TO: HONORABLE MAYOR FROM: Kerrie Romanow
AND CITY COUNCIL Jacky Morales-Ferrand
Jon Cicirelli
SUBJECT: S EE BELOW DATE: November 21, 2022
Approved Date
12/1/22
SUBJECT: DIRECT DISCHARGE TRASH CONTROL PLAN UPDATE APPROVAL
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a Resolution approving the updated Direct Discharge Trash Control Program plan and directing staff to submit the Plan to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board by January 3, 2023, as required under the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit provision C.10.f.ii; and further authorizing the City Manager to modify the plan as necessary after the Water Board’s review.
OUTCOME
Minimizing directly discharged trash in our creeks has benefits beyond compliance with the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (Stormwater Permit). Having healthy and clean creeks is essential for the health of aquatic wildlife and riparian habitats within City of San José’s urban environment that ultimately helps our neighborhoods be vibrant and energized.
Approval of this recommendation will allow staff to submit an updated Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan (DDTCP) to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) by January 3, 2023, as required under the Stormwater Permit provision C.10.f.ii. (A copy of the updated DDTCP is attached to this memorandum.) If the DDTCP is approved by the Water Board’s Executive Officer, the City will qualify for trash load reduction (TLR) credits through June 2025, which is part of our plan to comply with Stormwater Permit mandates.
However, the City will be required to comply beyond June 2025 regardless, to meet the federal Clean Water Act regulations. Approval of this recommendation will also allow the City to perform additional evaluation and analysis on program needs to identify potential additional costs for the duration of the DDTCP.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 12/13/22
FILE: 22-1861
ITEM: 6.5
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The revised DDTCP summarizes actions the City will take to address trash that is directly discharged into City waterways through encampments and activities of people experiencing homelessness. Based upon the Water Board’s resolution to address adverse water quality impacts of homeless encampments, the City was approved by the Water Board to implement the DDTCP in 2016. However, under the new Stormwater Permit, it is required to revise and to resubmit a new DDTCP to the Water Board for reapproval. The revised DDTCP details programs and tasks done under the current DDTCP and incorporates work currently done by the Housing Department and Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department’s BeautifySJ Program to fulfill requirements in the new Stormwater Permit. Programs and tasks implemented under the DDTCP result in hundreds of tons of trash removed from City creeks, services provided to people experiencing homelessness, and people moved out of homelessness. The DDTCP allows the City to demonstrate necessary actions to address trash in waterways, and if deemed acceptable to the Water Board, the City can claim up to 15% TLR credits. These credits are critical and needed to comply with Stormwater Permit mandates to achieve 90% TLR by June 30, 2023 and 100% TLR by June 30, 2025. However, this and other important credits for river and creek cleanups expire on June 30, 2025. In the interim, the City must find alternative measures to comply with the Stormwater Permit to meet the TLR without these credits to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act.
BACKGROUND
Regulatory Requirements
The Clean Water Act states that it is unlawful to discharge any pollutant into the waters of the United States except in compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Federal law delegates this permitting to the State, which, in turn, issues industrial, sanitary, and stormwater permits. The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) has the authority to administer the NPDES permit on behalf of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. The State Water Board is comprised of nine regional boards. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board oversees the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Stormwater Permit covers 76 agencies throughout the region. The City has held an NPDES permit for the City's municipal separate storm sewer system since 1990.
Trash as a pollutant of concern was first introduced in the Stormwater Permit in 2009. Each permit term is five years, except for the second Stormwater Permit which was extended by two years due to extensive negotiations with agencies and Water Board staffing resource constraints.
The current Stormwater Permit became effective as of July 1, 2022.
In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency defines water quality goals under the Clean Water Act. Data is collected by the State’s Water Board through public requests to provide water quality assessments that meet the data quality standards set forth by the Clean Water Act. This is conducted every six years on a rotating basis for two to three watershed regions throughout the State. The data is used to rate water quality based on aquatic life, biological, human health, and
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
microbial/recreational criteria1. In San José, both Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek have been identified as impaired with trash, pesticides, and mercury.
For almost 10 years, the Water Board has focused on encampments and their impacts on water quality. For example, on May 13, 2015, the Water Board adopted Resolution No. R2-2015-004 “Actions to address the adverse water quality impacts of homeless encampments.” The resolution states that “discharges of trash and human wastes from homeless encampments pose a significant water quality and public health threat” and “the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay Basin, known as the Basin Plan, prohibits the discharge of rubbish, refuse, or other solid wastes into surface waters or any place where they would be eventually transported to surface waters, including flood plains. Discharges of trash from homeless encampments are covered under this prohibition.” The resolution specifies, “the problem of discharges of trash and human waste from homeless encampments is entwined with complex and challenging societal issues, including poverty, the Bay Area’s high cost of living, and un- and under-employment.”
Under the previous Stormwater Permit, the City was required to achieve 100% TLR by July 1, 2022. The City exceeded that target, accomplishing 103.4%, by implementing a combination of structural trash controls (51.7%), trash assessments (16.7%), source controls (10%), creek cleanups (10%), and the DDTCP (15%).
The City implements a multi-faceted strategy to achieve the overall TLR goals:
• Prevention: public education and outreach, source control bans, enforcement, public litter cans, and more which prevent litter before it becomes litter; • Interception: installation and maintenance of structural controls such as inlet screens and large trash capture devices designed to capture trash in the storm sewer system before it can discharge to creeks; and
• Clean-up: removing litter via street sweeping, contracted service, volunteer actions, partnerships with Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water), and the DDTCP.
San José is home to approximately 140 miles of waterways. Protecting the water quality of this vast riparian area requires significant resources and commitment. In the beginning, the City identified that direct discharges in waterways were primarily due to trash from encampments and it was an opportunity to obtain an additional 15% TLR credit. In 2015, the City identified an innovative approach that included cross-department collaboration and interagency partnership with Valley Water. The City was the first municipality in the San Francisco Bay Area that was approved by the Water Board to implement a DDTCP.
