# Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II: What It Actually Does

This bill is about how San Diego's Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant can discharge treated wastewater into the ocean. Right now, federal water pollution laws have strict requirements for what can be dumped into the ocean. This bill creates a special set of rules just for this one facility, allowing it to operate under different standards than normal—but with some important conditions attached.

The plant currently pipes treated wastewater about four miles out to sea at a depth of at least 300 feet. This bill says the EPA can issue a permit allowing this to continue, but the facility has to meet specific pollution limits. Starting immediately, the plant can discharge no more than 12,000 metric tons of suspended solids (basically tiny particles and debris) per year. That limit gets stricter over time—dropping to 11,500 metric tons by the end of 2029 and down to about 9,942 metric tons by the end of 2031. The plant also has to remove at least 80 percent of suspended solids and 58 percent of organic matter from the wastewater before it goes into the ocean.

Here's the catch: the bill doesn't just let the plant keep doing what it's doing. It requires the facility to produce 83 million gallons per day of water suitable for drinking by the end of 2039. This is a major shift—instead of just treating wastewater and dumping it, San Diego would need to recycle most of it into drinkable water. The plant also has to maintain a continuous ocean monitoring program to prove the discharge isn't harming marine life. If the city can't meet these requirements, they'd have to switch to traditional secondary treatment, which means building new infrastructure to treat wastewater differently. Essentially, this bill gives San Diego a path forward but requires them to dramatically reduce ocean pollution and invest in water recycling technology over the next 15 years.