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OVERVIEW OF CALIFORNIA'S NPS POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAM
The
State Water Resources Control Board and the nine Regional
Water Quality Control Boards have primary
responsibility in California for the protection of water
quality. This involves preventing and reducing
water pollution in our rivers, streams, lakes, beaches,
bays, and in our groundwater.
In
1990, Congress passed new sections of law to improve
and expand the Coastal Zone Act. This additional
legislation expanded the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards' partnership for
reducing polluted runoff to include the California Coastal
Commission (CCC). This expansion strengthened
the links between Federal and State coastal zone management
and water quality programs. The additional legislation
involved is called the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization
Amendments or CZARA.
CZARA
requires California and other states to ensure that
management practices which reduce or prevent polluted
runoff are actually put into use or implemented.
To effectively reduce and prevent water pollution in
California, we need to prevent polluted runoff from
reaching our rivers, streams, lakes, beaches, bays,
and our groundwater. The management measures which
can prevent or reduce water pollution are defined in
CZARA as: "economically achievable measures for
the control of the addition of pollutants from existing
and new categories and classes of nonpoint (that is,
types of polluted runoff) sources of pollution, which
reflect the greatest degree of pollution reduction achievable
through the application of best available nonpoint
pollution (polluted runoff) control practices,
technologies, processes, siting criteria, operating
methods or other available alternatives."
More about these management measures for coastal
waters can be accessed through the USEPA's web
site at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/MMGI/
In
February 1994, California initiated a comprehensive
review process to consider the new CZARA
requirements and to update its existing statewide
NPS management program. Updating the existing
program is more efficient (cost saving) and effective
for California's pollution prevention and reduction
efforts than creating an entire new program to
handle only coastal waters.
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