CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL
STUDY SESSION MEETING AGENDA
TUESDAY JUNE 11, 2024 5:30 PM
SAN DIMAS COUNCIL CHAMBER
CONFERENCE ROOM
245 EAST BONITA AVENUE
A public agenda packet is available for review on the City’s website www.sandimasca.gov or by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at [email protected].
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Emmett Badar, Mayor Pro Tem Ryan A. Vienna, Councilmember Rachel Bratakos, Councilmember Eric Nakano, Councilmember Eric Weber
CALL TO ORDER AND FLAG SALUTE
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
(Members of the audience are invited to address the City Council on any item on this agenda. Public comment will not be taken during each individual agenda item, except for public hearing items.
Comments on public hearing items will be heard when that item is scheduled for discussion. Under the provisions of the Brown Act, the legislative body is prohibited from engaging in discussion on any item not appearing on the posted agenda. However, your concerns may be referred to staff or set for discussion at a later date. Each speaker will be limited to speaking once for up to (3) three minutes.) STUDY SESSION
1. Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community
ADJOURNMENT
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Notice Regarding Americans with Disabilities Act: In compliance with the ADA, if you need assistance to participate in a city meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (909) 3946216. Early notification before the meeting you wish to attend will make it possible for the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting [28 CFR 35.10235.104 ADA Title II].
Copies of documents distributed for the meeting are available in alternative formats upon request. Any writings or documents provided to the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public review Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Administration Counter at City Hall and San Dimas Library. In addition, most documents are posted on the City’s website at www.sandimasca.gov.
Posting Statement: I declare under penalty of perjury that on June 7, 2024, I posted a true and correct copy of this agenda on the bulletin board in the Civic Center Plaza of City Hall at 245 E. Bonita Ave., San Dimas Library 145 N. Walnut Ave., San Dimas Post Office 300 E. Bonita Ave., Von’s Via Verde Shopping Center 1160 Via Verde Ave., and on the City’s website www.sandimasca.gov/agendasminutes/ as required by law.
June 7, 2024
Debra Black
Debra Black, City Clerk Page 2
Study Session
Agenda Item Staff Report
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
From: Chris Constantin, City Manager
Prepared by: Lauren Marshall, Sr. Management Analyst
Subject: Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program: Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community
____________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY
On March 12, 2024, the City Council directed staff to schedule a future City Council Study Session to discuss the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program that included the following:
• What is the stormwater program and its history?
• Stormwater Program Requirements
• Stormwater Program Impacts to the San Dimas Community
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council
• Receive and file information on the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program, overview, requirements, and impacts to the San Dimas Community.
FISCAL IMPACT
Compliance with the MS4 Permit continues to be a partially unfunded mandate. With the passage of Measure W (Safe Clean Water Program) in 2018, the City now receives approximately $600,000 per year in local return funds to assist with Permit compliance. These funds are used to supplement the cost of existing operational program expenditures such as regular maintenance of City-wide catch basins and channels that drain to local water ways. Only 1/3 of the Measure W Funds can be used on operational expenses. The remaining funds must be set aside to fund new projects and methods of compliance such as the required installation of catch basin filters or full
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 2
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
capture devices on almost 300 storm drains City-wide. The below table is submitted annually to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and shows the average expenditures for various operational program requirements in order to adhere to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) for the last ten years. To remain in compliance cities will be required to implement new project for treating, testing, and reducing water runoff. The costs of these projects are not included in the table below.
In order to comply with the Permit, there are several direct and indirect costs to the City. Direct costs include permit fees to the State Water Board, consulting costs for project development, stormwater plan updates, and stormwater quality monitoring, and most recently this Municipal Code update in the amount of $11,890. Other direct costs that are covered by Safe Clean Water funds include Minimum Control Measures such as catch basin cleaning, channel clearing, employee stormwater training, and public outreach, education, and enforcement activities. Maintenance and operational costs may not exceed $180,000 or 30% of the annual Safe Clean Water Municipal Funding. Services such as street sweeping are paid for out of the General Fund, yet are required as part of the MS4 Permit compliance activities.