The goal of the first DDTCP was to address focus zones along the City’s three major waterways:
Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River, and Los Gatos Creek. Due to the complex nature in ensuring water quality in our waterways, the City takes a prioritized approach of targeting available resources in waterways where there are many encampments. It is a comprehensive and systematic approach to reduce or prevent directly discharged trash completely. Since its 2016
1 For further information on water quality, please see https://mywaterway.epa.gov.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
approval, the DDTCP has been expanded and implemented through a coordinated effort among Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department’s BeautifySJ Program, the Department of Housing’s Homeless Response Team, Environmental Service Department’s Watershed Protection Team, the Department of Transportation’s Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program, Valley Water, and local non-profits such as Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition.
The Stormwater Permit sets minimum trash removal goals each year for the DDTCP to earn the 15% TLR credit. Table 1 below shows the City far exceeded the goal each year:
Table 1: Trash removed from creeks by work done under the DDTCP (in tons)
Fiscal Year
Removal Goal (per
Stormwater
Permit)
Actual Tons
Removed
FY 16-17 67 tons 581 tons
FY 17-18 67 tons 890 tons
FY 18-19 200 tons 526 tons
FY 19-20 186 tons 446 tons
FY 20-21 186 tons 349 tons
FY 21-22 186 tons 432 tons
Since FY 15-16, the City has claimed the maximum 15% TLR credit and has met or exceeded trash reduction targets each year, removing over 3,200 tons of trash from our creeks (nearly 6.5 million pounds).
Impacts of Trash from Encampment within Waterways and Riparian Corridors Since the early 1990s, the City has actively worked to clean up homeless encampments along creeks. These efforts involved a long history of partnering with Valley Water to jointly reduce the accumulation of trash and its environmental impacts in waterways from encampments. In 2008, the City and Valley Water amended an existing Memorandum of Agreement to include encampment cleanups. In 2012, the City created the Homelessness Response Program to address the growing homeless population in San José with a more comprehensive and coordinated effort, including providing housing and services to the unhoused, protecting and restoring the environment, and engaging the community.
The City is party to a consent decree with San Francisco Baykeeper . 2 The consent decree
requires the City to annually conduct a receiving water monitoring analysis about the sources of trash and report the results. Since 2017, an average of 88% of the trash found in creeks is coming from the activities of people experiencing homelessness.
2 San Francisco Baykeeper v. City of San José
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
Past Enforcement Actions
The Water Board has the authority to enforce actions upon any permittee for potential violations of the Stormwater Permit. For example, on September 5, 2014, the Water Board initiated an investigation3 into the City's Homeless Encampment Response Program. The City was required to provide additional information on its plans and efforts to eliminate the discharge of human waste to Coyote Creek from property owned by the City, formerly known as the “Jungle,” located at Story and Senter Roads. Through subsequent reports to the Water Board, the City provided short-term actions to address the issue of human waste and provided additional information on its intermediate and long-term plans, known as the City's Rapid Re-Housing Pilot Project, to permanently close and secure the encampment noted above. These efforts took approximately one year to plan and implement. Upon successful completion, the Water Board commended the City’s multi-faceted comprehensive approach to solving the problem at this location.
Complexity of Waterways in City of San José
There are several Federal, State, and regional agencies that oversee various aspects of the waterways. For example, United States Army Corps of Engineers focuses on engineered solutions to mitigate risk such as floods; United States Fish and Wildlife and California Fish and Wildlife focus on various aspects to conserve, to protect, and to enhance fish, wildlife, and plants, and their habitats; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's ocean resources and their habitats; and the Water Board focuses on water quality. These agencies identify multiple environmental, structural, and life safety concerns resulting from encampments in waterways. Issues include trash and human waste, bank excavation, erosion, vegetation removal, habitat degradation, and wildfires.
Another challenge working with waterways within San José’s jurisdiction is that the City owns approximately 12% of the total parcels along Guadalupe River and 18% of the total parcels along Coyote Creek. Approximately 20% are privately owned parcels along Guadalupe River and 48% are privately owned parcels along Coyote Creek. The remaining are owned by other public agencies such as the Federal government, County of Santa Clara, Valley Water, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. To completely manage the entire waterway and ensure the riparian corridors are protected requires a significant amount of coordination and resources throughout the City and across multiple agencies.
From an equity perspective, approximately 44.5% of parcels near creeks within the City are low to moderate income residents. This is based on using the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s designation, which is 51% or more of the households earn less than 80% of the Area Median Income.
Many of these residents are disproportionately located near Coyote Creek versus Guadalupe River.
3 California Water Code Section 13267 authorizes the Water Board to initiate an investigation and demand information from anyone who has discharged or is suspected of discharging any waste that may impact the quality of the waters.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
ANALYSIS
The current Stormwater Permit, effective as of July 1, 2022, like its predecessors, requires the City to effectively prohibit all non-stormwater discharges, including rubbish, refuse, and other solid wastes into surface waters. There are provisions (see below) that specify actions necessary to reduce the discharge of stormwater pollutants to the maximum extent practicable and effectively prohibit non-stormwater discharges into the municipal separate storm sewer system and waterways to protect local creeks and the San Francisco Bay. Many of the new requirements in the new Stormwater Permit are fulfilled by current programs and services delivered by the City. Further evaluation and analysis will identify the potential for future funding needed to implement the DDTCP.
Stormwater Permit – Provision C.10 TLR Requirements
Provision C.10.f.ii requires the City to update and to submit a revised DDTCP to the Water Board by January 3, 2023. Upon acceptance by the Water Board, the City can claim up to 15% TLR credits each year for fiscal years 22-23, 23-24, and 24-25. The Stormwater Permit requires the DDTCP to include:
• Description of sources of the directly discharged trash; • Commitment to and a plan for increasing the provision of emergency, transitional, and/or permanent housing; trash and sanitary services; and other services which are necessary to reduce discharges associated with unsheltered homelessness, such as recreational vehicle safe parking areas and pump out services, and social services that can help the unsheltered homeless transition to housing;
• Map of the affected receiving water area and associated watershed; and • Effectiveness evaluations for actions, such as quantification of trash volume controlled, and an assessment of resulting conditions and improvements to the conditions of the waterways.
