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STATEWIDE SANITARY SEWER SYSTEMS GENERAL ORDER <br />when an Enrollee, which in many cases has a contractual relationship with the owner of <br />the private system, has knowledge of the spills. <br />3.1.4. Water Board Authority to Prescribe General Waste Discharge Requirements <br />Water Code section 13263(i) provides that the State Water Board may prescribe <br />general waste discharge requirements for a category of discharges if the State Water <br />Board finds or determines that: <br />• The discharges are produced by the same or similar operations; <br />• The discharges involve the same or similar types of waste; <br />• The discharges require the same or similar treatment standards; and <br />• The discharges are more appropriately regulated under general waste discharge <br />requirements than individual waste discharge requirements. <br />Since 2006, the State Water Board has been regulating over 1,100 publicly owned <br />sanitary sewer systems (See section 3.1.5 (Previous Statewide General Waste <br />Discharge Requirements) of this General Order). California also has a large unknown <br />number of unregulated privately owned sanitary sewer systems. All waste conveyed in <br />publicly owned and privately owned sanitary sewer systems (as defined in this General <br />Order) is comprised of untreated or partially treated domestic waste and/or industrial <br />waste. Generally, sanitary sewer systems are designed and operated to convey waste <br />by gravity or under pressure; system -specific design elements and system -specific <br />operations do not change the common nature of the waste, the common threat to public <br />health, or the common impacts on water quality. Spills of waste from a sanitary sewer <br />system prior to reaching the ultimate downstream treatment facility are unauthorized <br />and enforceable by the State Water Board and/or a Regional Water Board. Therefore, <br />spills from sanitary sewer systems are more appropriately regulated under general <br />waste discharge requirements. <br />As specified in Water Code sections 13263(a) and 13241, the implementation of <br />requirements set forth in this Order is for the reasonable protection of past, present, and <br />probable future beneficial uses of water and the prevention of nuisance. The <br />requirements implement the water quality control plans (Basin Plans) for each Regional <br />Water Board and take into account the environmental characteristics of sewer service <br />areas and hydrographic units within the state. Additionally, the State Water Board has <br />considered water quality conditions that could reasonably be achieved through the <br />coordinated control of all factors that affect water quality, costs associated with <br />compliance with these requirements, the need for developing housing within California, <br />and the need to protect sources of drinking water and other water supplies. <br />3.1.5. Previous Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements <br />On May 2, 2006, the State Water Board adopted Order 2006-0003-DWQ serving as <br />Waste Discharge Requirements pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 4, Division 7 of the Water <br />Code (commencing with section 13260) for inadvertent discharges to waters of the <br />State. Order 2006-0003-DWQ prohibited discharges of untreated or partially treated <br />sewage. Order 2006-0003-DWQ also required system -specific management, operation, <br />and maintenance of publicly owned sewer systems greater than one mile in length. <br />ORDER 2022-0103-DWQ <br />December 6, 2022 <br />9 <br />