Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board 1685 E Street Fresno, CA 93706 NOTICE OF INTENT concerning DRAFT INITIAL STUDY AND NEGATIVE DECLARATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board) will consider approving a Draft Initial Study and Negative Declaration in support of General Waste Discharge Requirements for Fruit and Vegetable Packing Facilities within the Central Valley Region (or Packing General Order) at a public meeting scheduled for: DATE: 27/28 AUGUST 2026 TIME: To Be Determined PLACE: Regional Water Quality Control Board, Rancho Cordova 11020 Sun Center Drive, Suite 200 Rancho Cordova, CA 95760 The date, time, and location of the public meeting may change after this Notice is issued. A Final Agenda for the meeting will be made available at least 10 days before the meeting. The Final Agenda, and any information concerning changes to the date, time, location, or format of the public meeting, will be posted on the Central Valley Water Board's website, Central Valley Water Board's website at (https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_info/meetings/) and will be emailed to all persons that sign up for the GovDelivery subscription list at (https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/reg5_subscribe Tentative Resolution The tentative Resolution will approve an Initial Study and Negative Declaration in support of adoption of the Packing General Order. The Packing General Order will streamline the permitting process and improve consistency throughout the region. The Packing General Order will cover facilities that wash, sort, store, and ship fruits and vegetables for export or sale and discharge between 10,000 gallons and 180 million gallons of process wastewater annually within the Central Valley region. Interested parties may access a digital copy of the tentative Resolution as well as the Initial Study, tentative Packing General Order and associated documents on the Board's Tentative Orders website, under the heading, "All Other Items for Future Board Meetings," at (https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_decisions/tentative_orders/). Copies may also be obtained by visiting the Central Valley Water Board's office at 1685 E Street, Fresno CA 93706 or by contacting the Board by phone at (559) 445-5116, weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Questions concerning the tentative Resolution or anything in this Notice should be directed to Katie Carpenter at (559) 445-5551 or Katie.Carpenter@waterboards.ca.gov. Opportunity to Comment The Board will consider oral and written comments on the Initial Study and Negative Declaration before it votes on whether to adopt the tentative Resolution. Written comments or evidence must be submitted by 5:00 pm on 20 July 2026. Please email comments to centralvalleyfresno@waterboards.ca.gov and copy Katie Carpenter at Katie.Carpenter@waterboards.ca.gov with the subject line, "Comments on Initial Study/Negative Declaration for Packing General Order". Written comments may also be mailed to: Attention: Katie Carpenter Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board 1685 E Street Fresno, CA 93706 The Board Chair may refuse to admit comments or evidence received after the comment period unless the submitting party provides a reasonable explanation for why the submission is late and the Board Chair determines that admission of the late submission would not prejudice any other party. Information on meeting procedures can be found on the Board's Meeting Procedures webpage at (http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_info/meetings/mtgprocd.shtml). Hearings before the Central Valley Water Board are not conducted pursuant to Government Code section 11500 et seq. All meeting procedure information is also available on request to any one of the Central Valley Water Board's offices. Questions regarding such procedures should be directed to Mindy Bunn at (916) 464-4839 or Mindy.Bunn@waterboards.ca.gov IPL0351750 Jun 23 2026