The City is a leader in providing services and housing to people experiencing homelessness within its community, including those living along waterways. The Stormwater Permit does state to prioritize housing and services to those experiencing unsheltered homelessness living near waterways. Trash continues to be a major pollutant of concern in the Stormwater Permit, with specific requirements detailed in the C.10 Trash Load Reduction. Provision C.10 details specific actions the City must take to reduce trash and mandates TLR from 2009 levels by 90% by June 30, 2023 and 100% by June 30, 2025.
Stormwater Permit – (New) Provision C.17 Discharges Associated with Unsheltered Homeless Populations
The Stormwater Permit added a new provision, C.17 Discharges Associated with Unsheltered Homeless Populations, that details required actions to address non-stormwater discharges associated with the activities of people experiencing homelessness near the municipal separate storm sewer system and/or waterways such as
• Mapping all encampments within 500 feet of a waterway,
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
• Prioritizing housing for people experiencing homelessness near waterways, and • Addressing biowaste from recreational and other lived-in vehicles.
The revised DDTCP addresses requirements written in provisions C.10 and C.17 in the Stormwater Permit.
Summary and Highlights of Updated DDTCP
The updated DDTCP includes highlights of key programs and services such as:
• A description of the sources of the directly discharged trash in San José creeks • Homeless Prevention, Support, and Management Programs - Descriptions of the multiple programs and services the City, our partner agencies, and nonprofit groups provide to people experiencing homelessness, including meeting basic needs, access to health services, and housing solutions.
• Trash Management Strategy - Descriptions of the wide array of trash and waste management services, including weekly trash collection for encampments, trash collection, and sanitary services for those residing in vehicles; escalated encampment cleanups; encampment setbacks; abatements; volunteer and contract trash cleanups; structural deterrents; and more. • Education and Outreach - Coordination of outreach and educational events through grant funded non-profit partners to raise awareness of local creeks and foster watershed stewardship and recreational activities for the community. • Monitoring, Effectiveness Assessment, and Reporting - Information on how the City will report out on efforts and their effectiveness.
• Maps of the DDTCP’s focus zones and project areas on Coyote Creek, Los Gatos Creek, and Guadalupe River.
To achieve these efforts, the City will continue to partner with Valley Water to jointly reduce the accumulation of trash and its environmental impacts from creek side encampments. The Memorandum of Agreement has been extended through June 30, 2024. The updated DDTCP includes all the same partners, with the addition of the Department of Transportation’s Abandoned Vehicle Abatement program and the non-profit group, The Trash Punx. The updated DDTCP also identifies implementation of bio-waste removal services from recreational and other lived-in vehicles that are parked in neighborhoods, business corridors, and parking lots; creating a dedicated team focused on the waterways to provide regular trash and debris collection and disposal.
CONCLUSION
The revised DDTCP is required to be submitted to the Water Board by January 3, 2023. It is important for the City to continue obtaining the 15% TLR credit to minimize the need for additional services to address trash. The DDTCP is a comprehensive creek strategy that focuses on environmental benefits that includes clean creeks and healthy riparian habitats.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Staff will return to the Transportation and Environment Committee and City Council in 2023 to provide updates on the Stormwater Permit reissuance.
CLIMATE SMART SAN JOSE
The recommendation in this memorandum has no effect on Climate Smart San José energy, water, or mobility goals
.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Alternative #:1: Do not update and resubmit the existing DDTCP Pros: The City’s existing DDTCP is already in place, and alternative compliance options worth 15% TLR credit are not developed.
Cons: The new Stormwater Permit has additional specific requirements, not contained within the 2016 DDTCP. As a result, the Water Board may not accept the 2016 DDTCP. If not approved, the City will not be able to claim 15% TLR credit. Without this credit, the City must take other actions to address or fail to meet the required 90% TLR by June 30. 2023 target.
Reason for not recommending: If the City does not adopt a new DDTCP, the City risks non- compliance with the Stormwater Permit and the Clean Water Act.
Alternative #:2: Eliminate the DDTCP
Pros: Without a DDTCP, the City will not need to amend encampment and homelessness programs but will be required to expand the implementation of other, presently not identified, programs to meet mandated trash reduction objectives.
Cons: Data shows most of the trash in the City’s waterways is directly discharged by the activities of people experiencing homelessness. There is significant and extensive need for the work done under the DDTCP to protect creeks and comply with the Stormwater Permit’s discharge prohibition (provision A.1). A DDTCP provides a useful tool for interdepartmental and interagency coordination. While the Water Board is phasing out TLR credits for DDTCPs starting in FY 25-26, the City requires additional time to plan and implement alternative projects to claim TLR by June 30, 2025.
Reason for not recommending: This program has been implemented since 2016 and enables the City to leverage multiple benefits from supportive programs to our unhoused community. If the City does not implement the DDTCP, then alternative programs will need to be implemented to minimize trash in our waterways from encampments that may result in significantly higher costs.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the City’s Council Agenda website for the December 13, 2022 City Council meeting.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney's Office and the City Manager’s Budget Office.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION/INPUT
No commission recommendation or input are associated with this action.
FISCAL/POLICY ALIGNMENT
These actions align with the City Roadmap – Ending Homelessness and Clean, Vibrant Neighborhoods, and Public Life.
COST SUMMARY/IMPLICATIONS
While many of the requirements of the DDTCP are fulfilled with services currently provided by various City departments, additional analysis is needed to fully develop program needs for the duration of the revised plan, as well to identify the shifting cost requirements that may be experienced across multiple departments. Staff will continue to evaluate current programs and regulatory changes and collaborate to develop an implementable approach to address the related requirements set forth in the Stormwater Permit. If necessary, future activities may include a re- examination and reallocation of existing resources to meet the most immediate needs, the identification of new or increased fees to pay for new and expanded services, leveraging Federal and State grant opportunities where available, and potentially require additional General Fund resources. Any associated new or increased program funding needs will be considered during the 2023-2024 Proposed Budget process and in future years, in consideration of the City’s budgetary position and other City Council priorities.
