SU0013917 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Information Sheet IS-12 Reissued Waste Discharge Requirements General Order R5-2013-0122 Existing Milk Cow Dairies limits (i.e., the quality needed to support all of the beneficial uses), then the water is considered a "high-quality water." If the receiving water is not a high-quality water for all of the COCs, then the State Anti-Degradation Policy does not apply. Step 5: The Board determines whether the discharge will degrade the receiving water. The Board makes this determination by comparing the information contained in the discharger's ROWD or other applicable information with the baseline water quality. If the discharge will not degrade the receiving water, then the State Anti-Degradation Policy does not apply. Application of the State Anti-Degradation Policy's Requirements Step 6: If the discharge will degrade a high-quality water, then the State Anti-Degradation Policy requires the Board to prescribe requirements that will result in the best practicable treatment or control (BPTC) of the wastes in the discharge. BPTC is an evolving concept that takes into account changes in the technological feasibility of deploying new or improved treatment or control methodologies, new scientific insights regarding the effect of pollutants, and the economic realities that regulated industries face. Because this concept evolves over time, standard industry practices that are considered BPTC today may not be considered BPTC in the future. And though "practicality" limits the extent to which a discharger must implement expensive treatment or control measures, the Board must ultimately ensure that discharges do not cause pollution or nuisance, thereby protecting those who rely on the quality of groundwater and surface waters. Neither the Water Code nor the State Anti-Degradation Policy defines the term "best practicable treatment or control." However, the State Water Board has stated that "one factor to be considered in determining BPTC would be the water quality achieved by other similarly situated dischargers, and the methods used to achieve that water quality." (See Order WQ 2000-07, at pp. 10-11). Furthermore, in a "Questions and Answers" document for Resolution 68-16 (the Questions and Answers Document), BPTC is interpreted to include: "[A] comparison of the proposed method to existing proven technology; evaluation of performance data (through treatability studies); comparison of alternative methods of treatment or control, and consideration of methods currently used by the discharger or similarly situated dischargers." Though the Board is prohibited from specifying the design, location, type of construction, or particular manner in which a discharger may comply with a requirement, order, or decree (Wat. Code § 13360.), the Board can still compare the treatment or control practices that a discharger has described in its ROWD to the treatment or control practices employed by similarly-situated dischargers in order to make a BPTC determination. (State Water Board Order WQ 2000-7.) Furthermore, "practicability" dictates that the Board consider the costs associated with the treatment or control measures that are proposed in the ROWD. Step 7: The State Anti-Degradation Policy also requires that the Board consider whether the degradation authorized in a permit is "consistent with the maximum benefit to people of the state." For discharges subject to the federal Clean Water Act, it is only after"intergovernmental coordination and public participation" and a determination that"allowing lower water quality is