BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 44
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AJR 44
(Holden) - As Introduced June 9, 2016
PROPOSED CONSENT
SUBJECT: Municipal separate storm sewer system stormwater
permits: federal financial support
SUMMARY: Urges the federal government to provide greater
financial support for local agencies implementing a federal
mandate to improve storm water quality, including, but not
limited to, by passing legislation strengthening the Clean Water
State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and creating new grant programs to
assist in funding storm water projects.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the federal Clean Water Act to regulate discharges
of pollutants into the waters of the United States and to
regulate quality standards for surface waters. (33 United
States Code (USC) § 1251 et seq.)
2)Establishes the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit program requiring the State Water Board
and the nine California regional water quality control boards
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to prescribe waste discharge requirements which, among other
things, regulate the discharge of pollutants in storm water,
including municipal storm water systems. (33 USC § 1342)
3)Prohibits, pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act, the discharge of pollutants to surface waters
unless the discharger obtains a permit from State Water
Resources Control Board (Water Board). (Water Code (WC) §
13000, et seq.) Delegates to California's Regional Water
Quality Control Boards (regional water boards) the ability to
adopt water quality standards within their region of
jurisdiction. (WC § 13240)
4)Requires the State Water Board to develop a comprehensive
guidance document for evaluating and measuring the
effectiveness of municipal storm water management programs and
permits. (WC § 13383.7)
FISCAL EFFECT: None.
COMMENTS:
Need for the resolution: According to the author, "In 2012 the
California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles,
acting on delegated authority under the federal Clean Water Act,
issued a new Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Stormwater
Permit (MS4 Permit) regulating discharges in Los Angeles County.
The new permits provide for significant environmental benefits
to Los Angeles County's rivers, streams and coastline. However,
the environmental benefits come at a significant cost to the
local ratepayers forced to pay for the significant
infrastructure improvements required by the permit. At this
point the state has allocated nearly $1 billion in funds to
assist local governments and many municipalities plan ordinances
to charge ratepayers to for infrastructure costs. However, the
federal government has only provided $500 million to assist in
implementing what is, in essence, a federal mandate. AJR 44
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requests the federal government provide its share of funds to
help implement this important environmental mandate."
Storm water: Storm water is runoff from rain or snow melt that
runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways or
parking lots and can carry with it pollutants such as oil,
pesticides, herbicides, sediment, trash, bacteria and metals.
The runoff can then drain directly into a local stream, lake or
bay. Often, the runoff drains into storm drains which eventually
drain untreated into a local body of water. Both the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the regional
water boards have determined that storm water and urban runoff
are significant sources of water pollution that can threaten
aquatic life and public health. However, storm water may also
act as a resource and recharge to groundwater when properly
managed.
Regulating storm water: For nearly two decades, the State Water
Board has regulated runoff and treatment of storm water from
industrial and municipal sources in California, including storm
drains, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and the ocean.
The federal Clean Water Act requires the State Water Board and
regional water boards to regulate the discharge of storm water
from a number of sources. Storm water discharges in California
are regulated through NPDES permits.
Municipal Storm Water Permitting Program: The Municipal Storm
Water Permitting Program regulates storm water discharges from
MS4 permits, which are issued in two phases.
Under Phase I, NPDES storm water permits were issued for medium
(serving between 100,000 and 250,000 people) and large (serving
250,000 people or more) municipalities. Most of these permits
are issued to a group of co-permittees encompassing an entire
metropolitan area. These permits are reissued as the permits
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expire. The Phase I MS4 permits require the discharger to
develop and implement a Storm Water Management Plan/Program with
the goal of reducing the discharge of pollutants to the maximum
extent practicable. The management programs specify what best
management practices will be used to address certain program
areas. The program areas include public education and outreach;
illicit discharge detection and elimination; construction and
post-construction; and, good housekeeping for municipal
operations. In general, medium and large municipalities are
required to conduct monitoring.
