California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 4 - Regional Water Quality Control Boards › Chapter 1 - Water Quality Control Plans, Policies, and Guidelines › Article 4 - Los Angeles Region › Section 3939.43 - A Total Maximum Daily Load for Debris in Nearshore and Offshore Santa Monica Bay

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
On November 4, 2010, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
					 Control Board (Regional Board) adopted Resolution No. R10-010, amending the
					 Water Quality Control Plan for the Los Angeles Region (Basin Plan) by
					 establishing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for debris in Nearshore and
					 Offshore Santa Monica Bay. The TMDL establishes numeric targets and waste load
					 allocations (WLAs) for point source discharges and load allocations (LAs) for
					 nonpoint source discharges that are equal to "zero" trash and "zero" plastic
					 pellets.
To comply with trash WLAs, responsible jurisdictions and
					 agencies may install Executive Officer-certified full capture systems, or
					 partial capture systems in conjunction with best management practices upon
					 Executive Officer approval. Nonpoint source dischargers may achieve compliance
					 with trash LAs by implementing a program of minimum frequency of assessment and
					 collection in conjunction with best management practices. The TMDL establishes
					 an eight-year implementation schedule for point source dischargers of trash and
					 a five-year schedule for nonpoint source dischargers. Final compliance
					 deadlines may be extended to eleven years for point source dischargers and
					 eight years for nonpoint source dischargers if a city or county adopts local
					 ordinances to ban plastic bags, smoking in public places, and single use
					 expanded polystyrene food packaging within three years of the Regional Board
					 adoption of the Debris TMDL.
The TMDL assigns a WLA of zero plastic pellets to
					 industrial facilities regulated through storm water NPDES permits and includes
					 a five-year implementation schedule to achieve the WLA. The TMDL does not
					 assign a plastic pellet WLA to MS4 permittees. Instead, MS4 permittees with
					 industrial facilities or activities related to plastic pellet manufacturing,
					 handling, or transportation under their jurisdiction must monitor for plastic
					 pellets, establish triggers for increased industrial facility inspections, and
					 develop a plan for addressing possible plastic pellet spills.
The Regional Board adopted Resolution No. R19-004 on March
					 14, 2019 revising the Santa Monica Bay Nearshore and Offshore Debris TMDL in
					 light of the "Amendment to the Water Quality Control Plan for Ocean Waters of
					 California to Control Trash" and "Part 1 Trash Provisions of the Water Quality
					 Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries," known as
					 the statewide Trash Amendments. The Los Angeles Water Board determined that the
					 implementation requirements in the existing Santa Monica Bay Nearshore and
					 Offshore Debris TMDL should not be aligned with the scope of the statewide
					 Trash Amendments because there is a potential for non-priority land use areas
					 to discharge significant amounts of trash and there are no MFAC programs
					 downstream of all non-priority areas that can effectively collect any trash
					 discharged from non-priority land use areas. In addition, in locations where
					 there is a MFAC program, it was not possible to determine whether trash is
					 accumulating in deleterious amounts. Therefore, municipal storm water
					 dischargers will still be required to address point sources of trash in all
					 land use areas.
The revised TMDL also separates requirements for the
					 California Department of Transportation from requirements for other MS4
					 permittees, consistent with the statewide Trash Amendments.
1. New
					 section summarizing amendment to basin plan filed 3-15-2012; amendment approved
					 by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2011-0064 on 12-6-2011;
					 amendment approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section
					 11353 on
					 3-15-2012 (Register 2012, No. 11).
2. Amendments to section
					 summarizing amendments to basin plan filed 11-17-2021; amendments approved by
					 State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2020-0001 on 1-21-2020;
					 amendments approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section
					 11353 on
					 11-17-2021 (Register 2021, No. 47).