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Outcome of recent water quality events to shape California development

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 30, 2008 at 7:08 am

From the California Real Estate Journal:

Development in California could become more difficult depending on the outcome of recent events concerning water-quality regulation.

An ongoing court battle has the potential to reshape storm water regulation entirely. Pending renewal, the statewide construction storm water permit contains proposed provisions that could dramatically raise the cost of construction and even affect feasibility. Pressure to regulate the design of projects through local storm drain permits continues to squeeze the industry.

In August, a trial court handed down a rare victory for the regulated community to several Los Angeles-area cities and the Building Industry Association in the case of City of Arcadia v. State Water Resources Control Board. The court’s ruling would force the Los Angeles Water Board to revise all of its water-quality standards applicable to storm water to make them more reasonable and achievable economically.

Basin Plans, akin to General Plans for water, contain water-quality standards which identify the beneficial uses of waterbodies (i.e., fishing or swimming) and establish the maximum amount of pollutants that can be present in the waterbodies. Water-quality standards provide the base for water-quality regulation. Permits incorporate the standards, and several other regulatory programs are tied to maintaining the standards in local waters.

Revision of the standards, per the court’s order, will affect all businesses, developments and construction projects with permits in L.A. and Ventura counties as well as county citizens through programs applied to public storm drains and other regulatory vehicles. If the Los Angeles Water Board revises the standards to consider the statutory factors, some of the strict limitations placed on flows to local waters (e.g., zero trash even during flood events) could be modified, making permit limits more attainable.