NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING for Surface Water Augmentation Regulations

From the State Water Resources Control Board:

The State Water Resources Control Board is accepting written public comments for Surface Water Augmentation regulations.  A public hearing to receive oral and written public comments will be held on September 7, at 9:30 A.M. at the CalEPA Headquarters in Sacramento, CA.  The public comment period ends on September 12, 2017, at 12:00 P.M. (noon).

Water Code section 13562 requires the State Water Board to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation (SWA regulations) on or before December 31, 2016, if an Expert Panel has made a finding that the proposed criteria (regulations) would adequately protect public health. For more background information, please see the Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR) provided below.

Water Code section 13562(b) requires adoption of Surface Water Augmentation regulations to be in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

The proposed regulations went through two separate external review processes:

  • Health and Safety Code section 57004 requires a regulation proposed for adoption by the State Water Board, which establishes requirements for the protection of public health or the environment, to undergo an external scientific peer review of the basis of the scientific portions of the regulation. The State Water Board received the completed scientific peer review on June 10, 2016. Information related to the scientific peer review may be found here and is discussed further in the Initial Statement of Reasons provided below. The scientific peer reviewers were independent of the Expert Panel.
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  • As previously noted, Water Code section 13562 mandates that the State Water Board shall not adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation unless and until the Expert Panel has adopted a finding that the proposed criteria would adequately protect public health. Therefore, the Expert Panel reviewed the proposed SWA regulations and, by way of a document dated October 31, 2016, the Expert Panel made a finding that the proposed uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation adequately protects public health. Further information related to the Expert Panel’s finding, as well as biographies of the Expert Panel members, may be found in the Initial Statement of Reasons provided below.

Information on how to submit written comments and how to attend the public hearing is available at the following link:  http://waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/swa/swa_noph.pdf

Information on the proposed surface water augmentation regulations may be found at:  http://waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/Surface_Water_Augmentation_Regulations.shtml

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