U.S. EPA Finalizes Pesticide General Permit

On October 31, 2011, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES ) pesticide general permit (PGP) for aquatic pesticide applications went into effect. The U.S. EPA has assigned the State of California primacy for the implementation and enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), including NPDES permits.  This authority has been assigned to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).  The SWRCB has previously adopted several NPDES permits for aquatic pesticide applications.  Consequently this recent action by the U.S. EPA has little regulatory affect for California.  Recent Congressional efforts to enact a moratorium for the U.S. EPA NPDES PGP permit have stalled.

Currently, SWRCB staff are reviewing the permit to determine if additional modifications are warranted.  ACWA staff and the ACWA Aquatic Pesticides Working Group have entered into discussions with the SWRCB staff regarding revisions to this permit.  The SWRCB link for information regarding this permit is: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/npdes/docs/aquatic/permit.pdf <http://outreach.acwa.com/site/R?i=1iGpZibRS-iO6tK4ZndhJA> .