Industrial Storm Water Discharges: Characterizing Los Angeles Facilities to Improve Compliance and Estimates of Pollutant Loads

Recognizing that urban storm water is a significant source of water quality impairment, federal and state water pollution control regulations have been implemented requiring industrial facilities to take steps to monitor and minimize the exposure of storm water runoff to pollutant from their operations. In the seven years since the regulations were implemented, approximately 9080 California facilities have taken at least the initial step to comply by self-identifying and seeking coverage under the general permit program. To achieve full compliance with the regulations a facility must first evaluate operations and exposures followed by the development and implementation of a site-specific pollution prevention and management plan plan. This research describes the California population that has sought general permit coverage and characterizes activities and physical factors that may predict a site's propensity to contribute pollutants to storm water. Eight SIC codes were found to represent 54 percent of all permittees. Direct observations established that while the majority of sites were highly impervious and conduct more that one regulated activity, the intensity of such exposed activity and housekeeping varied substantially. Twenty-eight percent of complying facilities were found to occupy sites of one acre or less. These findings raise questions about whether the general permit applied equally to all is the appropriate allocation of resources to reduce pollutant load.