Cal. Code Regs. tit. 23 § 3939.18
On July 7, 2005, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted Resolution No. R05-008, amending the Water Quality Control Plan for the Los Angeles Region (Basin Plan) by establishing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to reduce toxic pollutants in sediment in Ballona Creek Estuary (Estuary). The TMDL sets numeric concentration-based targets for cadmium, copper, lead, silver, zinc, chlordane, total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) isomers and metabolites, total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and total polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sediment for the Estuary. The targets are based on Effects Range-Low sediment quality guidelines compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and will be achieved primarily by limiting the amount of pollutants associated with suspended sediment in storm water runoff.
The TMDL will mainly be implemented through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) storm water permits, including the Los Angeles County Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) MS4 permit, the general industrial and construction permits, and other NPDES permits for low-volume, intermittent, non-stormwater discharges, and through the authority vested in the Executive Officer by Water Code section 13267.
The TMDL requires the general industrial and construction storm water permittees to achieve assigned wasteload allocations within seven years and nine years of the effective date of the TMDL, respectively. The implementation schedule for the municipal and Caltrans permittees consists of a phased approach, with wasteload allocations to be achieved in prescribed percentages of the watershed, with total compliance to be achieved within fifteen years of the effective date of the TMDL. The TMDL requires the municipal and Caltrans storm water permittees to submit a coordinated monitoring plan within one year of the effective date of the TMDL and an implementation plan within five and a half years of the effective date of the TMDL. The monitoring plan must include bioaccumulation testing of fish and mussel tissue and sediment toxicity testing. The TMDL allows for special studies, which are due within five years of the effective date of the TMDL, to refine source assessments, provide better estimates of loading capacity, and optimize implementation efforts. The TMDL specifies that within six months of the effective date of a statewide adopted sediment quality objectives and implementation policy, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will re-assess the numeric targets and wasteload allocations for consistency with these statewide objectives. The TMDL also specifies that within six years of its effective date, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board shall reconsider the waste load allocations and implementation schedule based on the results of special studies.
On December 6, 2013, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted Resolution No. R13-010, amending the Basin Plan to revise the Total Maximum Daily Loads for Metals in Ballona Creek and the Total Maximum Daily Loads for Toxic Pollutants in the Ballona Creek Estuary.
The Basin Plan amendment adopted by Resolution No. R13-010 revises the TMDL adopted by Resolution No. 07-008 by revising sediment targets for direct effects consistent with the Water Quality Control Plan for Enclosed Bays and Estuaries -- Part 1 Sediment Quality; establishing sediment targets for indirect effects and fish tissue based on the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) Fish Contaminant Goals; removing numeric targets and allocations for PAHs from the TMDL; and providing additional flexibility to implement and demonstrate compliance with the TMDL through various implementation strategies.
Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 3939.18
2. Editorial correction of HISTORY 1 (Register 2006, No. 3).
3. Summary of basin plan amendment filed 5-4-2015; amendment approved by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2014-0030 on 6-17-2014; amendment approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section 11353 on 5-4-2015 (Register 2015, No. 19).
2. Editorial correction of History 1 (Register 2006, No. 3).
3. Summary of basin plan amendment filed 5/4/2015; amendment approved by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2014-0030 on 6-17-2014; amendment approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section 11353 on 5-4-2015 (Register 2015, No. 19).