Water Quality and Supply Issues Monthly Update - January 2026
Happy New Year to California’s construction industry! 🎉
The rainy season is here, and it’s time to make sure your job sites are prepared for wet weather. Inspect sites, reinforce erosion and sediment controls, and ensure your compliance paperwork is accurate and ready to go. Meeting reporting deadlines is the best way to avoid stormwater violations, which remain the most common permit enforcement issues.
To help you start 2026 informed and prepared, we’re highlighting key water quality policy, legislative, and permitting updates that will impact construction this year:
📌 Stay up to date and take action on each item below to ensure your projects remain compliant.
1️⃣ 🏛️ EPA Section 401 Proposal
New federal rules under the Clean Water Act could impact permitting and construction projects statewide.
2️⃣ 📜 AB 1313 Legislative Alert
Track California’s upcoming legislation and understand how it may affect stormwater management practices.
3️⃣ 🏗️ LA Area CII Stormwater Permit
A new permit process for commercial, industrial, and institutional sites is rolling out, aligning with AB 1313 statewide.
JANUARY NEWSWORTHY ITEMS
1️⃣ EPA Proposes Clean Water Act Section 401 Rule to Streamline Permitting Comments Accepted on Proposal Beginning January 13, 2026
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just announced a proposed rule that would “return Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 to its proper statutory purpose, protecting water quality while eliminating regulatory overreach that has imposed unnecessary burden on critical infrastructure projects.” According to the EPA press release, “The proposed rulemaking would ensure predictability in Clean Water Act Section 401 implementation by standardizing approaches for certification requests and decisions, eliminating back-and-forth delay tactics on certification submissions, adhering to statutory timelines for certification decisions, and defining a clear process for both applicants and certifying authorities.” The proposed rule is currently within a 30-day comment period.
👇Read the EPA press release, more details on the proposal, and how to comment
2️⃣ Legislative Alert: Oppose AB 1313 (Papan) New Stormwater Runoff Permit for California
Our colleagues at the California Chamber of Commerce are rallying a broad coalition of stakeholders and interest groups concerned about AB 1313 (Papan), which would impose sweeping, new, and costly stormwater runoff and treatment controls on commercial, industrial, and institutional properties across California. The Chamber just released an excellent “Floor Alert” and overview of the problems with the proposed legislation, which, by the way, was VETOED by Governor Newsom in 2022 when the bill was first proposed. Also, the bill in its current form failed to move out of the Assembly in 2025 but is being revived nonetheless in 2026 despite widespread opposition.
3️⃣ Federal Rulemaking Proposal to Define Waters of the United States Issued in November 2025
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) is considering a sweeping and certainly costly new stormwater runoff permit specifically targeting commercial, industrial, and institutional properties larger than five acres within two large urban watersheds in southwest Los Angeles County.
The proposed runoff permit, abbreviated CII, is based on a final Residual Designation Authority decision from the U.S. EPA in 2024, targeting pollutants in urban runoff, primarily copper and zinc, and requiring the Regional Board to adopt the permit. The proposed CII permit is widely opposed by a range of property ownership and management interests (including CICWQ), as well as by a host of commercial and industrial businesses and trade groups operating in affected areas, and by many county public works agencies, cities, and local districts.
Starting in January 2026, CICWQ and its coalition partners will meet with LA Regional Board staff and management as part of official “Workgroup Meetings” to address specific areas of concern with the proposed CII permit, including important applicability definitions and the feasibility of compliance options.
Statewide legislation has been proposed mimicking the proposed permit requirements but has failed twice to advance in Sacramento, first in 2022 and again in 2025. An attempt to revive the bill during the 2026 legislative session is underway. We will be on the lookout and keep our readers informed about the CII permit and proposed statewide legislation!