The remaining Safe Clean Water funds are slated for new projects such as the Permit mandated catch basin screens and other capital expenditures that clean and/or capture stormwater runoff. This amount of $400,000 or 70% of the Safe Clean Water Municipal Funding has been set aside for multiple years for these expensive capital projects.
All of the aforementioned activities have indirect costs, namely staff time for tasks like construction site inspections, Industrial/Commercial facility inspections, and filing numerous reports to State and County Agencies multiple times per year. Where possible, the costs are transferred directly to the business or property that it applies as a pass-through fee.
All told, the City spends over half a million dollars, just in direct costs annually between Safe Clean Water Funding and the General Fund without staffing costs included.
The City has been awarded design funding for two park stormwater projects, but costs to build these new water quality facilities are anticipated to run nine to ten million dollars. Staff continues to look for funding opportunities to construct these facilities once they are designed as part of Permit compliance.
City Costs Related to Annual MS4 Permit Compliance Report Category Average Expenditures
2013-2023
(1) Program Management $135,000
Public Information and Participation
Program $7,700
Industrial / Commercial Facilities
Program $13,000
(2) Minimum
Control Measures
(MCMs)
Planning and Land Development
Program $3,100
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 3
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
Development Construction Program $9,800
Public Agency Activities Program $258,400
Illicit Connections and Illicit
Discharges Program $14,100
Additional Institutional BMPs /
“Enhanced” MCMs $1,500
Distributed Projects and Green Streets $20,000
Regional Projects $12,000 (3) Projects
Restoration Projects $0
(4) Monitoring $63,000
(5) NPDES MS4 Permit Fees $20,200
(6) Other[1] $27,800
TOTAL $585,600
[1]Categories may be added to the table as necessary
2013-14 Watershed Management Plan Development
2015-16 Grant Application Fees
2021-22 Trash Compliance
2022-23 Trash Compliance
As a whole, the estimated cost to implement 100% of the revised 2024 East San Gabriel Valley Watershed Management Group is cost prohibitive, especially with the rigidity of the Safe Clean Water funding guidelines, thus the City is looking at alternatives to compliance via infiltration projects and focusing on pollutant load reductions activities as illustrated in the below graphic:
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 4
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
BACKGROUND
On March 12, 2024, the City Council directed staff to schedule a future City Council Study Session to discuss the City Stormwater Program that included the following:
• What is the stormwater program and its history?
• Stormwater Program Requirements
• Stormwater Program Impacts to the San Dimas Community •
Stormwater/Water Quality
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) discharges consist of stormwater and nonstormwater generated from point sources throughout a watershed, collected and conveyed through the MS4, and ultimately discharged into surface waters. The MS4 includes curbs and gutters, man-made channels, catch basins, and storm drains throughout the Los Angeles region. Discharges may negatively affect the receiving surface water quality with pollutants such as bacteria, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), metals, and pesticides, and other man-made compounds. Aquatic toxicity, specifically during wet weather, is also a concern. Stormwater and non-stormwater discharges of debris and trash are also a pervasive water quality problem in the
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 5
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
LA region. Pollutants in stormwater and non-stormwater may have damaging effects on both human health and aquatic ecosystems when present at certain concentrations above water quality thresholds.
Through water quality assessments conducted by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB), the LARWQCB and U.S. environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have established 33 Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) that identify Los Angeles County MS4 discharges as pollutant sources causing or contributing to water quality impairments.
What is the stormwater program?
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program was established under the Clean Water Act of 1972 to regulate stormwater discharges, and to prohibit any pollutant discharge, unless in compliance with an NPDES permit. The Environmental Protection Agency was given the authority to enforce these regulations. The act was further amended in 1987 whereby municipalities were required to by implementing Best Management Practices “BMP’s” to help reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable, and to prohibit nonstormwater discharges. BMP’s are defined as activities, practices, facilities, and/or procedures that when implemented to their maximum efficiency, will prevent or reduce pollutants in discharges.
In California, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act was adopted that established the Regional Water Quality Control Board “RWQCB” as the State agency to develop policy for water control, and to monitor for compliance.