Under Phase II, the State Water Board issues a General Permit
for the Discharge of Storm Water from small MS4s to provide
permit coverage for smaller municipalities (serving a population
less than 100,000), including non-traditional small MS4s, which
are facilities such as military bases, public campuses, prison
and hospital complexes.
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board: In 2012, the Los
Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a new MS4
storm water permit in accordance with the NPDES permit pursuant
to the federal Clean Water Act. That MS4 permit, according to
the author, enacted some of the strictest permit standards with
more than 30 pollutants being monitored.
According to the author, the total cost of compliance with the
MS4 permit for the County of Los Angeles exceeds $20 billion.
Existing efforts to make resources available: In January 2014,
in the midst of the state's ongoing four-year drought, Governor
Jerry Brown released the California Water Action Plan that
called for multiple-benefit storm water management solutions. To
accomplish this, the state and regional water boards are working
on multiple paths by providing financial assistance and working
cooperatively with local agencies to encourage multiple benefit
storm water projects for achieving regulatory compliance and
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supplemental water supplies.
The State Water Board has adopted the Storm Water Resource Plan
Guidelines to provide guidance for entities preparing a Storm
Water Resource Plan, and the Storm Water Grant Program
Guidelines to assist interested applicants with obtaining grant
funds for multiple-benefit storm water projects.
At a minimum, the Storm Water Resource Plan Guidelines seek to:
Maximize cooperation and collaboration among state,
regional and local agencies, and nongovernmental
organizations during the development and implementation of
a Storm Water Resource Plan;
Provide guidance for the identification and
prioritization of storm water projects and actions based on
quantitative analysis of multiple benefits; and,
Provide the appropriate geographic scale of watersheds
for storm water resource planning.
Proposition 1 Water Bond: The Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, also known as
Proposition 1 (AB 1471, Rendon, Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014),
approved by the voters on November 4, 2014, authorized $200
million to the State Water Board for providing matching grants
to public agencies, nonprofit organizations, public utilities,
state and federally recognized Indian tribes, and mutual water
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companies for multi-benefit storm water projects.
The State Water Board developed the Proposition 1 Storm Water
Grant Program Guidelines to establish the process and criteria
to solicit applications, evaluate and rank proposals, and award
funding to recommended projects.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF): The CWSRF program is a
federal-state partnership that provides communities with a
permanent, independent source of low-cost financing for a wide
range of water quality infrastructure projects.
Under the CWSRF, the US EPA provides grants to all 50 states to
capitalize state CWSRF loan programs. The states contribute an
additional 20 percent to match the federal grants. The CWSRF
state programs function like environmental infrastructure banks
by providing low interest loans to eligible recipients for water
infrastructure projects. States have the flexibility to target
financial resources to their specific community and
environmental needs.
Eligible projects include assistance to any public, private, or
nonprofit entity for measures to manage, reduce, treat, or
recapture storm water or subsurface drainage water.
California's CWSRF program has significant financial assets, and
is capable of financing projects from $1 million to $100
million.
Why additional resources are still needed: Despite the
Proposition 1 funding, local governments need more assistance to
comply with storm water requirements. Many jurisdictions in
Southern California are struggling to comply with new standards
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and upcoming enforcement of MS4 permits. While Proposition 1
offered limited funds to help, the cost remains prohibitive. AJR
44 is asking the Legislature to urge Congress to provide greater
financial support for local agencies implementing a federal
mandate to improve storm water quality by strengthening the
CWSRF and creating new grant programs to assist in funding storm
water projects.
Policy statement: AJR 44 includes a 'whereas' provision that
states, "The State Water Resources Control Board should delay
the 2017 compliance deadlines to enable local agencies to engage
in a good faith, collaborative process that can lead to a more
fiscally realistic and sustainable management ."
While the operative language of the resolution is asking the
Legislature to support asking the federal government for more
funding, in approving this resolution, the Legislature would be
supporting this policy statement as well.
Related legislation: SB 1260 (Allen) would require the State
Water Board to make information available online for compliance
with municipal storm water permit requirements. It was heard in
the Assembly Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee on
June 14, 2016, and was approved by a 7 - 0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Paige Brokaw / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965