On May 5, 2017, the Sacramento Superior Court issued a decision that the state’s water regulation, when it comes to the hexavalent chromium, also known as Chromium 6 (or Chrom-6) water standard, is not economically feasible and must be withdrawn. A copy of the Court’s Order can be read here. In 2014, the California Department … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) held a Public Workshop regarding the proposed Draft Model Criteria for Groundwater Monitoring (“Model Criteria”). In this meeting, the Water Board heard comments from stakeholders who voiced their support or concern regarding the Model Criteria. Dr. Steven Bohlen, the State Oil & … Continue Reading
On May 5, 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) adopted Emergency Regulations implementing a statewide 25% reduction of potable urban water use, which includes commercial, industrial, and institutional water use, in addition to residential water use. These regulations are in response to Governor Brown’s April 1, 2015 Executive Order mandating a statewide … Continue Reading
On April 29, 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) issued a Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment and Notice of Public Workshop regarding the proposed Draft Model Criteria for Groundwater Monitoring (“Model Criteria”) for areas of oil and gas well stimulation. Senate Bill 4 requires groundwater monitoring for all oil and gas … Continue Reading
On December 30, 2014, the California Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) approved the Final Permanent Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations (“Permanent Regulations”). The regulations go into effect on July 1, 2015, and the Interim Regulations, which were operative all of last year, will remain the governing law in the meantime. By finalizing the Permanent Regulations, California … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, December 17, I gave a presentation to the Groundwater Resources Association (“GRA”). I reviewed the past year’s developments in California’s regulation of hydraulic fracturing and previewed my future predictions for the industry. Below is a summary of my talk and the power point presentation is attached here.… Continue Reading
Today, the State Water Resources Control Board released the final draft of the Statewide General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit for the Discharge of Storm Water Associated with Industrial Activities (“Industrial General Permit” or “Permit”). The long-awaited third revised draft of the Industrial General Permit comes after two previous iterations of the draft … Continue Reading
On April 19, 2012, the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Board”) certified 13 of 50 Nationwide Permits (“NWP”) published by the Army Corps of Engineers on February 21, 2012. (77 Fed. Reg. 10184-01 (Feb. 21, 2012).) On February 27, 2012, the State Board posted notice of the Corps’ application for 401 certification of the … Continue Reading
