CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: June 1, 2026
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
TITLE: ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. __-26 APPROVING THE PARTICIPATION
OF THE CITY OF PLEASANT HILL IN THE CONTRA COSTA
COUNTY REGIONAL ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE SYSTEM JOINT
POWERS AUTHORITY
SYNOPSIS
The San Francisco Bay Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP), originally adopted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2009, establishes annual stormwater treatment requirements that must be met by cities, counties, and flood control districts across the San Francisco Bay Area. The MRP has been reissued twice since its inception, and each version has increased its regulatory compliance measures.
To help permittees address the increased measures, the CCCWP is proposing a Regional Alternative Compliance (RAC) Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that would provide additional opportunities for participating jurisdictions to meet future MRP requirements.
The purpose of this item is to consider adopting a resolution approving the participation of the City of Pleasant Hill in the Contra Costa County RAC JPA.
DISCUSSION
Background
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit is a federal permit under the Clean Water Act that regulates the quality of stormwater runoff to prevent pollution to receiving water bodies. This requires public agencies to obtain a permit before discharging untreated stormwater into receiving waterways.
As a subset of the NPDES Permit, the MRP established enhanced stormwater management requirements. This includes expanded public outreach, watershed monitoring, illicit discharge control, and the installation and maintenance of trash capture devices.
To assist in achieving compliance with the MRP, the City of Pleasant Hill is a participant in the Contra Costa Clean Water Program (CCCWP), which enables Contra Costa cities, towns, and unincorporated areas—collectively referred to as “permittees”—to implement local and countywide stormwater programs in a coordinated manner. The current version of the MRP (MRP
3.0), adopted on May 11, 2022, is expected to expire on June 30, 2027. With the anticipated issuance of the fourth iteration of the MRP (MRP 4.0), permittees will face increased challenges in meeting certain permit requirements, such as lack of funding and a dearth of usable space within the public right-of-way to install green stormwater infrastructure (GSI).
The current MRP 3.0 requirements includes, among others:
• Trash reduction goal of 100%
• Compliance with GSI numeric standards
• Reduction of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) levels
• Implementation of enhanced construction site stormwater inspections with PCB inspections during demolition
• Installation of low-impact stormwater design (LID) measures in new private development projects, such as bioretention basins and flow-through planters To help fund the work required under the MRP, the CCCWP sought legislative approval to collect a Stormwater Utility Assessment (SUA) on property tax bills. State Legislature authorized this assessment in 1993 by amending the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Act. All permittees participate in the SUA except the cities of Richmond and Brentwood.
Over time, participating municipalities have increased the assessment to the maximum amount allowed by law. While SUA revenues are an important funding source, they alone are insufficient to fully meet MRP requirements.
In 2012, recognizing that expanding permit requirements would exceed available local funding, the CCCWP proposed a Stormwater Funding Initiative pursuant to Proposition 218. The proposed parcel tax was not approved by voters. As a result, municipalities have continued to face a significant funding shortfall in meeting MRP requirements.
City staff continues to work diligently towards achieving full compliance with the MRP with the current funding; however, the Water Board is expected to release a draft of the MRP4.0 for public review in 2027, which is expected to include more stringent standards, including an expanded GSI retrofit area, which is expected to increase the cost of compliance significantly.
GSI improvements are designed to disperse stormwater into vegetated areas, harvest and reuse runoff, promote infiltration, and treat stormwater before discharge into the bay. Retrofitting an existing public storm drain system requires redirecting stormwater runoff from existing hardscapes – such as streets, rooftops, and sidewalks (known as “impervious area”) – out of existing catch basins and into landscaped areas. In these areas, the water is treated using bioretention planters before being conveyed back into the storm drain network. The required size of each bioretention planter depends on how much impervious area drains into it. Because these systems must be added to areas that are already developed, there is limited flexibility in how much runoff each planter can accommodate. For example, using the “four-percent” method, a drainage area of 1,000 square feet requires a bioretention area of at least 40 square feet to properly capture and treat runoff during a major storm event. This requirement further limits the already scarce public landscaping available.
The City is required under MRP 3.0 to retrofit 2.09 acres of impervious surface for stormwater treatment and has already completed projects treating 0.7 acres through the Contra Costa Boulevard Complete Streets Project. Planned improvements along Buskirk Avenue and Geary Road are expected to fully satisfy the City’s current compliance requirements.
Analysis
As a mostly built-out city, Pleasant Hill has limited space in the public right-of-way to build new projects, which makes meeting current and future MRP requirements challenging. Future permit updates are expected to increase current requirements. While staff is actively pursuing ordinance updates, grant funding, and future projects to maintain long-term compliance, participation in the RAC JPA would further support these efforts and provide an additional, cost-effective path to staying in compliance.
