Draft CII Stormwater Permit: Latest Updates and November Workshop

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) is continuing to refine the proposed Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional (CII) Stormwater Permit, a regional permit aimed at reducing stormwater pollution from large, privately owned commercial, industrial, and institutional sites in the Dominguez Channel / Los Angeles & Long Beach Inner Harbor or the Los Cerritos Channel / Alamitos Bay watersheds in Los Angeles County. The draft permit offers three compliance options for regulated facilities to achieve compliance, the details of which have undergone several rounds of public comment and revisions. 

The Water Board postponed the November 20, 2025, public hearing for adopting the CII Permit (click link for video) and instead held a public workshop that day to gather additional stakeholder input, noting that the permit is not yet ready for adoption.  

Most Recent CII Permit Changes  

The most recent revisions (2025) to the draft CII Permit introduced several notable updates: 

• Required initial sampling: Before choosing a compliance option, all facilities must collect stormwater and non-stormwater discharge samples for a broad list of pollutants (including bacteria, metals, PAHs, nutrients, pH, pesticides, and toxicity, among others). 

• Pollution-prevention controls: All facilities must adopt procedures to minimize pollutant buildup on impervious surfaces. 

• New toxicity requirements: Toxicity exceedances will trigger a Toxicity Reduction Evaluation (TRE) and/or Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE). 

• Extended timelines for existing dischargers: 

• Notice of Intent and stormwater pollution prevention plan: due within 1 year of the permit’s effective date 

• Compliance Option selection: within 3 years 

• Port properties removed: The permit no longer applies to privately operated CII facilities at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

Key Takeaways from the Water Board Workshop 

During the November 20, 2025, meeting, stakeholders raised several ongoing concerns and requested clarification on several of the recent permit changes: 

1. Ongoing Uncertainty: Participants emphasized confusion around permit applicability, required sampling locations, and what information will be publicly available in SMARTS. 

2. Initial Sampling Challenges: Facilities are being asked to conduct sampling before they are officially enrolled, creating logistical questions around outfall identification and access. The initial sampling requirements are also expected to be costly, at least several thousand dollars per sample location.  

3. Owner vs. Operator Responsibility: The current structure allows either the property owner or operator to be the “Discharger,” with multiple commenters noting that this creates liability gaps and confusion. 

4. Limited Clarity on Compliance Options: All three compliance pathways were noted as lacking sufficient detail: 

   • Watershed Management Groups cannot set fees or commitments without clearer direction. 

   • Offsite compliance (Option 1) lacks detail around funding expectations. 

   • Direct sampling (Option 3) may be infeasible for many facilities. 

What’s Next? 

To be prepared to comply with the permit, ALG suggests assessing whether your location within the watershed and land use code are subject to the permit.  The LA County Assessor Portal is a great place to start: https://portal.assessor.lacounty.gov/  

The Water Board indicated that additional revisions will be made, and future workshops or hearings are expected, though no dates have yet been announced. 

To receive direct updates, subscribe to the Water Board’s email list for the CII Permit (Storm Water – Commercial, Industrial and Institutional).