Board Meeting Procedures

A copy of the procedures governing Regional Water Board meetings may be found at Title 23, California Code of Regulations, Section 647 et seq., and is available upon request. Hearings before the Regional Board are not conducted pursuant to Government Code Section 11500 et seq.

A quorum of the members of the Regional Water Board may meet for dinner and may recess for lunch; however, no business will be discussed except for Closed Session items as announced at the meeting.

Accessibility

The facility is accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone requiring reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting should contact Jean Lockett, Secretary, at (707) 576-2307 or Jlockett@waterboards.ca.gov at least 5 working days prior to the meeting. TTY/TDD/Speech-to-Speech users may contact the California Relay Service at 1-800-735-2929 or voice line at 1-800-735-2922.

General Statement

The primary duty of the Regional Water Board is to protect the quality of the waters within the region for all beneficial uses. This duty is implemented by formulation and adopting water quality plans for specific ground or surface water basins and by prescribing and enforcing requirements on all domestic and industrial waste discharges. Responsibilities and procedures of the Regional Water Quality Control Board come from the state's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act and the nation's Clean Water Act.

Presentations

The purpose of the meeting is for the Regional Water Board to obtain testimony and information from concerned and affected parties and make decisions after considering the recommendations made by the Executive Officer. The Regional Water Board and staff welcome information on pertinent problems, but comments at the meeting should be brief and directed to specifics of the case to enable the Regional Water Board to take the appropriate action.

In order to give everyone an opportunity to be heard, a time limit for oral comments may be imposed on any agenda item. Interested persons are encouraged to submit their comments in writing by the applicable due date and use time for oral comments to summarize those concerns. Speakers should plan to deliver their oral comments within 3 minutes. If a longer period of time is desired, speakers will be expected to notify the Regional Water Board staff prior to the meeting date, for scheduling purposes. The speaker will be expected to have submitted a written summary of the comments to be delivered by the due date for the associated agenda item and limit oral comments to a summary of pertinent points previously presented in writing.

If the submitted written material is more than 5 pages or contains foldouts, color graphics, maps, etc., 20 copies must be submitted for distribution to the Board members and staff.

Comments on agenda items will be accepted by electronic mail subject to the same conditions set forth for other written submissions as long as the total submittal (including attachments) does not exceed 5 printed pages in length.

Speakers are responsible for providing and operating projectors and other presentation aids. Some equipment may be available at the Board meeting; however, the type of equipment available will vary depending on the meeting location. To ascertain the availability of presentation equipment please contact Jean Lockett at (707) 576-2307 or Jlockett@waterboards.ca.gov at least 5 working days prior to the meeting.

Hearing Record

Material presented to the Regional Water Board, as part of testimony that is to be made part of the record must be left with the Regional Water Board. This includes photographs, slides, charts, diagrams, written testimony, etc. All Regional Water Board files pertaining to the items on this agenda are hereby made a part of the record submitted to the Regional Water Board by staff for its consideration prior to action on the related items.

Contributions to Regional Board Members

All persons who actively support or oppose the adoption of waste discharge requirements or a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit being considered by the Regional Water Board must submit a statement to the Board disclosing any contribution of $250 or more to any Regional Water Board Member. This requirement applies to contributions of $250 or more made by the active supporter or opponent or his/her agent for use in federal, state or local elections within the last 12 months.

Also, all permit applicants and/or persons who actively support or oppose adoption of a set of waste discharge requirements or an NPDES permit pending before the Regional Water Board are prohibited from making a contribution of $250 or more to any Regional Water Board Member for three months following a Regional Water Board decision on the permit application.

Water Quality Certifications

The Regional Water Board processes requests for Water Quality Certification, pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, to ensure that proposed federally-permitted activities will comply with the Regional Water Board’s water quality standards. A listing of requests which are pending may be obtained by calling the office of the North Coast Regional Water Board at (707) 576-2220. The list may also be obtained by accessing our web site at www.waterboards.ca.gov

Notices of Proposed Corrective Actions

The Regional Water Board provides routine public notices on proposed corrective actions and closure decisions related to cleanup on contaminated sites. These routine notices are published on our web site at www.waterboards.ca.gov and a copy is maintained at our office for public review.

Petition of Regional Board Action

Any person affected adversely by a decision of the Regional Water Board may petition the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), to review the decision. The State Water Board must receive the petition within 30 days of the Regional Water Board's meeting at which the action was taken. Copies of the laws and regulations applicable to filing a petition will be provided upon request, and may also be accessed at: www.waterboards.ca.gov/wqpetitions/index.html

If the State Water Board accepts a petition for review, the Regional Water Board will be required to file the record in the matter with the State Water Board. The costs of preparing and filing the record are the responsibility of the person(s) submitting the petition. The Regional Water Board will contact the person(s) submitting a petition and inform them of the payment process and any amounts due.