In June 1990, the County of Los Angeles obtained a 5-year Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit from the RWQCB. This permit called for the development of a series of programs for Los Angeles County’s extensive storm drain system. Seeing the need to unify to consolidate efforts, after the permit was issued, 84 cities in Los Angeles County decided to become a co-permittee under the County’s permit. San Dimas became a co-permittee in 1992.
This permit is updated approximately every five years by the RWQCB.
On November 8, 2012, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) adopted a new MS4 Permit, Order No. R4-2012-0175 (2012 Permit). With the 2012 Permit, many additional regulations were required of cities and counties to ensure acceptable water quality standards are maintained with respect to stormwater and non-stormwater discharges. Compliance with the permit requires that cities address and measure both the quality of stormwater runoff and the quantity of storm runoff.
In response to the new Permit requirements many cities decided to work together as a region as a cost-effective way to meet the new requirements, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding at its meeting of June 25, 2013, to develop a group Watershed Management Plan (WMP) and Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Program (CIMP) for the Cities of San Dimas, Claremont, La Verne, and Pomona (collectively known as the East San Gabriel Valley Watershed Management Group (ESGVWMG). At its meeting of August 11, 2015, the City Council approved a Cooperative Agreement between the ESGVWMG Cities to administer and share the costs for stormwater monitoring efforts within the four-city watershed area. These WMP and CIMP, created a guideline for the City to comply with the Permit. Within the Watershed Management Plan is a
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 6
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breakdown of receiving waters within each jurisdiction and the number of acre feet in each receiving water that must be collected and cleaned.
Within these waterbodies, the ESGVWMG have installed monitoring stations, as shown in the map below.
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 7
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 8
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
Additionally, the map below illustrates the results of our CIMP program monitoring and what types of contaminants are found in each location:
The Permit is required to be updated periodically. As a result, on September 11, 2021, the new MS4 Permit (Order No. R4-2021-0105) became effective. With each MS4 Permit the requirements on cities and counties have increased over time in order to meet water quality goals.
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 9
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
Stormwater Program Requirements
The City of San Dimas has two drainage systems, (1) the sewers and (2) the storm drains. Sewers convey waste from homes and businesses (bathrooms and sinks) and are treated at wastewater treatment plants. The storm drain system was designed to prevent flooding by carrying excess rainwater away from city streets out to the San Gabriel River and finally, out to the ocean. Runoff that enters the storm water system is generally not treated to remove contaminants. During storms in urban areas, rainwater runoff carries pollutants generated from commercial businesses, residential areas, streets, and sidewalks, directly to the ocean, creating stormwater pollution.
Materials such as sediment, paint, plaster, yard waste, vehicle brake dust, oil dripping from engines, animal waste, and trash contain chemicals, nutrients, and bacteria that are harmful to aquatic life and humans. The goal of the MS4 permit is to prevent these harmful contaminants from entering the storm drain system and ultimately our drinking water and oceans.
The City tracks the implementation of stormwater compliance measures through the Annual Report process. Data is collected by the city throughout the year and reported to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) each December.
The report summarizes the City’s MS4 compliance progress individually as well as the East San Gabriel Valley Watershed Management Group’s efforts. The MS4 Permit requires the reporting of the following:
• Program Management
o Costs related to administering the program such as attending meeting held by the LA Permit Group, the Upper San Gabriel Watershed Area Steering Committee, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, LA County Public Works • NPDES MS4 Permit Fees
o Fees charged by the LA RWQCB to administer the MS4 Permit • Minimum Control Measures (Measures that each jurisdiction must put in place as part of MS4 Permit compliance)
o Public Information and Participation Program
o Industrial/Commercial Facilities Program
o Planning & Land Development Program
o Construction Program
o Public Agency Activities Program
o Illicit Discharge Detection Elimination (IDDE) Program o Additional Institutional BMPs/” Enhanced” Minimum Control Measures • Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan/Watershed Management Program Development (Implementation Plan Development and Updates to comply with MS4 Requirements)
• Projects (Project put in place to meet water quality goals) o Distributed Projects and Green Streets
o Regional Projects
o Other Structural BMPs
• Trash Compliance (Devices put in place to prevent pollutants from entering local waterways)
o Trash TMDLs
o Discharge Prohibitions-Trash
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 10
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
• Monitoring (The ESGVWMG contracts with Stantec to ensure compliance with the MS4 permit water monitoring compliance during wet and dry weather) o Monitoring Plan Development
o Outfall Receiving Water Quality Monitoring
o BMP Effectiveness Monitoring
o Regional Studies
o Special Studies
Failure to comply with the MS4 Permit puts cities at serious fiscal impacts, including fines for both the City and a violator in the City up to $10,000 per day.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS
Stormwater Impacts to San Dimas Community
As the introduction of each new permit has shown, requirements are ever increasing as thresholds for allowed pollutants become stricter and stricter. This impacts not only the City, but the community as a whole.
