DATE: 04/16/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
Honorable President and Board Members
FROM: Utilities Department
2025-145
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AND
CORONA UTILITY AUTHORITY ACTION
SUBJECT:
RESOLUTION APPROVING THE SEWER SYSTEM MANAGEMENT PLAN AND REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 2023-022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to adopt a resolution approving the updated Sewer System Management Plan as required by State Water Resources Control Board Order No. WQ 2022-0103-DWQ. The Sewer System Management Plan documents how an agency manages, operates, and maintains all parts of the sanitary sewer system to help reduce, prevent, and mitigate sanitary sewer overflows.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That City Council adopt Resolution No. 2025-026, approving the Sewer System Management Plan and repealing Resolution No. 2023-022.
That the Corona Utility Authority review, ratify, and to the extent necessary, direct that the City Council take the above actions.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
In 2006, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted Order Number 2006-0003-DWQ Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) for Sanitary Sewer Systems. The order requires all federal and state agencies, municipalities, counties, districts, and other public entities that own or operate a wastewater collection system over one mile to develop and implement a system-specific Sewer System Management Plan (SSMP). On September 9, 2013, the SWRCB adopted Order No. WQ 2013-0058-EXEC, which amended the Statewide WDR requirements related to the monitoring and reporting program (Amended MRP). On December 6, 2022, the SWRCB adopted Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements for Sanitary Sewer Systems, Water Quality Order No. 2022-0103-DWQ (General Order).
ANALYSIS:
On May 3, 2023, the City of Corona adopted Resolution No. 2023-022 and approved changes to the SSMP. Under the WDR, the SSMP must be updated regularly and approved by the City Council when significant updates are made. The Utilities Department is committed to maintaining a functional and safe sanitary sewer collection system for the public's health and the environment. Staff receive annual training on the General Order, emergency response, and spill reporting. In addition, the Utilities Department has the sewer lines videoed regularly to look for areas of concern that could lead to backups or overflows.
The Utilities Department reviews the SSMP annually to ensure it meets the Department's needs and complies with all SWRCB requirements. The General Order requires the Department to update and implement the SSMP. The SSMP must be updated every six (6) years and include any significant program changes. Re-certification by the City Council at a public meeting is required in accordance with General Order section 5.5 when significant updates to the SSMP are made. Significant changes to the SSMP included updated spill notification, monitoring, and reporting requirements, Legally Responsible Official designation requirements, and updated deadlines for SSMP Audits (now due every 3 years vs. every 2 years) and SSMP Updates (now due every 6 years vs. every 5 years).
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The recommended action has no fiscal impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is to approve the Sewer System Management Plan update, the updates completed are all text changes to satisfy new Order requirements, so there is no possibility that adopting this resolution will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: AFTAB HUSSAIN, ASSISTANT UTILITIES DIRECTOR REVIEWED BY: TOM MOODY, UTILITIES DIRECTOR
ATTACHMENT:
1. Exhibit 1 – Resolution No. 2025-026