Storm Water Compliance and Fees for the Industrial General Permit

February 10, 2016

Stormwater_Header_SCS_EngineersBusinesses attending California’s Storm Water Workshop know that the State Board is currently considering a tiered approach for storm water fees. Toward that end, the Board is reviewing the industrial storm water fee schedule with the intent of updating it by this summer.

Current rates are flat fees where permittees pay approximately $1,800 for a permit whether you have one acre of industrial operations or 100. The proposed rates would consider criteria such as total acres of activity exposed to storm water, permeability, and percent of property used for industrial operations. If you would like to comment directly to the Water Board, email your suggestions to 

A panel of experts will convene on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. at the Civic Building #8P-Presentation Hall to provide businesses with information necessary to determine if they need to comply or are exempt.  The building is located at 10601 Magnolia Avenue in Santee, CA.

Register with Amy Snyder at 1-619-464-1200 or via email at 

The session is free and will cover these topics:

  • Who needs to comply, including the listed SIC or NAICs codes, and many businesses that previously did not need to comply.
  • Compliance basics – How and what to file.
  • Who is exempt from the permit?
  • What value creation opportunities are available to minimize cost and still comply
  • Liability issues – Can I be fined? How much? What is my recourse?
  • As a tenant, what is my liability to a property owner and what steps should I take to protect myself?
  • As a property owner, am I liable? What steps should I take during a purchase or lease to protect myself?

Panel of Experts:

Bill Fischbeck, Esq., and the moderator is an attorney in East San Diego County since 1976, Bill’s practice is concentrated in real estate, including transactions and dispute analysis as well as land use matters before public agencies throughout the County.

Cory Jones, P.E., ToR, is a storm water program manager at SCS Engineers. Jones manages complex projects for private and public clients that include site/civil, water/wastewater and storm water engineering. He has completed a wide variety of special studies in storm water management and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance for federal, state and municipal public agencies.

An Environmental Attorney will also join the panel. The educational session is sponsored by Commercial Properties Group and the San Diego East County Economic Development Council.

Link to more information about storm water management

Posted by Diane Samuels at 9:36 am