California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
A $495,000 penalty has been assessed against the city of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) for the city’s violation of effluent limits as prescribed in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit. The violations occurred over a 32-month period of time from Oct. 3, 2013 to June 27, 2016.
Although the NPDES Permit authorizes the city to discharge treated effluent to the Salinas River, the
City was unable to achieve compliance for various pollutants during the upgrade of its wastewater treatment plant. The California Water Code – also known as the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act — applies to waste discharges for the protection of water quality and public health.
The Water Code requires the Regional Water Board to penalize effluent violations by imposing monetary penalties for no less than the mandatory minimum amount of $3,000 per violation. The Water Code applies to such waste discharges for the protection of water quality and public health.
“Ensuring adequate treatment and control of wastewater discharges to our surface waters is a key component of the Board’s responsibility to protect water quality,” said Regional Water Board Chairman Jean-Pierre Wolff. “While the City has experienced a very difficult time in complying with its permit’s protective standards, it has also turned a significant corner by upgrading its treatment plant to reduce violations and put the City on a path towards exemplary performance.”
The California Water Code also provides for a portion of such penalties, such as the one levied on the city of Paso Robles, to be used for supplemental environment projects (SEPs). SEPs are projects that can be included as part of an Administrative Civil Liability penalty to enhance the beneficial uses of the waters of the state and thereby provide a benefit to the public at large.
An agreement between the Regional Water Board and the city of Paso Robles will provide $255,000 of the total penalty to Paso Robles Groundwater Basin, an SEP. An SEP can include support for sustainable groundwater management efforts, groundwater sampling, or assistance to disadvantaged communities to help resolve drinking water issues.
Chairman Wolff also said, “…it is both our and the City’s desire that the funds directed toward the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin will substantially offset the violations by improving our collective capacity to more fully understand, protect, preserve and bring to sustainability the basin as a vital water resource.”
The remaining portion of the penalty goes to the Cleanup and Abatement Account (CAA). CAA was created by the California Water Code to provide public agencies with grants for the cleanup or abatement of a condition of pollution when there are no viable responsible parties available to undertake the work. The CAA is supported by court judgments and administrative civil liabilities assessed by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards.
