BUSINESS INSPECTIONS

Inspection Program

Throughout Contra Costa County, industrial facilities and businesses are regularly inspected to ensure effective stormwater pollution prevention Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being used in everyday operations. These inspections are part of compliance with NPDES Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (“MRP”) Provisions C.4 and C.5, which require San Francisco Bay Area counties, cities and towns to conduct spill response as well as preventive, routine inspections to keep pollution out of our local waterways.

CCCWP staff administer a Group Inspection Program involving 16 Contra Costa Permittees and three local Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) inspectors (Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, Delta Diablo, and West County Wastewater District). Administration of the Group Inspection Program includes:

Assistance to the Contra Costa Permittees and POTW staff in developing inspection goals, ensuring MRP compliance concerns are integrated into business inspections
Training of inspectors to promote consistent inspection services countywide
Support for inspectors and municipal staff when needed.

Free educational materials are available for Contra Costa businesses and community members, including BMPs brochures and CCCWP’s 1-800-NO-DUMPING spill reporting hotline/online form. Stormwater inspectors promote these resources during their inspections, and CCCWP discuss these resources at annual stormwater inspector trainings.

Training

Every year, CCCWP offers a free workshop for commercial/industrial stormwater inspection staff and other water pollution prevention professionals. This workshop reviews the MRP stormwater inspection requirements, and it provides a space for staff to discuss challenges, strategies, and resources to comply with the MRP in Contra Costa County. The presentation contents are updated annually to reflect the most recent requirements and resources available to inspectors.

Annual C.4/C.5 Inspector Workshop: Tuesday, May 26th, 2026

The 2026 C.4/C.5 Commercial/Industrial Stormwater Inspector Training took place May 26th, 8:45am-11:45am, as a hybrid webinar and in-person workshop at Shadelands Art Center, 111 N. Wiget Ln., Walnut Creek.

View the Workshop Recording (Registration Required). Workshop materials are below.

Who this workshop is for:
Business/industrial inspectors, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination professionals, enforcement and response staff, and stormwater pollution prevention staff who work throughout Contra Costa County.

Topics for the 2026 Workshop:

This year’s workshop reviews the MRP requirements pertaining to the following MRP Provisions:

C.4 – Industrial and Commercial Site Controls (a.k.a. “routine stormwater inspections”)
C.5 – Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, or IDDE (a.k.a. “spill response”).

Workshop Materials:

Agenda: CCCWP C4 C5 Stormwater Inspections Workshop Agenda – 5-26-26 (PDF)

Pre-Workshop Quiz: Pre-Workshop Quiz (Microsoft Forms, anonymous)
Workshop Presentation, including post-workshop discussion updates:
CCCWP C4 C5 Workshop Presentation Slides (with post-workshop updates) – 5-26-26 (PDF)
- Group Activity: 5-26-26 Group Activity – Inspection Scenarios (PDF)
- Other items referenced
  - C5 – Example Template Spill Response Flow Chart and Contact Lists (Apr. 2026) (PDF)
  - Emergency Firefighting Fact Sheets, available on our BMPs webpage
    - Post-Fire Site Cleanup BMPs Fact Sheet (PDF)
    - Good Housekeeping BMPs for Fire-Prone Sites Fact Sheet (PDF)
Post-Workshop Quiz: Post-Workshop Quiz (Microsoft Forms, anonymous)
Post-Workshop Feedback: Post-Workshop Feedback (Microsoft Forms, anonymous)

Archive – Past Training Materials

See below for materials from past CCCWP Commercial/Industrial Stormwater Inspector Training Workshops.

Fiscal Year 2024-25 (May 2025)

The 2025 C.4/C.5 Commercial/Industrial Stormwater Inspector Training took place May 29th, 9am-noon, as a hybrid webinar and in-person workshop at Maple Hall,1000 Gateway Avenue, San Pablo.

CCCWP C4 C5 Stormwater Inspections Workshop Agenda – 5-29-25 – Updated

5-29-25 C4C5 Workshop slides – Final

Fiscal Year 2023-24 (May 2024)

CCCWP hosted a C.4/C.5 Commercial/Industrial Stormwater Inspection Training Workshop on May 30, 2024. This was a hybrid virtual and in-person workshop.
Agenda (PDF)
- Pg. 2 includes Useful Contact Information and Links for Inspectors
Presentation Slides (PDF)
- Environmental & Regulatory Background
- Inspection Basics and BMPs brochures
  - C.4 – Industrial/Commercial Stormwater Inspections
  - C.5 – Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
- Accessing a Site (Central San.)
- Situational Awareness (CCC Environmental Health)
- Coordination – Pesticides: The Role of the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office in Contra Costa County (CCC Dept. of Agriculture)
- Coordination – Spills in Creeks: Water Pollution Enforcement (CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)
Video of Training (Recording via Zoom, Registration Required to View)
- Quiz & Feedback Survey (Optional, encouraged)

Fiscal Year 2020-21 (July 2020)

Commercial/Industrial Stormwater Inspection Training Workshop in July 2020 (PDF).
A Case Study of PCBs Tracking at a Metal Recycling Facility (PDF);
Residential RVs and Stormwater (PDF); and
Senate Bill 205 (PDF).
- Senate Bill 205 requires a person applying to a city or county for a new or renewed business license to demonstrate enrollment in a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) storm water permit, if required. Prior to re/issuance of a business license it must be determined whether any of the primary Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes provided by the business are potentially regulated by the NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Industrial Activities (Industrial General Permit).

Fiscal Year 2017-18 (May 2018)

Fiscal Year 2016-17 (May 2017)

Fiscal Year 2015-16 (May 2016, Start of MRP 2.0)

Fiscal Year 2014-15 (Apr. 2015)

Fiscal Year 2013-14 (May 2014)

Fiscal Year 2012-13 Training (May 2013)

Fiscal Year 2010-11 Training (Feb. 2011)