California Code of Regulations
Title 23 - Waters
Division 4 - Regional Water Quality Control Boards
Chapter 1 - Water Quality Control Plans, Policies, and Guidelines
Article 2 - San Francisco Bay Region
Section 3919.16 - Maximum Daily Load for Selenium in North San Francisco Bay
Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
On November 18, 2015, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted Resolution No. R2-2015-0048, amending the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay Region to address impairment of the North Bay from selenium. This amendment establishes a total maximum daily load (TMDL) expressed as total annual selenium load to North San Francisco Bay equal to the sum of current loads from external sources and an implementation plan. The amendment establishes two numeric targets:
1) a numeric target for selenium in fish tissue (8.0 µg/g dry weight whole body and 11.3 µg/g in muscle tissue) protective of aquatic life, including listed species (e.g., green sturgeon), and
2) a numeric target for the water column of 0.5 µg/L total dissolved selenium, derived from the fish tissue target, which is more stringent than the current Basin Plan water quality objective of 5.0 µg/L.
The main goal of the implementation plan is to maintain existing water quality and prevent increases in selenium loading from petroleum refineries, the largest controllable source of selenium, and from the Central Valley watershed. Therefore the implementation plan establishes load-based effluent limits for petroleum refineries that will be incorporated into NPDES permits, and includes monitoring of ambient waters, and monitoring to ensure attainment of the Central Valley load allocation.
1. New section summarizing amendments to basin plan filed 6-2-2016; amendments approved by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution No. 2016-0017 on 3-15-2016; amendments approved by OAL pursuant to Government Code section 11353 on 6-2-2016 (Register 2016, No. 23).
