Pending Winery General Order: Waste Discharge

Aug 1, 2017 at 1:00pm

SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

The SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Boad has a pending order for General Waste Discharge requirements for wineries to regulate subsurface land disposal of high-strength wastewater, which was previously handled locally by county permitting authorities. 

Since wineries produce a waste stream that is considered high-strength, this will affect some wineries that are not connected to a public sewer system and that discharge to land (surface and subsurface) in the San Francisco Bay area. Thus, the need for Waste Discharge Requirements is a result of a legal requirement. 

The order will apply to existing, new and expanding wineries. The timeline for the issuance of the Winery General Order has not been finalized but we are aiming for the fall/winter of 2017. A 30-day public engagement and comment period began on July 17, 2017.

To learn more about the order visit