The Community as a whole must adhere to MS4 Permit requirements and ensure no pollutants enter local waterways. The City provides educational material to residents and any contractors that may work in the City to assist in avoiding these violations. Additionally, licensed contractors cannot receive their California Contractor’s License without acknowledging stormwater requirements that they must adhere to. While City staff work to educate the community, the MS4 Permit and the San Dimas Municipal Code allow for citations to be issued for those that fail to comply. Should the City fail to enforce the stormwater permit standards, then the City could also be found in violation and subject to the same fines.
The table below illustrates that the East San Gabriel Valley Watershed Management Group are meeting Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) per the MS4 Permit as illustrated by the table taken from the updated and recently approved 2024 Watershed Management Program:
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 11
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Developers
Development Projects in the City must also adhere to the MS4 Permit. All construction sites must implement Best Management Practices to ensure no pollutants leave the site and enter local waterways. Additionally, Low Impact Development requirements dictate that approved Low Impact Development (LID) plans must be reviewed, approved, and enforced by the City to ensure only clean, pollutant free water leaves the site once the project is completed. This requires many staff hours for the review, approval, and enforcement of LID plans. As a result, total development costs may be increased anywhere from 1%-5% to comply with the MS4 Permit. The actual amount of increase would be dependent on the project and may reach hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the size of the development. For small projects such as a single-family house the costs may be much less and consist of installing sandbags.
Industrial/Commercial Facilities Program
Prior to the 2012 MS4 Permit, the Regional Board required cities to implement an industrial/commercial facilities program to ensure businesses were complying with permit requirements. With the current 2021 MS4 Permit cities are required to conduct the program with the following requirements:
• Inventory and track Critical Industrial/Commercial Sources (approximately 200 entities) • Educate, assist, and inspection Critical Industrial/Commercial Sources every two years for the life of the Permit which is set to expire in 2026 • Ensure compliance with municipal policies, procedures, and/or ordinances at industrial commercial facilities that are critical sources of pollutants in stormwater To minimize costs and time spent on required inspections for businesses, staff will be bringing forward an RFP for award of contract in July 2024 to the City Council that will recommend combining required Solid Organic Waste Compliance Regulations (SB 1383) inspections with these stormwater inspections. The inspections are typically conducted as a passthrough fee to the specific business that is required to adhere to MS4 permit requirements and may range up to $450. This is an estimated cost based on what another city is charging for inspections and the City will have firm costs for the Council when the item is brought forward this Summer.
Upcoming Staff Reports to City Council in June/July 2024:
• Award of Contract Lone Hill Park Stormwater Project Design • Award of Contract of Full Capture Device Installation • Second Reading & Adoption of Ordinance 1306 Amending Chapter 14.11 (Stormwater Management and Discharge) & Chapter 14.13 (Low Impact Development) of the San Dimas Municipal Code per the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit\
• Amendment 8 of East San Gabriel Valley Watershed Management Group for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 MS4 Permit Compliance
• Award of Contract for Consultant to Conduct Industrial/Commercial Stormwater Inspections & SB 1383 Inspections Per MS4 Permit and Cal Recycle Requirements
ALTERNATIVES
Not applicable.
Discussion of City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program:
Overview, Requirements, Impacts to Community Page 12
For the Meeting of June 11, 2024
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3), CEQA does not apply to this item because there is no potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no additional environmental review is needed at this time.
Respectfully submitted,
Lauren Marshall
Sr. Management Analyst