TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Kim Withrow, Environmental Health Supervisor
SUBJECT: Approval of Memorandum of Understanding to Continue Winery Wastewater Program Management
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize Agreement No. 8676 with the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board to continue to provide oversight and issue operating permits to existing wineries. (No Fiscal Impact; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
The San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFRWQCB) has the authority to issue Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) for discharges of waste from each individual winery within their region. Local oversight of winery wastewater discharges has been in place since the late 1970’s when the SFRWQCB provided a waiver of waste discharge requirements to wineries in Napa County if the Division of Environmental Health (EH) approved the subsurface discharge of wastewater. The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in November 1982 between Napa County and the SFRWQCB, which authorized Napa County to oversee winery wastewater treatment and surface discharges from ponds. The MOU and winery program has been updated several times over the years including a revised MOU in 1991 and a substantial update to the program by letter of authorization in 2003, allowing the use of advanced treatment systems with surface discharge of treated wastewater in lieu of treatment and storage in ponds. This change provides more land for agriculture while still allowing facilities to treat and beneficially reuse winery process water.
In January 2021, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted Order WQ 2021-0002-DWQ, “General Waste Discharge Requirements for Winery Process Water”, also known as the Winery General Order (WGO). The WGO established statewide discharge standards, monitoring, and reporting requirements for anyone discharging winery process water to lands of the State. The WGO gave dischargers three (3) years after adoption to enroll for coverage under the WGO, requiring compliance by January 21, 2024. There is a provision in the WGO for a local agency to request approval to regulate the discharges of winery process water according to requirements in the WGO. Through a separate process with Board of Supervisor approval, it is anticipated that EH will apply to become the local agency to provide local regulation to Napa County wineries by having EH staff assist winery owners and operators with compliance with the WGO. EH staff will conduct inspections and respond to complaints just as we have since the late 1970’s. It has been determined the EH fees will be less than the SWRCB established fees, saving money for winery owners and operators.
The first conversations between wine industry professionals, EH, and the SFRWQCB staff regarding general waste discharge requirements for wineries occurred in late 2014 when SFRWQCB staff began outreach efforts regarding development of a regional order for wineries. After a couple years of effort at the regional level, the SWRCB staff took over development of the order. Outreach between the SWRCB staff and SFRWQCB staff, wine industry representatives and the public, regarding the initial draft of the order, began in 2016 and continues to this day. The focus of the outreach efforts has changed over the years, starting with development, review, and comment on the content of the order, and now has evolved to providing dischargers with tools to comply with the order. EH first hosted industry professionals including Napa Valley Grapegrowers, The Wine Institute, wastewater system design professionals, winery owners, winemakers, winery operators, and citizens to discuss the SWRCB WGO in April 2019 after the draft was issued for public comment. EH staff have presented an overview of the WGO at industry workshops including Napa Green in December 2021, participated with SFRWQCB staff at a Regional Water Board meeting in September 2021 and at the Napa Engineers Society meeting in December 2023. EH staff and wine industry leaders provided comments on the draft order and participated in public meetings over the years regarding the WGO, including meetings the SWRCB staff hosted to establish fees for dischargers required to apply for coverage under the WGO. EH staff will be participating in upcoming workshops hosted by SWRCB and SFRWQCB staff to relay relevant information to wineries within Napa County.
Since the adoption of the WGO, there was a mutual desire between SFRWQCB staff and EH staff to keep the long-running program with EH, to reduce the number of wineries required to enroll by the deadline by spreading out the workload and providing incentive for locally regulated wineries to continue to meet monitoring standards to stay in the local program. This interim MOU will allow the wineries permitted in EHs current program a longer transition period to comply with the WGO. While the MOU is in place, EH staff, with Board of Supervisors support, will work with stakeholders toward becoming the local agency as described in the WGO. Continuation of the local program benefits our local wineries by giving them more time to develop a plan and budget to comply with the WGO. Winery owners and operators wanting to continue with the local program voluntarily applied to continue coverage under our local program. Of the original 176 wineries in Napa County’s winery program 98% have been approved to continue coverage with the local program. Outreach was conducted to the facilities in the EH program letting them know of the ability to continue coverage by way of email blasts to winery personnel and their representatives, verbal discussions, written correspondence with owners, operators, winery personnel, and individual stakeholders, as well as meetings with engineering firms and stakeholders. As new wineries are approved, or existing wineries apply for changes that effect the type of wastewater system or amount of wastewater generated, they will be required to apply for coverage under the WGO, since Napa County will not be adding new wineries to the interim winery program authorized by this MOU. Any winery currently discharging winery waste without regulatory coverage will be required to apply for coverage under the WGO. The County currently has 174 facilities enrolled in the winery program for an annual revenue of approximately $62,500.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: General Rule. It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the proposed action may have a significant impact on the environment and therefore CEQA is not applicable. [See Guidelines for the Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act, 14 CCR 15061(b)(3)].