Joining the RAC JPA would provide the City with an opportunity to generate revenue by building green stormwater projects that go beyond required standards. If the City becomes a member, it could sell “compliance credits” to developers or other cities that need help meeting their stormwater requirements. In this arrangement, the City would design and build approved green infrastructure projects that exceed their MRP requirement threshold, and other parties could purchase credits from those projects that provide additional GSI retrofit area to satisfy their own MRP obligations. In this scenario, buyers would pay the municipality an upfront cost for the credits, along with an annual fee to help the municipality fund the ongoing upkeep of the projects.
The RAC JPA would establish a Community Facilities District (CFD), which is simply a way to collect annual fees to pay for long-term maintenance. Through the CFD, if another member of the JPA buys compliance credits from the City, they would also pay operation and maintenance (O&M) fees to help cover the cost of maintaining the green infrastructure projects that generate those credits. O&M payments can be structured either as an upfront lump-sum payment (typically calculated over a 30-year period) or as an ongoing annual payment. When using the lump-sum method, the amount is estimated based on the anticipated annual maintenance cost per unit, along with applicable escalation assumptions and contingency/safety factors. As a result, the total upfront O&M amount is calculated specifically for each individual project. This allows maintenance responsibilities to be shared and helps recover some of the costs of building and caring for public facilities.
The City’s excess treatment capacity from future GSI retrofit projects could be converted into revenue to help fund larger unfunded projects, including the Linda Ditch retrofit. The RAC JPA would also create a Community Facilities District (CFD) to collect annual maintenance fees tied to these compliance credits, helping offset long-term operation and maintenance costs.
As a member of the RAC JPA and the CFD, the City would be able to sell compliance credits to other public agencies or private developers within Pleasant Hill, with pricing based on the longterm cost to maintain, repair, and replace each stormwater facility over its lifetime. The rationale behind the pricing of compliance purchases and maintenance cost bases is further explained in the Regional Alternative Compliance System Summary Report (see Attachment B).
The JPA will be established as a legally separate entity with liabilities independent of the participating permittees. A term sheet has been prepared by legal counsel (see Attachment D) that outlines the JPA’s powers, procedures for admitting new members, and the required legislative body approval process. To avoid pension-related liabilities, the JPA will appoint a contract manager who is not affiliated with any permittee, rather than hiring employees of a local government. Financial obligations will be limited to the JPA, and administrative costs will be shared equally among its members.
Joining the JPA at the outset is more cost-effective, as initial setup and outreach costs can be shared among the founding participants. As additional agencies join over time, these costs are expected to increase. If the City elects to include private developers within the CFD, ongoing administrative costs would also increase proportionally.
Member cities may withdraw from the RAC JPA at any time upon advance written notice and without penalty. However, any member electing to withdraw would remain responsible for any existing financial commitments related to RAC JPA projects or programs made prior to withdrawal. The JPA may continue operating as long as at least two member agencies remain.
Dissolution of the JPA requires agreement from all member agencies, after which any remaining funds and assets—following payment of outstanding debts and obligations—would be distributed proportionally based on each agency’s contributions.
FISCAL IMPACT
The one-time buy-in costs for the initial JPA members will range from $2,900 to $4,000, depending on the number of members involved. Continued participation in the RAC JPA will require the City to contribute to the JPA’s annual operating cost, which, under the Draft JPA Agreement, is shared equally among all member agencies unless modified by agreement (Draft JPA Agreement, Section 17). The amount of this cost will be presented separately upon confirmation of the final annual budget from the JPA Board.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public Contact was made through posting of the City Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center, and at the Pleasant Hill Police Department. The agenda and staff report are posted on the City’s web page.
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION
Move to adopt the proposed resolution to approve participation in the CCCRAC JPA, authorize the CM to execute the JPA, direct staff to revise the existing stormwater ordinance to reflect RAC participation, and authorize staff to collaborate in support of RAC System implementation.
ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDED ACTION
None recommended.
If the City does not join the RAC JPA, it may face uncertainty regarding the funding and resources necessary to the satisfy future MRP requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in enforcement action by the Water Board, including a cease-and-desist order and fines of up to $10,000 per day.
ATTACHMENT(S)
Proposed Resolution - RAC JPA
Attachment A - RAC System Overview
Attachment B - RAC System Fact Sheet
Attachment C - RAC JPA Agreement (Term Sheet)
Prepared by: Laetitia Porta, Senior Civil Engineer
Approved by: Ann James, Public Works Director