated to an extent that it can be beneficially reused, replacing a use of potable water. Musco's wastewater does not meet either of these criteria. First, the discharge is industrial wastewater, with no domestic component. Section 13523 of the CWC states that water reclamation requirements are to be established in conformance with the uniform statewide recycling criteria established by the California Department of Health Services (DHS). These criteria are found in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. Section 60302 of Title 22 states that"the requirements in this chapter shall only apply to recycled water from sources that contain domestic waste, in whole or part." Therefore, Title 22 does not apply to Musco's waste stream, and it is inappropriate to issue water reclamation requirements in lieu of waste discharge requirements. In regard to CWC Section 13523.5, the salinity standard does not apply to waste discharge requirements. A 7 February 1985 memorandum from the Office of Chief Counsel to the Executive Officer of the San Diego Regional Board concludes that CWC Section 13523.5 "does not create an exception to a Regional Board's responsibility to implement the applicable basin plan through waste discharge requirements." In addition, CWC Section 13527(b)provides that "Nothing in this chapter prevents the appropriate regional board from establishing waste discharge requirements if a discharge is involved." Therefore,waste discharge requirements are both appropriate and necessary for this discharge. RECOMMENDATION Staff have spent many hours working with Musco to bring its discharge into compliance with the existing WDRs. Staff have also spent many hours analyzing Musco's RWD to determine if it can discharge its existing waste stream in a manner that will not result in surface water spills,