CEQA
Not-a-Project, File No. PP17-007 – Preliminary direction to staff and eventual action requires approval from a decision-making body.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
November 21, 2022
Subject: Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan Revision Approval
/s/ /s/ /s/
JON CICERELLI JACKY MORALES-FERRAND KERRIE ROMANOW
Director, Director, Director,
Parks, Recreation, and Housing Environmental Services
Neighborhood Services
For questions, please contact:
Andrea Flores-Shelton, PRNS Deputy Director, at [email protected] or (408) 535-3570;
Ragan Henninger, Housing Deputy Director, at [email protected] or (408) 535- 4830; or
Rajani Nair, ESD Deputy Director, at [email protected] or (408) 799-7462.
Attachment: City of San José Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Plan, Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES Permit No. CAS612008, Order R2-2022-0018, May 11, 2022
Attachment
City of San José Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Plan Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES Permit No. CAS612008 Order R2-2022-0018, May 11, 2022
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
City of San José Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Plan Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES Permit No. CAS612008 Order R2-2022-0018, May 11, 2022
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Regulatory Background ....................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Directly Discharged Trash Sources ...................................................................................................... 2
1.3: Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 3 SECTION 2. Homeless Prevention, Support, and Management Programs ................................................... 7
2.1 Overview of Homeless Condition in San José ..................................................................................... 7
2.2 Current Homelessness Prevention and Support Programs ................................................................ 8
2.3 Access to Housing Strategy/Plan ........................................................................................................ 9
2.4 Encampment Management Strategy ................................................................................................ 11
2.5 Funding and Planned Actions............................................................................................................ 12 SECTION 3. Trash Management Strategy .................................................................................................... 13
3.1: Trash Management .......................................................................................................................... 13
3.2: Volunteer and Contractor Cleanups ................................................................................................ 14
3.3: Structural Deterrents ....................................................................................................................... 14 SECTION 4. Education and Outreach .......................................................................................................... 14 SECTION 5. Monitoring and Reporting ....................................................................................................... 15
5.1: Capacities for Housing/System Performance .................................................................................. 15
5.2: Unsheltered Homeless Population .................................................................................................. 16
5.3: Housing Services and Outreach ....................................................................................................... 16
5.4: Encampment Cleanups .................................................................................................................... 17
5.5: Community Engagement Events ...................................................................................................... 17
5.6: Receiving Water Monitoring ............................................................................................................ 17 SECTION 6. PROJECT AREA .......................................................................................................................... 18
6.1 Focus Zones and Project Area Descriptions ...................................................................................... 18
6.2: Maps ................................................................................................................................................ 19
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Regulatory Background
Since 2016, the City of San José (City) has dedicated substantial resources to implement the Direct Discharge Trash Control Program (Program). The City allocates millions of dollars each year to address the impacts of homeless encampments and the trash and sanitary pollutants generated by people experiencing homelessness along waterways. San José’s Program represents the collective efforts and close coordination among various City departments, including Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services-BeautifySJ Program (PRNS), Housing, Environmental Services (ESD), and San José Police Department (SJPD); contractors; local and state agencies; Valley Water (VW); and nonprofits Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful (KCCB), The Trash Punx, and South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition (SBCCC).
The Program continued to face the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following County of Santa Clara public health orders, the City suspended many services and activities. Preventing the spread of COVID-19 continues to be a priority and requires staff to reevaluate how they approached City operations. Due to the interactive and collaborative nature of the Program, all phases of the Program have been impacted by the pandemic. In spite of and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City expanded programs and strategies to address the rising homeless population and its impacts along the City’s waterways.
The City submitted its initial Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan (Plan) February 16, 2016 and the Supplemental Plan May 27, 2016 to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) in accordance with Provision C.10.e.ii of the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit (MRP), NPDES Permit No. CAS12008. The Plan described the City’s approach, activities, and funding to manage direct discharges of trash and debris to receiving waters from homeless encampments. The Supplemental Plan focused on defining creek cleanup locations, current conditions, the monitoring plan, and performance metrics. The Water Board approved the Plan and Supplemental Plan August 3, 2016.
The City has claimed the 15% Direct Discharge offset credit since 2016, removing over 3,200 tons of trash.
The reissued MRP (Order N
o. R2-2022-0018) was adopted May 11, 2022 and went into effect July 1, 2022. The New MRP requires permittees with existing Plans to submit revisions by January 3, 2023. The City presents this updated Direct Discharge Trash Control Plan for City of San José waterways in compliance with Provision C.10.f.ii of the new MRP: Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES Permit No.
CAS612008, Order R2-2022-0018, May 11, 2022.
1.2 Directly Discharged Trash Sources
As noted in the City’s Long-Term Trash Plan, trash is transported to San José creeks directly through a number of different pathways other than the City’s MS4. On-street litter can be blown by wind directly into waterways; trash can be dumped illegally by residents into riparian areas; and trash and debris can be left behind by homeless individuals who camp near waterways.
According to creek assessments and receiving water monitoring analysis, the largest contribution of trash discharging into San José’s receiving waters is from unsheltered homeless populations. The City has implemented monitoring protocols in the Trash Monitoring Plan at trash hot spot sites since 2017.
Qualitative assessments and quantitative methods document the levels and volume of trash observed within waterways and identify different transport pathways (e.g., litter/wind, homeless encampments, DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
illegal dumping, and stormwater). Based on Receiving Water Trash Monitoring data collected by City staff between 2017 to 2022, on average 88% of trash along San José’s waterways is generated from homeless encampments. See Table 1 below for a summary.
Table 1. Qualitative and Quantitative Receiving Water Trash Monitoring Results 2017 to 2022
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Average
Litter/ Wind 12% 1% 1% 5% 2% 2% 4%
Homeless Encampments 75% 90% 83% 91% 97% 93% 88%
Illegal Dumping 0% 0% 8% 6% 3% 3% 3%
Stormwater (MS4) 13% 9% 7% 4% 1% 1% 6%
As the majority of directly discharged trash to San Jose’s creeks comes from the activities of people experiencing homelessness and their encampments along creeks, this Plan focuses on tasks to address both the people and the trash. This plan addresses both environmental protection requirements and compassionate services for members of our most vulnerable community.
1.3: Summary
The City of San José has developed this comprehensive, multi-year Direct Discharge Trash Control Program to address trash and debris along its waterways resulting from homeless encampments.
