BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1260
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 14, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
SB
1260 (Allen) - As Amended April 11, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Stormwater: municipalities: online resource center
SUMMARY: Requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(State Water Board) to make information available online for
compliance with municipal storm water permit requirements.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the State Water Board to establish an online
resource center that addresses measures available for
municipalities to comply with municipal storm water permit
requirements.
2) Authorizes the State Water Board to include the Internet
Website link in the online resource center for the
following:
a. Relevant state, federal, and local agencies
regarding municipal separate storm sewer system
national pollutant discharge elimination system
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(NPDES) permits;
b. Water quality mitigation measures for
watershed management programs or enhanced watershed
management programs; and,
c. Various regional agencies related to storm
water, including, but not limited to, public works
departments and special districts.
3) Authorizes the State Water Board to include in the
online resource center a library of scientific studies
relevant to storm water issues confronting our communities.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes the federal Clean Water Act to regulate
discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States
and regulate quality standards for surface waters. (33 U.S.C.
§1251 et seq.)
2) Pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
prohibits the discharge of pollutants to surface waters
unless the discharger obtains a permit from State Water
Board.
3) Establishes the NPDES permit program requiring the State
Water Board and the nine California regional water quality
control boards to prescribe waste discharge requirements
which, among other things, regulate the discharge of
pollutants in storm water, including municipal storm water
systems.
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill was approved by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on consent; therefore, the fiscal
impacts of the bill are unknown, but likely negligible.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: According to the author, "Recent changes in
California's storm water discharge regulations have made
compliance a major challenge, particularly in Los Angeles
County. These changes include requiring local jurisdiction to
meet strict water quality standards and limit pollution from
storm water through Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
(MS4). Also, a 2012 regulation as part of MS4 permit renewal
adopted by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
forces Los Angeles County communities to limit 33 pollutants
rather than the previous 3. Upcoming regulations from the US
Environmental Protection Agency will likely increase enforcement
of water quality standards. These new mandates placed on cities
impose catastrophic costs, particularly for smaller communities.
The State Water Resources Control Board, as the state entity
charged with implementing the Clean Water Act, can help
jurisdictions by providing a website with critical information
and resources."
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 US EPA and
the Regional Water Quality Control Boards have determined that
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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) 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 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 (MEP). The management programs specify what best
management practices (BMPs) 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.
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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 (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: The MS4 permit for the
Los Angeles area adopted by the Los Angeles Regional Water
Quality Control Board (Regional Board) in 1996 allowed
permittees to be in compliance with the permit as long as they
were, in good faith, implementing the permit's iterative process
of evaluating and improving the Best Management Practices where
necessary to comply with water quality standards. This was
viewed as following the MEP standard.
However, several court challenges to this MS4 permit called the
"good faith" standard into question, and the 2001 revised permit
for the Los Angeles area did not contain the same standard.
Instead, the Regional Board determined that MS4 permits must
meet water quality standards and the NPDES permits must include
limitations necessary to meet those standards.
Federal and state law provide steep penalties for non-compliance
with provisions in a discharge permit. The Clean Water Act
authorizes civil penalties of up to $37,500 per day per
violation of permit conditions and also criminal penalties.
California's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act contains penalties
for violation of discharge permit requirements, authorizing a
penalty of up to $25,000 per day per violation. However,
according to the author, the cost to meet these water quality
standards is also high.
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
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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
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
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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
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.
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
and upcoming enforcement of MS4 permits. While Proposition 1
offered limited funds to help, the cost remains prohibitive.
While not offering funding, SB 1260 is proposing to make a web
portal for information on mitigation options, funding, and other
resources available to those who need it.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Association of California Water Agencies
City of Santa Monica
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Clean Water Action
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Paige Brokaw / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965