California Department of Transportation

Storm Water Drivers

Clean Water Act (CWA) requires NPDES permits for storm water discharges from municipalities, including road systems owned by states

USEPA delegates issuance of California NPDES permits to SWRCB & 9 RWQCBs

Third party lawsuits in Los Angeles and San Diego

Multiple overlapping requirements, permits, enforcement actions

Diverse state geography, climate, politics

Public health and safety concerns: e.g. West Nile Virus

Program Challenges

Caltrans deals with storm water issues that frequently become “moving targets.”

Overlapping regulatory jurisdictions.

Caltrans’ storm water program is complex and broad reaching. The process is not easy to understand.

Caltrans needs acceptable tools and proven processes that can be applied statewide

Costs of compliance

Multiple Permit Requirements Contained in the Caltrans Statewide Storm Water Permit Statewide Permit for Storm Water

Discharges

Statewide General Permit for Construction Activities

Statewide General Permit for discharge to land with a low threat to water quality

Lahontan RWQCB Permit for Construction Activity with Land Disturbance in Lake Tahoe

Individual RWQCB requirements

TMDLs, adopted and pending

Ocean Plan is pending

Caltrans Storm Water Program Components

Strong coordination in department functions, e.g. design, construction

Policy, permitting & planning

Monitoring & BMP research

Integration in business practices

Implementation in district projects

A Successful ProgramRooted in Science

Five-Year Study to characterize storm water runoff is completed

Base BMPs on science

Focus on developing “smaller, cheaper, better” BMPs

Build partnerships to share knowledge and leverage resources

In State Coordination

Regulatory Agencies

Regional Transportation Plans

Other transportation partners in same watershed

Other storm water permittees

National Coordination

Partner with other DOTs

Pooled funded projects

Propose SCOE Group on Storm Water

Co-sponsor DOT workshop to develop a national research program

Caltrans Storm Water Contacts

www.dot.ca.gov/hq/env/stormwater/index.htm

Gary Winters, Chief, Division of Environmental Analysis (916) 653-7136, gary_winters@dot.ca.gov

John Van Berkel: Acting Chief Environmental Engineering (916) 654-4327, John_Van Berkel@dot.ca.gov

Mike Flake: Office Chief Storm Water Policy, Planning and Permitting (916) 653-4947, Mike_Flake@dot.ca.gov