Success Story:

The greater San Francisco Bay area is home to many moderately and highly urbanized creeks and
streams that support the diversity of riparian plants and wildlife. These streams ultimately flow into
the San Francisco Bay, one of our nation’s most biologically productive estuaries. Applied Materials’
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program sought to protect the sensitive receiving waters of this area.
This program exceeds what is generally considered to be Best Management Practices (BMP) under the
local Regional Water Quality Control Boards General Permit.

OBJECTIVE: In June of 2000, Applied Materials installed Safe Drain storm drain inlet protection to all of
its Santa Clara and Sunnyvale campuses and began to closely monitor approaching storms. The objective
was to provide a means of ensuring normal day-to-day operations without risk to the environment from its
activities. Safe Drain technology responds to the risk that contaminants will reach the sensitive receiving
waters of the San Francisco Bay and its tributaries via run-off from the paved private parking lots and roads
adjacent to our operations in these Northern California cities.

ACTIVITIES: The initial project installed more than 470 Safe Drain units, all with the unique capability of
allowing total control over storm water discharges and prevention of any accidental spills, such as leaking
automobile fluids, from entering into the munipal storm drain system.