Welcome to the Construction Industry Coalition for Water Quality
4-Hour Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Sampling and Monitoring Class
This class covers new requirements in the California General Construction Permit for construction site storm water runoff sample collection and sample monitoring
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Our Mission
CICWQ was created in 2001 to protect the construction industry from the potentially devastating impact of lost revenues and reduced wages that may be caused by the rapidly evolving set of water quality regulations. The rights of property owners, builders, developers and contractors have been threatened by non-scientifically based water quality regulations which are being proposed and implemented at an alarming rate.
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Top Headlines
Superior Court Invalidates Construction Stormwater Permit Numeric Effluent Limits
After nearly three years of regulatory fighting followed by two years of litigation, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly has invalidated the Numeric Effluent Limits (NELs) contained in the Construction General Permit (the CGP) for stormwater runoff which was issued by the State Water Resources Control Board (the SWRCB). The SWRCB adopted the CGP in September 2009; and it went into effect on July 1, 2010. The ruling was issued on Friday, December 2, following a lengthy series of briefings in a lawsuit brought by California Building Industry Association (CBIA), Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation (BILD), and California Business Properties Association (CBPA) as petitioners.
Back in 2009, the SWRCB chose a 500 NTU NEL for turbidity (sediment runoff) and 6-9 pH units as the NEL for pH, claiming that they were relying on three different studies to support the NELs chosen. The Court, however, found the studies to be too limited or inconclusive, and concluded that the NELs lacked substantial evidentiary support. Judge Connelly opined that data could have been collected to support NELs if the SWRCB had followed the request of the petitioners made during the administrative process to use Numeric Action Levels (NALs) as a means to gather appropriate data. Unfortunately, the SWRCB refused to undertake any meaningful studies as proposed by the petitioners and the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality (CICWQ), and instead adopted NELs.
The Court ruled that the NELs were subject to a balancing of the factors specified for consideration under federal law (not state law), and that the SWRCB was required to comply with the cost-benefit factors set forth in the federal Clean Water Act in establishing NELs. The Court concluded that the NELs are invalid and unenforceable unless and until the SWRCB can produce the data that demonstrates that available technologies will actually achieve the NELs.
The Litigation Process is Ongoing and an Appeal Will Delay the Effectiveness of the Court’s Ruling:
The litigation process is still ongoing. Specifically, on Friday December 2, 2011, the Court issued its “Ruling on Submitted Matter”. However, the petitioners (CBIA/BILD/CBPA) must now file with the Court a proposed judgment and formal “writ of mandate.” This proposed judgment will undergo comment by the SWRCB and eventually a judgment will be formally entered by the Court. Hopefully, this part of the process will be completed by the end of 2011.Once the Court formally files the judgment and the writ of mandate, the petitioners will promptly file a “notice of entry of judgment” and serve the SWRCB with the notice. Serving the SWRCB with the notice of entry of judgment will start a sixty (60) day period in which either party may file a notice of appeal.
If either party files (or both) file(s) a notice of appeal during the 60-day period following the service of the notice of entry of judgment, then the Court’s judgment is indefinitely stayed and will have no effect during the pendency of the appeal process. In other words, the NEL requirements will remain in effect during the indefinite period that an appeal takes place if either party (or both) file(s) a timely notice of appeal. If neither party files a notice of appeal within the 60-day period in which to do so following the service of the notice of entry of judgment, then the Court’s judgment and writ of mandate will automatically become final and effective at the conclusion of the 60-day period.
In light of all of this, the earliest time at which the NEL requirement would be officially nullified and effectively removed from the CGP would be near the end of February – given the likelihood that the service of a notice of entry of judgment will likely not occur until later in December 2011 -- at best.
'Rainfall in a hurry' lies ahead this winter
Wednesday's early October downpour was one for the record books.
The 1.15 inches of rain recorded in downtown Los Angeles shattered the record for Oct. 5 - 0.61 inches, set in 1916. It was the highest daily amount the area has received in the first weeks of October since 1899.
"This is definitely unusual," Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert observed. "The average rainfall for downtown Los Angeles is .37 inches for October. That's for the entire month. So we're probably going to triple or quadruple our normal monthly rainfall in less than 24 hours."
Get used to it. The forecasting company AccuWeather predicts that this winter could see a few big, wet storms headed to Southern California, courtesy
Raindrops and brake lights were the norm for longer-than-usual commutes Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 along Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park. (Dean Musgrove/Daily News Staff Photographer)
of the Pineapple Express.
Read more at the LA Daily News»
Caltrans Webcast on Construction General Permit - August 17, 2011
On Wednesday, August 17 from 9:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m., Caltrans will conduct a webcast with information about the Construction General Permit (CGP).
The webcast will cover information on complying with the Construction General Permit. State Board CGP Trainers of Record (individuals authorized to teach the QSP and QSD training classes) will provide awareness of the CGP and exposure to the material covered in QSD/QSP training. An update on Caltrans CGP guidance presented by Caltrans HQ Division of Environmental Analysis, Division of Design and Division of Construction will follow.
Please note that this webinar does not take place of attending a certified QSD/QSP training or the Caltrans 24-hour training for stormwater construction compliance.
Caltrans pays $381,000 penalty over lax pollution controls during toll road construction
Caltrans has paid $381,000 in state water pollution penalties after regulators complained of weak controls on polluted stormwater runoff during construction of the Bay Area's first toll lane on Interstate 680 from Pleasanton to Milpitas.
One regulator called the penalty a wake-up call for Caltrans to prevent runoff carrying silt, dirt and other pollutants that can foul creeks and smother fish and other aquatic animals.