Program updates including outcomes from assessments and performance metrics will be reported annually through the City’s Stormwater Annual Report in the Direct Discharge Progress Report through fiscal year 24-25. The City thus requests approval of its Direct Discharge Control Program Plan Update in order to claim the offset credit of up to 15% as long as such credit is allowed toward its mandatory trash load reduction goals.
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Summary of Planned Programs and Tasks
Sec
# Item and Description Frequency Performance Measures
2 Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Census
Biennial. Next PIT Count
scheduled for January 2023
2 Housing Inventory Count (HIC)
2 City and County supportive housing system
• provide shelter, supportive housing, and homelessness prevention services
Ongoing
2 Construction of new affordable housing and preservation of existing affordable housing
• 704 affordable units are under construction
• 2,639 are in pipeline, and
• 7,648 are prospective
Ongoing # units completed
# units planned
2 Community Plan to End Homelessness
• House 20,000 people through the supportive housing
system
• Expand the Homeless Prevention System and other early interventions to serve 2,500 people a year
• Double temporary housing and shelter capacity to reduce the number of people sleeping outside
• Achieve a 30% reduction in annual inflow of people
becoming homeless.
Ongoing # people housed thru the supportive
housing system
# people served via Homeless
Prevention and other early
interventions
# temporary housing and shelter
capacity
% reduction in annual inflow of people
becoming homeless
2 Expand Emergency, Transitional or Permanent Housing
• Complete construction of interim housing community with 76 beds
• goal of adding approximately 400 more interim beds
beyond those projects already complete or in the pipeline, and an additional 300 converted motel units.
Ongoing # emergency beds added
# transitional housing units added
# permanent housing units added
2 Safe Parking Program for Lived-in Vehicles
• Site with 45 spaces to open Spring 2023
• second safe parking site for vehicles and is in the process of identifying a site, it’s anticipated this site will open in 2023.
Users can park 24/7 # Sites
# spaces in each site
Services provided
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Sec
# Item and Description Frequency Performance Measures
• Both programs will offer supportive services over the next four years with the goal of transitioning households to stable housing.
# people moved to shelter,
transitional or permanent housing
2 Services Outreach Assistance and Resources (SOAR)
hygiene and infection control, trash services, comprehensive street-based outreach and support services, and housing and shelter referrals
Ongoing # individuals engaged with case
management or services
# individuals who complete housing
assessment
# of people moved to shelter,
transitional or permanent housing
2 Safe Encampment Resolution (SER): Guadalupe River Trail from approximately Woz Way to Julian St. and Julian St. to Taylor St.
• Prioritize and transition individuals to transitional or permanent housing
• restore the trail for public use.
• provide street-based case management and core services Scheduled for completion in
2024
# people moved to shelter,
transitional or permanent housing
2 Mobile Showers and Mobile laundry services
at select encampment locations
Daily # showers provided
# laundry loads provided
2 Portable restrooms and hand washing stations
at SOAR locations
Serviced daily # sites with portable restrooms and
hand washing stations
3 BeautifySJ Encampment Management Program
• Provide a minimum of weekly trash collection services to approximately 150 encampment locations including
waterway encampments including Cash 4 Trash
participants
• Conduct escalated cleanup actions at encampments that have a substantial amount of trash and debris on City
property
• Conduct abatement activities for encampments that do not meet setback criteria and/or health and safety conditions • Interagency Team – Partnerships with interjurisdictional partners such as CalTrans, Union Pacific Railroad, County of • volume/weight of trash removed
• # of escalated cleanup actions
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Sec
# Item and Description Frequency Performance Measures
Santa Clara and Valley Water allow for coordination and collaboration to clean and clear encampments.
• Specific to Valley Water, City is negotiating with Valley Water on the cost-sharing agreements to perform
encampment abatements on Coyote Creek for flood
control construction projects in 2023 – 2026. Additionally, the current MOA governs quarterly joint encampment
clean-up projects for operation and maintenance.
3 Contract with San Jose Conservation Corps
Remove trash in the Waterways
To be completed in 2023. Tonnage/volume trash removed
# clean-up events
3 Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program
Implemented by the Department of Transportation. Removes abandoned vehicles. NOTE: does not abate lived-in vehicles Complaint-based # vehicles abated in Focus Zones
4 Outreach and Education
• PATH/HomeFirst outreach workers distribute Beautify SJ bags and encourages unhoused residents to dispose of
trash properly.
• Outreach to community groups that serve the unhoused:
how to do so without generating trash.
As needed as part of other
activities
TBD
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
SECTION 2. Homeless Prevention, Support, and Management Programs
2.1 Overview of Homeless Condition in San José
According to the 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless census by the County of Santa Clara and the City of San José, the overall number of homeless individuals counted increased by 3% in Santa Clara County (to 10,028) and increased by 11% (to 6,650) in the City of San José. At the same time, the community saw a decrease in homeless individuals living outdoors, with a 3% decrease in Santa Clara County (7,708 unsheltered) and a 2% decrease in San José (4,975 unsheltered)
1. In addition, according to the Housing
Inventory Count (HIC), there are more than 1,500 emergency shelter beds within the City that are typically at or near capacity. This trend coincided with an increase in sheltered individuals in both San José and countywide, as jurisdictions across the community have expanded interim housing and temporary shelter options by 25% in the last three years. Yet, still in San José, approximately 75% of these individuals are unsheltered—sleeping outside, in cars, or other places not meant for human habitation.
The PIT homeless census is biennial, with the next scheduled for 2023.
According to a 2021 analysis by the Brookings Institution, of the 53 largest metro areas in the U.S., Silicon Valley ranked #1 in prosperity but 46th and 50th in geographic inclusion and racial inclusion, respectively. A recent report commissioned by Destination: Home found that people of color are dramatically more likely than their white counterparts to become homeless in Santa Clara County, and that poverty alone cannot explain disparities in homelessness. Compounding the impacts of this inequality is the fact that housing costs are higher than ever and housing that is affordable to the lowest-income families is not being produced. In fact, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s most recent report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, found that in 2018 there were only 30 affordable and available units for every 100 extremely low-income renter households in the San José metro area.
