Water pollution crackdown.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is proposing to crack down on companies that discharge hexavalent chromium, a toxic chemical, into local groundwater or drainage systems. The agency has revised its general discharge regulation--which stipulates concentration levels and cleanup techniques--to include the chromium compound.

Meanwhile, the board is also proposing to limit trash from getting into local waterways and drainage systems in West Los Angeles, a portion of the San Gabriel Valley and the Wilmington area. A draft proposal was released in December, with the board expected to vote on the regulation later this year.

Under the measure, local governments must install screens and filters on storm drains and can require local businesses to do the same. This proposal is part of a larger effort to eliminate trash from all water bodies in the region.

A plan to eliminate trash from the Los Angeles River was unsuccessfully challenged several years back by a group of cities claiming it would cost too much. For more information, log onto the water quality board's Web site at scrwb.ca.gov/rwqcb4.

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