"We expect they should know better," said Tom Mumley, the assistant executive officer of the San Francisco Regional Water Control Board. "Their job is building roads."
Read more at the Contra Costa Times »
What California Needs to Do to Fix the Transportation System
Organized by the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy and the LAEDC Infrastructure Committee.
California’s transportation needs are so great that there has been little discernable progress in meeting them, either year-over-year or decade-over-decade. Rather than focusing on just a few critical priorities, the State spreads too few resources over too many programs with the result that new capacity is long-delayed if provided at all and the physical condition of California’s highways and bridges grows worse every year because of chronic underfunding of maintenance and repair. This untenable situation can and must be reversed.
The USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation invite you to join us as national and statewide experts discuss immediate actions the Brown Administration could take to leverage available revenues and support California’s Self Help counties to aggressively reverse the decline of California’s transportation system.
When it rains, the regulations pour
CALIFORNIA – Engineers and contractors are scrambling to incorporate significant new changes to rules for managing storm water runoff during and after construction amid above-average rainfall this season.
“The days of building year-round — if it got wet letting the ground dry out and if there was mud in the street cleaning it up later — those days are gone,” said Doug Hamilton, president of general engineering contractor Oak Grove Construction.
On July 1, a major update to the state’s General Construction Storm Water Permit took effect. Different from the last major update in 1999, owners of construction sites now are responsible for meeting numerical targets for runoff content; monitoring and reporting on conditions and activities before, during and after rainstorms; and leaving erosion conditions after construction equivalent to those before.
“It’s a really big shift from ‘do your best,’ to ‘meet these standards or else,’” said Hugh Linn, P.E., president of Napa-based engineering firm Riechers Spence & Associates of Napa.
Read more at the North Bay Business Journal »
Developers win fight on runoff
In a decision that outraged environmentalists and pleased builders, the Southern California Regional Water Quality Control Board recently overturned an innovative new rule designed to control pollution that is carried to local waters and the ocean with the year’s first significant rainfall.
After three years of development, the water board last year approved a “low impact development” plan for Ventura County, requiring developments to hold on the site nearly all water from the first inch of rain in the fall.
Read more at the Ventura County Star»
LA River designated as a navigable waterway
LOS ANGELES - The federal government on Wednesday designated Los Angeles River a full-fledged navigable waterway, affirming the river's tributaries qualify for Clean Water Act protections and settling a long-running dispute over its status.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said the waterway's use by watercraft, plans for restoration and other factors qualify it as a "traditional navigable water." She announced the designation at a news conference on the banks of south Los Angeles' Compton Creek, which feeds into the river.
"This designation assures the community that their local waters are protected by the nation's water laws," Jackson said in a prepared statement. "A clean, vibrant LA River system can help revitalize struggling communities, promoting growth and jobs for residents of Los Angeles."
Effort to improve beach water quality could cost Valley cities millions of dollars
A federal requirement to remove harmful bacteria from the Los Angeles River and the beaches it drains to could cost San Gabriel Valley cities more than $1.3 billion over the next 25 years.
Regional water quality officials will decide Friday how cities will be required to prevent bacteria that stems from dog feces, portable bathrooms and other sources from making its way from their streets, lawns and sidewalks to the waters of Long Beach.
Depending on what they decide, the fixes could cost cash-strapped cities across inland Los Angeles County millions of dollars every year, averaging nearly 10 percent of their budgets, according to Ray Tahir, an environmental consultant and lobbyist working on behalf of some of the affected cities.
"Nearly every city in the San Gabriel Valley will be hit," Tahir said.
Southern California beach erosion is worst in a decade
Powerful winter storms sweep away a spectacular amount of sand, leaving a rugged landscape of rock and cliff-side staircases that drop off into the air.
Jeremy and Fernando Gutierrez descended a staircase to a cove in Laguna Beach for a nighttime lobster dive and almost fell into the ocean.
Even in the darkness, the brothers could see what the problem was -- the sand at Treasure Island Beach had all but disappeared, leaving a rugged landscape of rock and a sudden drop-off where the staircase once led gently to the strand.
"I couldn't believe it," said Fernando Gutierrez, 26, of Costa Mesa. "There was no beach and a 20-foot drop-off."
Builders predict more problems
By Tony Biasotti, March 19, 2010, Ventura County Star
Builders and developers got what they wanted last week when water regulators agreed to revisit the stormwater runoff permit issued last year for Ventura County, a permit the development industry claims would cripple business.
But at a housing and development conference in Camarillo on Friday, the general consensus was that the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will issue a new permit that’s very similar to the old one. Regulators are committed to reducing runoff because it sends polluted water to the ocean and speeds up erosion of hillsides and streams.
"California had a flood-control culture for many years," said Mark Grey, director of environmental affairs for the Building Industry Association of Southern California. "Now we have a sustainability culture."
L.A. County Flood Control District faces state fines
A state Regional Water Quality Control Board recommends nearly $275,000 in fines after the district allegedly allowed bacterial pollution to flow into the harbor at Marina del Rey from 2007 to 2009.
The Los Angeles County Flood Control District faces a state fine of almost $275,000 for allegedly allowing bacterial pollution to flow into the harbor at Marina del Rey for more than two years, officials said Monday.
The staff of the Los Angeles region of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a complaint against the district Feb. 18, recommending $274,896 in fines.
The board, part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, cited 186 violations from 2007 to 2009 of the district's storm water permit, which was issued in accordance with federal and state clean-water standards.
Things You Should Know...
Please visit our issues page to see a list of the regulatory permitting and policy actions that are affecting the construction industry.
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