2 Renters in San José must now earn $54/hour ($111,680/year) to afford the average effective monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment.
Since 2015, the City of San José and Santa Clara County has been a leader in addressing homelessness, permanently housing over 22,000 people through our Community Plan to End Homelessness. To support this work, we have been able to bring a host of local resources forward, including:
• A $950M affordable housing bond that will help us develop 4,800 new units of deeply affordable and supportive housing throughout San José and Santa Clara County; • $100M in private philanthropic contributions from corporations like Cisco and Apple to support efforts to for innovative housing solutions and homelessness prevention; • $40-$50M annually through a San José City property transfer tax to support housing and services; and
• $40M+ in contributions from a coalition of private donors, public agencies, corporations, and foundations to provide direct financial assistance to extremely low-income households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite our progress creating a supportive housing system that assists thousands of homeless individuals and families each year, the crisis continues to grow because the systemic factors driving this crisis – from growing income inequality to a severe lack of affordable housing – are stronger than ever.
1 City of San Jose Point in Time County 2022:
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/4103/4699 2 National Low-Income Housing Coalition, “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes.” 2020. https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/gap/Gap-Report_2020.pd DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
These challenges have been compounded by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which ground our local economy to a halt, leaving many more households struggling to cope with job losses, a lack of childcare, and economic uncertainty. As a result, many more people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and need immediate support.
2.2 Current Homelessness Prevention and Support Programs An end to homelessness means that every community will have a systemic response in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible or is otherwise a rare, brief, and nonrecurring experience. To address these urgent needs, San José and Santa Clara County’s supportive housi ng system provides shelter, supportive housing, and homelessness prevention services in furtherance of the goal of making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. However, these resources are limited and the demand for affordable housing and supportive services in Santa Clara County far exceeds the system’s current capacity. A full report describing our region’s supportive housing system can be found in the County report, “Ending Homelessness
”.
The Housing Department’s homeless programs include housing-based solutions, homeless prevention, and shelter and crisis response interventions. Housing-based solutions are interim or affordable permanent housing opportunities. Crisis response interventions are street-based services offered directly to the unsheltered population. A major function of the Housing Department is its work as a funder. The Department uses numerous financing vehicles to bring new affordable housing to fruition and rehabilitate older affordable housing. The Department also funds grants for nonprofits to develop and provide social services, homeless response programs, and community infrastructure. Additional grants support Fair Housing policies, place-based neighborhood efforts, and meal programs for low- income seniors. A complete list and description of the Housing Department’s prevention and support programs can be found in the Annual Report.
The construction3 of new affordable housing and preservation of existing affordable housing is a primary function of the City’s Housing Department. In March 2020, San José voters approved Measure E which established a transfer tax on real estate transactions where the purchase price exceeds $2 million.
Revenue from Measure E, estimated at $40-$50 million a year, is designed for affordable housing construction, homeless prevention, and homeless services Since 2018, the Housing Department has completed construction of 901 affordable apartments, preserved 2,975 affordable apartments, 704 are under construction, 2,639 are in pipeline and 7,648 are prospective.
During the pandemic in FY 2020-2021, the Housing Department sheltered 1,365 medically vulnerable homeless individuals. The Housing Department also worked with its partners across the County to shelter a total of 8,535 households between April 2020 and September 2021. The Housing Department’s impact went far beyond sheltering people during the pandemic. The Department opened three new emergency interim housing communities, providing temporary homes for over 340 homeless individuals, couples, and families while they seek permanent housing. The Housing Department and its partners also provided approximately 15,000 households with rental assistance totaling more than $36,000,000 to help these households avoid homelessness. The Housing Department and its partners placed 2,926 individuals in permanent housing between March 2020 and September 2021. On a daily basis, the Housing Department helped members of the homeless community live in a safer, healthier, and more dignified manner by funding 14,978 mobile showers, and a mobile laundry services that ran 4,220 loads of laundry. The Housing Department will maintain this service as a priority through FY 23-24
3 Housing Department Affordable Housing Dashboard: https ://www.sanjoseca.gov/your - government/departments-offices/housing/resource-library/affordable-housing-dashboard DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
and will release a competitive RFP to identify operator(s) for the services in the future. The City-funding motel voucher program served 886 individuals during the fiscal year, of which 425 were children. A more detailed list of the Housing Department’s homeless programs and support are in the “Homeless Annual Report.”
2.3 Access to Housing Strategy/Plan
Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness
The City of San José, the County of Santa Clara, Destination: Home and multiple stakeholders joined in the strategic planning of a community-wide plan to address homelessness. In August 2020, the City Council adopted a resolution endorsing the comprehensive, regional response to homelessness through the Community Plan to End Homelessness (Community Plan). The five-y ear Community Plan is a County -
wide roadmap guiding government, private sector, nonprofit organizations, and other community members as they make decisions about funding, priorities, and needs. The framework for the new Community Plan includes three strategies:
1. Addressing the root causes of homelessness through system and policy change; 2 . Expand homelessness prevention and housing programs to meet the need; and
3. Improving quality of life for unsheltered individuals and creating healthy neighborhoods for all.
The Community Plan has four primary targets and reports o n these metrics quarterly to the region’s Continuum of Care Board. The targets are, by 2025, to:
• House 20,000 people through the supportive housing system; o 39% to goal (July 2022)
• Expand the Homeless Prevention System and other early interventions to serve 2,500 people a year;
o 65% to goal (July 2022)
• Double temporary housing and shelter capacity to reduce the number of people sleeping outside; and
o 17% to goal (July 2022)
• Achieve a 30% reduction in annual inflow of people becoming homeless. o Currently surpassing goal (July 2022)
Expanding Emergency, Transitional or Permanent Housing
The City of San José is aggressively increasing its supply of interim housing. Since 2020, the City has constructed five interim housing communities totaling 397 new beds, with a fifth site currently under construction that will add another 76 beds. The City Council has approved further increases of interim housing, setting a goal of adding approximately 400 more interim beds beyond those projects already complete or in the pipeline, and an additional 300 converted motel units.
