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Section 4.0 – Environmental Setting and Discussion of Impacts <br /> <br /> <br />City of Redwood City 55 Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration <br />Sandpiper Elementary School Facilities Expansion November 2016 <br />4.9 HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY <br /> <br />4.9.1 Existing Setting <br /> <br />4.9.1.1 Applicable Plans, Policies, and Regulations <br /> <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) <br /> <br />In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in response to the rising <br />cost of taxpayer funded disaster relief for flood victims and the increasing amount of damage caused <br />by floods. The NFIP makes federally-backed flood insurance available for communities that agree to <br />adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. <br /> <br />FEMA manages the NFIP and creates Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) that designate 100-year <br />flood hazard zones and delineate other flood hazard areas. A 100-year flood hazard zone is the area <br />that has a one in one hundred (one percent) chance of being flooded in any one year based on <br />historical data. <br /> <br />Clean Water Act and Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act <br /> <br />The Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and California’s Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act are <br />the primary laws related to water quality. The CWA forms the basis for several state and local laws <br />throughout the nation. The objective of the CWA is to reduce or eliminate water pollution in the <br />nation’s rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal waters. The CWA outlines the federal laws for regulating <br />discharges of pollutants and sets minimum water quality standards for all “Waters of the United <br />States.” The Porter-Cologne Act established the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). <br /> <br />Several mechanisms are employed to control domestic, industrial, and agricultural pollution under <br />the CWA. At the federal level, the CWA is administered by the EPA. At the state and regional <br />level, the CWA is administered and enforced by the SWRCB and the nine Regional Water Quality <br />Control Boards (RWQCB). The State of California has developed several water quality laws, rules, <br />and regulations, in part, to assist in the implementation of the CWA and related federally-mandated <br />water quality requirements. In many cases, the federal requirements set minimum standards and <br />policies, and the laws, rules, and regulations adopted by the state and regional boards exceed the <br />federal requirements. <br /> <br />CWA Section 303(d) lists polluted water bodies that require further attention to support future <br />beneficial uses. The San Francisco Bay is on the Section 303(d) list as an impaired water body for <br />several pollutants. <br /> <br />State Water Quality Control Board Nonpoint Source Pollution Program <br /> <br />In 1988, the SWRCB adopted the Nonpoint Source Management Program in an effort to control <br />nonpoint source water pollution in California. The Nonpoint Source Management Program requires <br />individual permits to control discharge associated with construction activities. The Nonpoint Source <br />7.A. - Page 86