Discharge Requirements for a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant In California

In Committee for a Progressive Gilroy v. State Water Resources Control Bd. (1987) 192 Cal. App. 3d 847, the Regional Water Quality Control Board set discharge requirements for a municipal wastewater treatment plant at 6.1 mgd, but when the plant encountered operational problems, the Regional Board reduced the permitted flow to 5.15 mgd. After remedial action was taken, the Regional Board later permitted the municipal authority to operate the plant at the originally approved level of 6.1 mgd. Rejecting an argument that further environmental review was required, the court held that "the reestablishment of discharge requirements within levels previously approved under CEQA was not a new project subject to a new EIR." ( Id. at pp. 862-863.)