The City also prioritizes preserving and building affordable housing. The City’s Housing Department maintains a comprehensive dashboard of n
ew affordable units currently under construction and in the pipeline for completion in future years, with approximately 704 under construction, 2,639 are in pipeline, and 7,648 are prospective.4
4 Housing Department Affordable Housing Dashboard: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your- government/departments-offices/housing/resource-library/affordable-housing-dashboard DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Programs and Services for RVs and Lived In Vehicles
Safe parking programs create a designated and secure place for car and RV dwellers to park and sleep, increase access to available services, properly dispose of waste, and potentially decrease enforcement actions against people living in vehicles on City streets. Safe parking programs are one type of crisis response program designed to address the immediate needs of people living unsheltered while individuals and families seek permanent housing.
The Housing Department is opening a safe parking program for RVs in spring 2023. The program will create up to 45 RV parking spaces for individuals and couples experiencing homelessness and allow them to park 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Over a four-year period, services would be offered to an estimated 135 households (estimated 160 individuals). The City’s Housing Department plans to open a second safe parking site for vehicles, and it’s anticipated this site will open in 2023. Both sites will offer supportive services with the goal of transitioning households to stable housing.
The City is also seeking funding to provide biowaste service to individuals residing in lived-in vehicles and RVs starting in FY 23-24.
Services for Unsheltered Near Waterways
The City is a leader in providing services and housing to people experiencing homelessness within its community, including those living along waterways. The City’s and County’s Continuum of Care approach prioritizes permanent housing for the most vulnerable regardless of location. This coordinated entry approach for housing is mandated by federal, state and county funding. Coordinated entry is a consistent, community-wide intake process to match people experiencing homelessness to existing community resources that are best fit for their situation.
For those living near waterways, the Housing Department has several programs that provides support, services, and housing. During the COVID-19 emergency, the CDC recommended that if individual housing options were not available, people who were living unsheltered or in encampments should remain where they are. The CDC further recommended that community coalitions should work to improve sanitation in encampments. In 2021, the Housing Department developed a new program called Services Outreach Assistance and Resources (SOAR) designed on guidance from the CDC. SOAR provides hygiene and infection control, trash services, comprehensive street-based outreach and support services, and housing and shelter referrals for encampment residents.
Further prioritizing services for those living along waterways, in FY 22-23, the Housing Department received an encampment resolution grant from the State for $2 million that will provide services and housing to approximately 100 individuals who reside at an encampment in downtown San José along the Guadalupe River Trail, from approximately Woz Way to Julian Street. The goal of the program is to prioritize and transition individuals to permanent housing and restore the trail for public use. The City Council also authorized funding for an additional section of Guadalupe River Park Trail, from Julian Street to Taylor Street, providing street-based case management and core services needed to house approximately 46 individuals living along the Guadalupe River Park Trail. This project will be completed in 2024.
Most recently, the City closed an encampment near Guadalupe River Trail near the Mineta San José International Airport. This area, known as Guadalupe Gardens, consists of approximately 40 acres that had nearly 200 individuals encamped and were abated. Over the last 12 months, the Housing Department has successfully housed 115 of those individuals and continues to work with those remaining in the area to ensure their transition to housing.
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
As resources become available, the Housing Department will continue to implement services and programs for individuals living along waterways.
The Housing Department provides portable restrooms and hand washing stations at SOAR encampments. The designated locations were strategically chosen to support the homeless populations that relied on the restroom facilities that public libraries, community centers, and businesses previously provided before COVID-19. The units are serviced 7 days a week.
2.4 Encampment Management Strategy
SOAR
In response to CDC mandates, the City piloted a new program called SOAR (Services Outreach, Assistance and Resources) in 2021. While trash service at encampments is much needed, it must be accompanied by access to proper hygiene, street outreach, and connections to services. The Community Plan to End Homelessness (Community Plan) prioritizes addressing the immediate crisis of people living outside in our community. The plan recommends strategies that invest in the health and safety needs of people living outside and build connections to safety net services and programs. In alignment with both the current CDC guidance and the Community Plan, the SOAR Program provides a compassionate approach to address the health and safety needs of persons living in encampments.
SOAR implements consistent and focused street outreach and services to support people living in SOAR encampments. Outreach teams engage by providing for basic needs, such as food, water, clothing, and garbage bags. In addition, teams assess for shelter and housing needs, and provide access to behavioral health services and medical care.
• Street-based Clinical Case Management: Case management accessible to individuals at encampments. The service will be based on all aspects of the clients’ physical and social environments, including housing, psychiatric treatment, health care, entitlements, transportation, families, and social networks.
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling: Mental health and substance abuse counselors will be readily accessible to clients seeking associated services or who are experiencing emergencies associated with their mental health or substance abuse. • Reserved shelter beds for the encampment management program that will be available to street outreach teams working in the identified encampments • Motel Vouchers: emergency stays at hotels, prioritized for street outreach teams working with those in encampments, as well as vulnerable populations • Housing Problem Solving: to help homeless individuals identify other immediate housing strategies, rather than shelter, and if necessary, connecting them with services and financial assistance
The SOAR program has 16 sites, of which 11 are located along waterways The locations of SOAR sites are subject to change based on identified need for enhanced outreach services across the city.
Safe Encampment Resolution
Housing Department submitted a proposal to the State to develop a collaborative Safe Encampment Resolution program (SER) for encampments along the Guadalupe River Trail between Woz Way and DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Taylor Street. The SER program is a human-centered program that saves lives and protects the health, safety, and welfare of San José residents, including those experiencing homelessness, by offering services and housing prior to the closure of an encampment. The program is a social service-led operation spearheaded by the Housing Department which will lead a group of non-profit community partners experienced in street outreach, housing, and trauma-informed care. The team will work exclusively in the targeted encampment with the goal to transition every occupant into permanent, interim or shelter options, After the encampment closure, the SER program also provides regular assessment and activation of the space to ensure it remains clear and accessible to the public. This work is being done with one-time funding from the State. If this project is deemed successful and feasible, the City may seek out opportunities to apply for State funding again in the future.
