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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-04-10 - AGENDA REPORTS - UPDATE NPDES PERMIT 2001/2006 (2)CONSENT CALENDAR DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Appro, April 10, 2001 Item to be presented UPDATE TO COUNCIL REGARDING 2001-2006 NPDES PERMIT Planning & Building Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council accept report for information only. BACKGROUND In accordance with the 1987 amendments to the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to establish regulations for storm water discharges into waters of the United States of America. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are used as the regulating instrument. The Act allows the EPA to delegate its NPDES permitting authority to states with an approved environmental regulatory program. The State of California is one of the delegated states. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit No. CAS614001 (CI 6948), of which the City of Santa Clarita is a permittee, expires this year. This permit allows the City to discharge storm waters into the Santa Clara River and its tributaries under certain regulations. City staff has worked with the County of Los Angeles, and on February 01, 2001 a Report of Waste Discharge (ROWD) was submitted to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region as an application for re -issuance of waste discharge requirements and an NPDES permit. This 2001-2006 NPDES permit will replace the current 1996-2001 permit, with the County as the lead permittee and the City designated as the co - permittee. The Regional Board has created a schedule for the review of the submitted application, or ROWD, and the eventual creation of the 2001-2006 NPDES permit that wil in effect for the next five (5) years. Please see the attached tentative Regional Bol be ard schedule. Major changes anticipated in the new permit are as follows: • Required monitoring station(s) in the Santa Clara River (this is presently done by L.A. County, but not in our watershed), Required enforceable inspections of industrial and commercial sites (a site visit program geared towards education is presently conducted by L.A. County), RECEIVED Agenda Item: '___% • Required tracking and clean up of trash in the Santa Clara River (this is presently not done, and although not technically a TMDL, this requirement is very similar in concept), • Required inspections of the underground and surface level storm drain system (this is presently done during maintenance activities and not as an area -wide effort), • Increased enforcement of state permitted (greater than five acres) construction sites (this is presently managed by the State), • In general the trend for the 2001-2006 permit is to move from a passive educational approach towards a more proactive enforcement approach, and • Generally, the requirements of the 1996-2001 permit are being increased by the Regional Board in the 2001-2006 NPDES permit. The previous permit was created to make municipalities establish mechanisms to prevent adverse impacts to the storm drain system. City staff has used these meerchanisms to educate and, when necessary, require compliance with the 1996-2001 permit. The 2001-2006 permit will require a move from an educational approach to one of greater enforcement. The City of Santa Clarita may be held liable for stormwater violations within its boundaries, which includes violations that occur due to City activity or inactivity resulting in inadequate implementation of the permit. Fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation can be incurred. In addition, the Regional Board has recently hired 18 more inspectors solely for stormwater enforcement, and one of the Board's major areas of concern is construction activity in the Santa Clarita Valley. Along with more enforcement, the 2001-2006 NPDES permit will require substantial monies to implement. One monitoring station (the Board could require three) is estimated to cost $37,000 for purchase and installation and $7,000 for yearly maintenance. Actual sample taking and analysis will cost approximately $35,000 per year. This plus additional costs associated with required monitoring of the river, inspection of the underground storm drain system and enforcement driven industrial inspections are all added costs to the City. Regional Board staff have met with the County of Los Angeles on four separate occasions to discuss the Countywide permit of which the City of Santa Clarita is not a permittee. Board staff have not yet requested discussions on our separate permit; instead, they have provided comments on the County -wide permit that the City can use as a template for our own permit development process. The Board comments reiterate their desire to see the above listed changes in the 2001-2006 NPDES permit. They have made it clear that although we issued a draft, they will be creating the new 2001-2006 NPDES permit. All Board comments express a watershed planned permit. In particular the Board wants the City to cooperate with Vneed for more stringent requirements, more enforcement action, and a move towards an overall County to protect beneficial uses downstream. entura ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS No alternatives have been identified since state and federal laws require the City to apply for and operate under an NPDES permit. FISCAL IMPACT The implementation of these regulatory requirements will increase the cost to the City and property owners for plan review services, permitting, monitoring and inspection. The costs incurred by the City are eligible for reimbursement through the Stormwater Utility Fee. However this fee was not established with the new permit requirements in mind and the revised requirements may not be attainable with the present fee level. ATTACHMENTS California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region tentative 2001 permit processing schedule TLL: S.\PBS\ENVSRVCS\NPDES2\2001Pe t\2001Permita euda.DOC LA County MS4 Proposed Renewal Schedule' Wed, Feb 14`h Meet with EAC Fri, Feb 23`d Issue ROWD comment letter Thur, March 15`h "Preliminary" draft/staff report ready for review Thur, March 22nd Meet with subcommittee of permittees to review preliminary draft Mon, April 2"d Issue first draft of permit/staff report (containing technical basis) Wed, April 181h Conduct workshop — location to be determined Thurs, April 26`h Brief Board on renewal process at Board meeting Tues, May 81h Comments on first draft due Fri, June 0 Issue final draft of permit and staff report, including responses to initial comments Fri, July 6`h Final written comments due Wed, July 18`h Issue "Response to Comments" to public and to Board Thurs, July 26`h Propose adoption at Board meeting 1 Does not include many "special' meetings that we anticipate, to discuss details of technical issues. Prepared on February 15, 2001