Stormwater Program
Stormwater runoff regulation in the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board (Santa Ana Water Board) is enforced by the General Stormwater Unit and the Municipal Stormwater Unit. The Municipal Stormwater Unit administers the Phase I and Phase II municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permits and the Caltrans MS4 Permit programs for the entire Region. The General Stormwater Unit administers the Industrial General Permit, the Construction General Permit, and the Scrap Metal Permit programs for the entire Region.
The units regulate pollution in stormwater and non-stormwater discharges to waters of the U.S., including storm drains, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and the ocean. The Clean Water Act requires the State/Regional Boards to regulate the discharge of stormwater from many sources. For the Phase I MS4 program, these sources included large (population greater than 250,000) and medium (population from 100,000 to 250,000) sized municipalities, most industrial sites, and construction activities on one acre or more. For the Phase II program, this includes public universities, large state and federal institutions, and certain state parks.
Stormwater permits implement the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, statewater quality control plans and the Region’s Basin Plan. The Basin Plan implements Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) The stormwater permits implement those parts of TMDLs where a discharger of stormwater has been identified as a source of the pollutant causing the impairment and has been assigned a waste load allocation.
Stormwater permits are issued on a statewide basis or a regional basis and are enforced by the local regional board. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued two General Permits (Stormwater Industrial General Permit and Stormwater Construction General Permit) to address most of the industrial facilities and the construction sites within California. In addition, the SWRCB issued two state-wide Municipal Permits, the Caltrans MS4 Permit and the Phase II MS4 Permit. These General Permits are available at the SWRCB's Stormwater Website.
The Santa Ana Water Board adopted a sector-specific General Permit for stormwater discharges from certain industrial facilities identified by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code 5093, specifically identifying metal scrap recyclers (excluding recycling facilities that only receive recyclable materials where no processes are performed on the metal scrap other than sorting, compaction, storage and transport).
The Santa Ana Water Board has also issued a TMDL-specific permit for the cities of Claremont and Pomona, Order No. R8-2013-0043, NPDES Permit No. CA8000410. This Order implements the Bacterial Indicator TMDL for the Middle Santa Ana River watershed.
Information on the Statewide stormwater permits may be obtained at the SWRCB's Stormwater Website. For information on facilities covered by individual permits issued by the Santa Ana Water Board or to review the files for the facilities covered either by the General Permits or by individual permits, please contact the file review desk at FileReview8@waterboards.ca.gov. Information can also be obtained through public user menu for the Stormwater Multiple Application and Report Tracking System (SMARTS).
The Santa Ana Water Board has issued three MS4 permits to the three counties (Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino) and all the incorporated cities within the jurisdiction of this Board. Santa Ana Water Board staff is developing a draft Regional MS4 Permit to replace the three permits. Specific information about the stormwater programs at the Santa Ana Water Board can be found in the other tabs.
