State Water Board to begin stakeholder process on Water Quality Certification fee categories for FY26–27

State Water Board staff announced they will begin a stakeholder process to revise fee-category methodologies for the Water Quality Certification Program, with adoption anticipated for fiscal year 2026–27.

Cassandra White said the board will work with program staff to revise how fees are categorized and calculated for Clean Water Act 401 Water Quality Certifications. She said the revision will not affect the 2025–26 fee structure but that starting early will enable meaningful engagement. “Within the next few weeks, we'll begin scheduling Water Quality Certification specific stakeholder meetings,” White said, and she encouraged interested parties to sign up for the board’s fee-mailing list.

Why it matters: Water Quality Certification determines requirements for projects that potentially affect water quality and can affect project timelines and costs for infrastructure and development projects. Changes to fee categories could alter how applicants for 401 certifications are charged when the revisions take effect in 2026–27.

Next steps: staff said they will schedule program-level stakeholder meetings in the coming weeks, collect input, and plan outreach. Participants may sign up via the Fee Branch mailing list (feebranchwaterboards@waterboards.ca.gov). Staff emphasized that any changes would be adopted through the board’s normal regulatory and fee-adoption process and would be presented to stakeholders well before adoption.

Ending: Stakeholders who want to be included in the Water Quality Certification fee discussions were asked to subscribe to the fee regulations mailing list and attend the upcoming program-specific sessions.