# Water 

# Boards
State Water Resources 

### Control Board
May27, 2016

Marcela von 

### Vacano U.S. 

### Environmental ProtectionAgency Office of Regional Counsel 75 

### Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 

### Vonvacano.marcelaepa.gov
Dear Ms. von Vacano: EDMUND

### a BROWN JR. GOVERNOR

<111...... MATTHEW RODRIOUEZ SECRETARY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

REVISED LETTER CONCERNING 

### APPLICABILITY OF STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD'S (STATE 

### WATER BOARD) 

### COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE POLICYTO U.S. EPA'S 

### PROPOSED SELENIUMWATER QUALITY STANDARD
The Office of Regional Counsel has informed the State 

### Water Board that the United States Environmental Protection 

### Agency (U.S. EPA) will propose a 

### water quality standards action related to 

### selenium criteria and has

### sought clarificationof theproposed 

### action's interplaywith existing state policy on 

### compliance schedules. This letter revises my letter to you dated May 20, 2016, to contain a more 

### accurate description of U.S. EPA's proposed action. The 

### fundamental conclusions remain unchanged. To date, the State 

### Water Board has hadto rely on verbal 

### descriptions ofthe proposed action, and if necessary, this analysis will be updated upon release 

### ofthe proposed action.
U.S. EPA plans to propose to rescind existing marine and estuarine selenium 

### waterquality criteria

### forthe San Francisco Bay and Delta in the National Toxics Rule 

### (promulgated at 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 131.36) and to 

### adopt new, more protective, selenium 

### water quality criteria 

### forthe San Francisco Bay and Delta by

### amending the 

### California Toxics Rule 

### (promulgated at 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 131.38). You have asked 

### whether the State 

### Water Board's Policy 

### for Compliance Schedules in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 23, § 3906; State 

### Water Board Res. No. 2008- 0025) (Compliance Schedule Policy)will 

### apply to the new selenium 

### waterquality criteria. The 

### Compliance Schedule Policywill 

### apply to National 

### Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued bythe State 

### Water Board and the regional

### waterquality control boards that 

### implementthe new selenium 

### water quality criteria if U.S. EPA adoptsthe 

### waterquality criteria as you have described.
Unless a 

### specific exception applies, the Compliance 

### Schedule Policyauthorizes compliance schedules regardless ofwhether a 

### water board or U.S. EPA established theapplicable water quality standard. The Compliance Schedule Policy:

FELICIA MARCUS, CHAIR I THOMAS HOWARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 I Mailing Address: P.O. Box 100, Sacramento, CA 95812-0100 I www.waterboards.ca.gov

CI RECYCLED PAPERMarcela von

### Vacano - 2 - May 27, 2016



### authorizes a 

### Water Board to include a 

### compliance schedule in a permitfor an existing 

### dischargerto 

### implement a new, revised, 

### or newly interpreted water quality objective or criterion in a 

### waterquality standard that results in a permit limitation more 

### stringent than the limitation 

### previously 

### imposed.... (Compliance Schedule Policy (2008), p. 3, § 2.)
A "Th]ew, revised, or newly 

### interpreted water qualityobjective or criterion in a 

### water quality standard' means a 

### waterqualityobjective orcriterion in a 

### waterquality standard 

### that is adopted, revised, or newly interpreted after the effective date ofthis 

### Policy...." (Id., p. 3, § 1(d).) The phrases "water quality objective" and "criterion in a 

### waterquality standard" are largely synonymous, with the distinction being that a

### water board 

### establishes"water qualityobjectives" pursuant to state law and U.S. EPA approves or 

### establishes criteria in 

### water quality standards as part ofthe federal Clean 

### WaterAct. (Compare Wat. Code, §§ 13050, subd. (h), 13241 with 40 C.F.R. §§ 130.2(d), 131.21.) Both are limitations crafted to 

### protect uses 

### ofwater. Because the Compliance Schedule Policy's 

### definitions do not limitthe origin 

### of a more 

### stringent permit limitation and it can derivefrom 

### either a 

### water qualityobjective or criterion in a 

### water quality standard, the Compliance Schedule Policy is available for U.S. 

### EPA-promulgated criteria unless 

### there is a 

### specificexception. Section 2 ofthe Compliance Schedule Policy includes specific exceptions to this general rule of applicability. The specific exception that relatesto

### water qualitycriteria promulgated in the 

### California Toxics Rule provides as follows: 

### Compliance schedules are not authorized underthis Policy

### for permit limitations implementing criteria promulgated in the CTR, as 

### amended (40 C.F.R. section 131.38, revised as ofJuly 1, 2005). Compliance schedules for existing CTR criteria are authorized only under the SIP. However, this Compliance Schedule Policy 

### authorizescompliance schedulesfor permit limitationsimplementing CTR criteriathat are revised bythe USEPA after the effective date ofthis Policy. (Id., p. 4, § 2(c) [emphasis in 

### original].) Thespecific exception in the 

### above-quoted paragraphdoes not 

### apply to U.S. EPA's proposal to 

### adopt new 

### seleniumwater quality criteria as part ofthe California Toxics Rule. The 

### Compliance Schedule Policy's exception

### for U.S. 

### EPA-promulgated criteria in the California 

### Toxics Rule applies only to the specific water quality criteria thatwere in the California Toxics Rule on July 1, 2005. The proposed new

### water quality criteriafor selenium were not part of the California Toxics Rule on July 1, 2005. Furthermore, thefinal sentence oftheabove-quoted paragraph confirms that the 

### Compliance Schedule Policyapplies to 

### either new or more 

### stringentwater quality criteria 

### promulgated in the 

### California Toxics Rule that are revised by U.S. EPA 

### afterthe 

### Compliance Schedule Policy's December 17, 2008 effective date. Thefinal sentence usesthe plural "criteria" rather than referring to revisions ofany individual criterion. U.S. EPA's proposed action will revise 

### California Toxics Rule criteria by including new, more protective 

### criteria 

### forselenium. These 

### revisionsto the California Toxics Rule's criteria would 

### trigger the 

### savings clause in the last 

### sentence of section2(c) and ensure thatthe 

### Compliance Schedule Policy is available for new, more 

### protective seleniumcriteria in the California Toxics Rule.Marcela von 

### Vacano - 3 - May 27, 2016

Thefact 

### that U.S. EPA 

### originally promulgated some selenium criteria in the National Toxics Rule (40 C.F.R. § 131.36) does not affectthe outcome ofthis analysis. As with the California Toxics Rule, the 

### Compliance Schedule Policy contains an 

### exception for permit limitations implementing criteria promulgated 

### forCalifornia in the National 

### Toxics Rule. 

### (Compliance Schedule Policy, p. 4, § 2(b).) Part of U.S. EPA's proposed action, though, would remove the existing, less 

### protective criteria 

### forselenium in the National

### Toxics Rule as applied to California. Since those criteria will no 

### longerexist in the National Toxics Rule if U.S. EPA

### takesthe proposed action, the 

### Compliance Schedule Policy's exception 

### for National

### Toxics Rule criteria will not apply.

Ifyou have anyquestions regarding this letter, please 

### contact Philip G. Wyels, 

### Assistant Chief Counsel, at 

### philip.wyelswaterboards.ca.govor (916) 341-5178. Sincerely,

Michael A.M. La`

### iffer Chief Counsel

cc: 

## All via 

### e-mail

### only Tom Howard, Exec 

### Jonathan Bishop, Exec Karen Larsen, DWQ Philip 

### Wyels, OCC