Cal. Code Regs. tit. 23 § 3939.25
On March 9, 2006, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Los Angeles Water Board) adopted Resolution No. 2006-003 amending the Water Quality Control Plan for the Los Angeles Region (Basin Plan). The amendment revises Basin Plan Chapter 3, "Water Quality Objectives," to incorporate a variance provision for groundwater mineral water quality objectives (contained in Table 3-10 of the 1994 version of the Basin Plan). This authority allows the Los Angeles Water Board to approve permit-specific variances for the groundwater mineral quality objectives. The variances are to be limited in geographic scope to coastal aquifers where elevated concentrations of minerals are caused by natural sources due to an aquifer's proximity to the coast.
A discharger must submit to the Executive Officer a written request for a variance from compliance with the mineral quality objectives for groundwater. The Los Angeles Water Board may only grant a variance after a duly noticed public meeting. The Los Angeles Water Board's decision to grant or to deny a variance shall be based on evidence in the record. The Los Angeles Water Board may only grant a variance when it determines that the request satisfies the conditions specified in the amendment and that the variance is in the public interest. In granting a variance, the Los Angeles Water Board must include appropriate requirements in the Waste Discharge Requirements or enforcement order consistent with the State Water Resources Control Board's anti-degradation resolution (State Water Board Resolution. No. 68-16) and other applicable water quality standards specified in regional and statewide water quality control plans.
Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 3939.25