Requirements for cities to ensure that trash does not enter their storm drain systems are becoming increasingly stringent, leading to a mandate that no litter at all be permitted to enter storm drains by 2025. These regulations are in the Municipal Regional National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit(PDF, 16MB) (or MRP), issued by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (“Water Board”) most recently in May 2022.
There are several ways to comply with these requirements, but the one the Water Board prefers is to install approved full trash capture devices in inlets or at key points in the storm drain system itself. The requirements apply to public lands and to “lands that [cities] do not own or operate, but that are plumbed directly to their storm drain systems …,” which includes all of Emeryville. The City is beginning to require that land owners/operators install approved trash capture devices in all storm drain inlets. The devices must then be maintained by the owner/operator to meet regulatory requirements, as follows:
“Maintain, and provide for inspection and review upon request, documentation of the design, operation, and maintenance of each of their full trash capture systems, including the mapped location and drainage area served by each system.” Details of the maintenance requirements are in section C.10.b.i.a. of the MRP linked above.
The Water Board has worked with the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District to produce a list of approved full trash capture devices(PDF, 721KB).