| CCFA Editorial March 16, 2004 Regional Water Quality Control Board Regulations Will Place An Onerous Burden On All Forestland Owners By PETER TWIGHT Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) regulations are still evolving, but not favorable to us. 1. The recent demands for 5-year monitoring are listed below:
a. Visual monitoring of all roads, watercourse crossings, landings, skid trails, water diversions, water course confluences, and all mitigation sites within 24 hours of each storm event of 2” or greater.
b. Photo-point monitoring above and below all landslides, road and skid trail crossings of any watercourse (including Class III), all mitigation points and watercourse confluences.
c. Up and down stream turbidity monitoring of all Class I and Class II watercourse crossings within 24 hours of each storm event of 2” or more.
d. Up and downstream temperature and turbidity monitoring within 24 hours of each storm event or 2” or more.
e. Keep a logbook of all visual, photo-point, and water analysis data listed above.
f. Report a summary of each inspection within 30 days of each storm event of 2” or more.
g. If one cu. Yard of soil is released into a waterway from any cause (bank erosion, landslide, culvert washout), it is to be reported to the RWQCB within 48 hours.
h. Any violation of Forest Practice rules shall be reported within 24 hours.
i. An annual report shall be made to the RWQCB by August 15 that summarizes harvest activities, wet weather problems, erosion control practices, wet weather recommendations for the next year, water quality monitoring performed and recommendations for improving monitoring and reporting. All reports are public.
2. The March RWQCB meeting should shed some light on where they are going with this. These reports provide NO SCIENTIFIC OR FACTUAL information, only political cover. We do not consider that timber harvesting produces waste discharges, and no evidence has been produced that demonstrates that it does. We believe this program will be modified once the RWQCB is faced with the enormous cost they are proposing to lay on us. We have yet to persuade them that they are required by law to provide evidence of the need and value of these expenses. They need to hear from us!
Link to example of recent Water Quality Control Board actions Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Notice of Public Meeting for Friday, March 19, 2004 Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for the Smelt-Locatelli Timber Harvest 2/26/2004 |
