Storm brewing over efforts to limit runoff pollution.

REGULATIONS may be coming for storm water discharges from all construction and industrial sites in the state.

Last month, a panel convened by the State Water Resources Control Board concluded in a report that numeric limits for the amount of pollutants that can be discharged into runoff can be established for both construction and industrial sites throughout the entire state.

It's the first step in what could be a years-long process of setting limits on pollution discharges into rivers, streams and bays statewide. Some local water boards--including the one in Los Angeles County--have already enacted trash and chemical discharge limits from industrial sites and municipal storm drain systems.

But even this preliminary finding drew opposition from the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, which says the costs to industrial facilities to install runoff and pollution control technologies (such as water storage systems or recycling of runoff) would be prohibitive. Any numeric limits on discharges of storm water are "unrealistic, unattainable and would waste precious taxpayer dollars while also driving employers out of business," the trade group said.

Numeric limits for discharges of some chemicals and trash are already in force for the Los Angeles River watershed and have been proposed for the San Gabriel River watershed. Any state regulations would apply to discharges into all bodies of water from commercial and industrial sites, including the ocean.

The panel's report did not recommend establishment of numeric limits on discharges from municipal storm water systems, saying they are too geographically spread out to get accurate measurements.

Public comments on the report are due by Aug. 4; the agency can be reached at www.waterboards.ca.gov.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at [phone], ext. 227, or by e-mail at [e-mail].