The federal government, through the EPA , sets discharge regulations for the country. The state enforces regulatory requirements through five different types of permits issued by Regional Water Quality Control Boards. Probably the easiest polluted discharges to regulate are from point sources.
Point sources are places with a point of discharge, such as a pipe, directly into water bodies.
Except for storm water, these permits establish numeric requirements for toxics and other substances that may be present in the discharge. They also require the discharger to develop a monitoring program for their discharge water quality and toxicity, water quality in the receiving water, and the impacts of their discharge on aquatic life and sediment quality. They must also submit reports regularly to the Regional Board. Most point source permit holders also must comply with storm water requirements. Storm water pollution currently is the largest source of pollution to Santa Monica Bay.