Business Resources

Business Resources

What Local Businesses Can Do To Protect Clean Water

Below are a wide variety of business resources and Best Management Practices to prevent stormwater pollution and improve the water quality.

Apartment Managers
Apartment managers can play a key role in helping to prevent pollution of local waterways. The guidance below includes landscaping, building maintenance, parking, dumpster areas, and trash.

Automotive - Auto Body, Part Stores, and Repair Shops
The following brochures provide good information on BMPs for auto body repair, parts stores, on addressing and handling things like chemicals, dust, hazardous materials, paint, and waste commonly found in repair shops and supply stores.

Boatyards and Marinas
The following brochures and websites provide good information on BMPs for boat building and repair and for handling waste from commonly used products found in boatyards and marinas.

Business License Stormwater Discharge Permit Requirements (SB 205)
About SB 205

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) and the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Water Boards) prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater by industries through the National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. Regulated industries are required by law to obtain a stormwater permit.
Senate Bill (SB) 205, signed into law in 2019, requires a person or entity who conducts a business operation that is a “regulated industry” to demonstrate enrollment with the NPDES permit program. Regulated industries are those businesses with primary Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes that are identified by the State Water Board as requiring enrollment under the Industrial General Permit (IGP).
Beginning January 1, 2020, if your business is a regulated industry, completion and submission of the following information is required with your business license application:

  1. Name and locations of all facilities operated by the business
  2. All corresponding primary SIC codes
  3. One of the following for each facility operated by the business:
    • Stormwater permit number, known as the Waste Discharger Identification number (WDID), issued for the facility by the State Water Board.
    • WDID application number issued for the facility by the State Water Board.
    • Notice of Non-Applicability (NONA) identification number issued for the facility by the State Water Board.
    • No Exposure Certification (NEC) identification number issued for the facility by the State Water Board.
How to find out if your business needs stormwater permit coverage
  1. Find out the primary SIC code for your business by visiting the U.S. Department of Labor SIC code search here: https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html and search by keywords (for example: metal recycling, transportation, wholesale food manufacturing) OR your insurance broker should also know your SIC code(s).
  2. Find out if your business SIC code falls under the requirement for stormwater permit coverage.
    Refer to Attachment A of the Stormwater IGP to identify if your SIC code is in one of the categories of facilities subject to enroll under the IGP:
    • Feedlots of a specific size (SIC codes 0211-0272): Feedlot SIC codes
    • Manufacturing Facilities (SIC codes 20XX-39XX and 4221-4225)
    • Oil and Gas/Mining Facilities (SIC codes 10XX-14XX)
    • Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, or Disposal Facilities (often SIC code 4953)
    • Landfills, Land Application Sites, and Open Dumps (SIC code 4953)
    • Recycling Facilities (SIC codes 5015 and 5093)
    • Steam Electric Power Generating Facilities (specific activities under SIC code 4911)
    • Transportation Facilities (SIC code 40XX through 45XX [4221-25] and 5171)
    • Sewage or Wastewater Treatment Works (SIC code 4952)
  3. If any of your SIC codes match any of the regulated SIC codes listed in Attachment A above, then you will need to apply for stormwater permit coverage under the IGP.
How to apply for stormwater permit coverage

To apply for a stormwater permit, or for general questions, go to State Water Board or Regional Water Board website.
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Region 2):
www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: (510)622-2300
Fax: (510)622-2460
State Water Board stormwater contact:
E-mail: [email protected]
1-(866)-563-3107

Additional Resources

Types of IGP Coverage: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/docs/industrial/types_of_coverages.pdf
Attachment A of the IGP: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/docs/industrial/2014indgenpermit/atta.pdf
State Water Resources Control Board Industrial Storm Water Toolbox: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/toolbox.html
How to Find a Business’s Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/docs/sb205/NAICS_SIC_code_search_guide.pdf

Carpet Cleaners
Information on best management practices, proper wash water disposal, and the how ‘safe’ products affect wildlife.

Concrete, Stone, and Tile Work
Information on best management practices, including designated, lined, and bermed wash-out areas, storm drain protection, saw cutting slurry containment, wash water containment and disposal, and spill response.

Dental Offices
The guidance below includes best management practices on the proper disposal of various hazardous materials generated during dentistry, and amalgam separators for wastewater.

Gas Stations, Car Washes, and Auto Detailers
Information on best management practices, cleaning chemical and wash water containment and disposal, trash control, and spill response.

General Best Management Practices (BMPs)

These documents provide general guidance for selecting and implementing BMPs to reduce or eliminate the discharge of pollutants in runoff. They also include a self-inspection checklist to evaluate how well your business is addressing these practices.

  • Business Self Inspection Checklist
  • Stop Trash – A guide to reducing litter around businesses
  • Pollution Prevention: It’s Part of the Plan – A BMP guide for a wide variety of construction and maintenance activities to make sure your crews and subs are doing the job right. (English) | (Spanish)
  • Industrial and Commercial Handbook of Best Management Practices
    for an online subscription of up to date best practices. In Appendix D of the CA Storm Water Quality Association Handbook for Industrial and Commercial Users, you’ll find a host of BMPs applicable to various businesses including: Animal Care and Handling Facilities; Automotive Services (including Body Repair, Maintenance, and Service Stations); Food Service Facilities; Marinas and Boatyards; Mobile Cleaning (including Transportation, Food Service, Surface Cleaning, Carpets/Upholstery, Swimming Pools & Spas, and Water Softeners); and Landscape Maintenance.
Hardware Stores and Home Improvement Centers
Information on best management practices, including cleanup methods, wash water containment and disposal, garden areas, management of debris, trash, and hazardous materials, customer outreach, trash control, and spill response.

Horse Owners and Boarding
Check out our Horse Owners and Boarding page for information on facilities management, land management, manure composting, manure management, and more!

Hotels and Motels
Information on best management practices, including building maintenance, landscaping, parking areas, swimming pools and spas, trash control, and spill response.

Landscapers and Nurseries
This list below includes a series of fact sheets and information that will prove useful to nurseries and the landscape community. Also refer to the Landscape Maintenance Guide Sheet under Best Management Practices above.

Painters
A brochure detailing best management practices for painting and application of solvents and adhesives.

Pest Control
The following link will lead you to the Ecowise Certified website. On that site you’ll find information about the organization and how to become certified in integrated pest management.

Pet and Feed Stores, and Mobile Pet Groomers
Information on best management practices, including proper wash water containment and disposal, customer outreach, trash control, how ‘safe’ products affect wildlife, and spill response.

Plumbers
A one-page PDF document providing information on good plumbing practices in the San Francisco Bay area.

Portable Toilets
A brochure offering information for the cleaning, delivery, storage and maintenance, vehicle and equipment maintenance, pump-out and wastewater disposal, hazardous materials management, and spill response.

Restaurants, Supermarkets, and Mobile Food Services
Information on best management practices, including building maintenance, floor mat and equipment cleaning, food service cleanup, mobile food services, proper oil and grease disposal, landscaping, parking areas, dumpsters and trash control, spill response, and wastewater requirements.

Surface Cleaners
A brochure for businesses related to cleaning a variety of outside surfaces, plus links to the BASMAA website offering pollution prevention training and certification for surface cleaning businesses.

Swimming Pools and Spas
A brochure offering information for the proper draining of swimming pool, hot tub, and spa water, what to do with rinse water and backwash, filter cleaning, proper chemical storage and handling, and spill response.