CALIFORNIA 

# Water 

# Boards EDMUND G. BROWN JR. GOVERNOR <11411, MATTHEW RODRIQUEZ SECRETARY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

### State Water Resources 

### Control Board May 20, 2016

Marcela von

### Vacano U.S. 

### Environmental Protection

### Agency Office of Regional Counsel 75 

### Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Vonvacano.marcela(@epa.gov Dear Ms. von 

### Vacano: APPLICABILITY OF 

### STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD'S (STATE WATER BOARD) COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE POLICY TO U.S. EPA'S PROPOSED SELENIUM 

### WATER QUALITY STANDARD The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) plans to propose new, more protective, 

### selenium 

### waterquality criteria

### foraquatic life and 

### aquatic-dependent wildlife in the San Francisco Bayand Delta by

### amending the CaliforniaToxics Rule 

### (promulgated at 40 Code 

### of Federal 

### Regulations section 131.38). You have asked 

### whetherthe State 

### Water Board's Policy

### for ComplianceSchedules 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 

### water quality criteria. The 

### Compliance Schedule Policy will 

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

### Water Board and the regional 

### water qualitycontrol boards 

### that implement the new

### selenium 

### waterqualitycriteria if U.S. EPA 

### adopts the

### waterquality criteria as proposed. Unless a 

### specific exception applies, the Compliance Schedule Policyauthorizes compliance schedules 

### regardless ofwhether a 

### water board or U.S. EPA established the 

### applicable 

### water qualitystandard. The Compliance Schedule Policy: 

### authorizes a

### Water Board to include a compliance schedule in a 

### permit

### for an 

### existing 

### discharger to 

### implement a new, revised, 

### or newly interpreted 

### water qualityobjectiveor criterion in a 

### waterquality standardthat results in a permit limitation morestringent than the limitation previously 

### imposed.... (Compliance Schedule Policy (2008), p. 3, § 2.) A

### "Iniew, revised, or newly interpreted 

### waterquality objective or criterion in a 

### water quality standard' means a 

### waterqualityobjectiveor criterion in a 

### waterqualitystandard that is adopted, revised, or newly interpreted afterthe effective date ofthis 

### Policy...." (Id., p. 3, § 1(d).) 

### The phrases "waterquality objective" and "criterion in a 

### water qualitystandard" are largely synonymous, with the distinction being 

### that a

### water board 

### establishes "waterquality objectives"

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

to. RECYCLED PAPERMarcela von 

### Vacano - 2 - May 20, 2016 

### pursuant to state law and U.S. EPA 

### approves or 

### establishes criteria in 

### waterqualitystandards 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'sdefinitions do not limit the origin of a more 

### stringent permit limitation and it can derivefrom 

### either a 

### water qualityobjective or criterion in a 

### waterquality 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 relates to 

### 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 of July 1, 2005). Compliance schedules for existing CTR criteria are authorized only under the SIP. However, this 

### Compliance Schedule Policy authorizes compliance schedules

### for permit limitations implementing CTR criteria that are revised bythe USEPA afterthe effective date ofthis Policy. (Id., p. 4, § 2(c) [emphasis in 

### original].) The 

### specific exception in the 

### above-quoted paragraph does not 

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

### adopt new selenium 

### water 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

### waterquality criteria that were in the 

### California Toxics Rule on July 1, 2005. 

### The proposed new

### waterquality criteria for selenium were not part ofthe California Toxics Rule on July 1, 2005. Furthermore, thefinal sentence ofthe above-quoted paragraph confirms thatthe Compliance Schedule Policy applies to 

### either newor more 

### stringent water 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. The final sentence uses the 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 for selenium. These 

### revisionsto the California 

### Toxics Rule's criteria would 

### trigger the savings clause in the last 

### sentence ofsection 2(c) and ensure that the Compliance Schedule Policy is available 

### for new, more 

### protective selenium criteria in the California 

### Toxics Rule. The

### fact that U.S. EPA

### originally promulgatedsome 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 Policycontains an exception 

### for criteria contained 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 

### for selenium in the National 

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

### for selenium will remain in the National Toxics Rule if U.S. EPAtakes the proposed action, the 

### Compliance Schedule Policy's exception for National Toxics Rule criteria will not apply.Marcela von 

### Vacano - 3 - May 20, 2016

If you have 

### any questions regarding this letter, please 

### contact Philip G. Wyels, 

### Assistant Chief Counsel, at

### philip.wyelswaterboards.ca.qov or (916) 341-5178.

Michael A.M. 

### Lauffer Chief Counsel

cc: 

### Allvia 

### e-mail

### only Tom Howard, Exec 

### Jonathan Bishop, Exec Karen Larsen, DWQ PhilipWyels, OCC