The targeted encampment for the program is a series of approximately four linked camps along the Guadalupe River Trail. The identified location is a one-mile stretch between just south of the I-280 and Highway 87 interchange, north to Julian Street. The structures within this one-mile stretch are a mix of tents, built structures using rocks, tarps, and debris; and there are even vehicles. The Guadalupe River Park and Trail is a well-traveled thoroughfare for commuters entering the downtown by bike from the north and south. The area also contains two freeway entrances/exits that are the primary entrance to downtown San José and this large series of encampments is the first visual commuters see as they enter San José.
The project area also includes direction to identify the resources needed to rehouse the 40+ individuals living along the Guadalupe River Trail between W. Hedding and Santa Clara Streets. Individuals along the trail will need housing options, including supportive housing assistance and financial assistance. The encampments along this stretch of Guadalupe River Trail are interlinked and people living in them often intermingle, so the Housing Department is proposing to combine resources in one contract.
Moving forward the City is planning additional services this fiscal year to those residing in vehicles such as bio-waste removal services to prevent discharges into streets and storm drains.
2.5 Funding and Planned Actions
In FY 2021-2022 the City funded an Interagency Team to work with interjurisdictional partners to address blight (litter, trash, dumping, graffiti) and encampments. The BeautifySJ Interagency team coordinates with Valley Water District, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Union Pacific Railroad, and the County of Santa Clara to remove illegal dumping, perform encampment cleanups and abatements throughout the city and along waterways located within City boundaries.
Currently, the City provides regular trash pickup services to encampments located near the waterways to reduce discharges into the waterway and increase sanitation. The City continues to partner with Valley Water regarding trash located in the creeks. The work inside the channels oftentimes requires the use of Valley Water’s Stream Maintenance Permit because heavy equipment is used. The City and Valley Water are working through administrative channels related to each agency’s competing priorities for areas of waterway cleanups.
The City and Valley Water are negotiating a specific cost-sharing agreement related to the flood control construction planned along Coyote Creek in 2023 through 2026. The flood control construction is required for the Anderson Dam retrofit and will necessitate the removal of encampments along a 9-mille stretch of Coyote Creek.
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
SECTION 3. Trash Management Strategy
3.1: Trash Management
The City focuses on all sources of trash and implements the following programs for people experiencing homelessness and the trash their encampments and activities generate in the DDTCP Focus Zones.
Encampment Management Program
The BeautifySJ Encampment Management Program provides a minimum of weekly trash collection services to approximately 150 encampment locations. This Encampment Management Program distributes and collects litter bags at encampment sites; picks up trash from those residing in vehicles; removes large trash/debris piles at encampments; and appropriately disposes of items soiled with human waste to reduce contamination. Additionally, the City provides escalated cleanup actions at encampments that have a substantial amount of trash and debris to improve the sanitation of surrounding areas. The City continues to refine trash collection services at encampments to both increase services and reduce discharges from encampments into the waterways.
Trash and sanitary services
The City of San Jose provides hygiene and waste management related services to help maintain sanitary conditions at encampments. Services include portable toilets and handwashing stations, and dumpster bin services. Portable toilets and handwashing stations along creeks and trails provide an environmental benefit to these areas by preventing human waste from entering waterways.
Cash 4 Trash
Cash 4 Trash is a program that provides a redemption value for bags of trash collected by those residing in homeless encampments, including encampments near waterways and in the Focus Zones. This encourages individuals to bag their trash for easier removal and pays them to do so with reloadable cards from MasterCards.
Escalated Cleanups
Escalated cleanups occur when encampments have a substantial amount of trash and debris that cannot be addressed through other means. Escalated cleanups remove trash and debris and leave encampments intact. Escalated cleanups are performed on an as-needed basis.
Encampment Abatements
Abatements are one tool, but they are not the primary tool used by the City to address homelessness and encampments. The City recognizes that there are specific instances, such as safety and hazardous conditions, where abatements are necessary and needed. The City coordinates outreach and support services in advance to any encampment abatement work done.
Partnership with Valley Water
The City of San José partners with Valley Water to jointly remove trash from encampments along waterways. The City coordinates outreach and support services in advance to any encampment DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
abatement work. The City and Valley Water also partner to remove trash rafts that can build up in waterways, utilizing grant funding for this work.
Contract with San Jose Conservation Corps
The City of San José and the San Jose Conservation Corps work to distribute and collect litter bags at homeless encampments throughout the City, collect loose trash and small debris items at homeless encampments, assist with trash/debris removal large encampment cleanups, coordinate the removal of bio-waste and other hazards, and dispose of any litter and debris.
Interagency Team
Partnerships with property owners, CalTrans, Union Pacific Railroad, County of Santa Clara and Valley Water allow for coordination and collaboration to clean and clear encampments. Work is performed both routinely and on an as-needed basis.
Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program
An abandoned vehicle is one that has been discarded by the owner with the intent not to return or own the vehicle any longer. Vehicles that are abandoned and do not show signs of being inhabited are subject to abatement. Verified abandoned vehicles are removed during encampment abatement efforts.
3.2: Volunteer and Contractor Cleanups
Volunteer organizations and contracted staff conduct cleanups regularly throughout DDTCP Focus Zones. These cleanups not only remove tons of trash they also provide valuable opportunities to engage residents.
These efforts are funded through a grant from the EPA and will continue through FY 24-25.
3.3: Structural Deterrents
In 2021 the City received grant funding from the EPA to, among other activities, fund building and repairing structural barriers adjacent to creeks to serve as deterrents to encampments and to limit nonauthorized vehicle access to creeks. Deterrents may include installing and repairing gates, fences, and boulders that act as physical obstacles to accessing certain areas. The City will identify locations that require structural barriers and coordinate the installation and repairs of these structures. This work is ongoing and slated to be completed in FY 24-25.
SECTION 4. Education and Outreach
The City will seek to start and/or expand outreach and education efforts to the unhoused communities living along waterways and the non-profits that serve them:
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
o PATH/HomeFirst outreach workers distribute Beautify SJ bags and encourages unhoused residents to dispose of trash properly.
o KCCB and SBCCC, or other organizations, will organize events that will highlight Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River, and Los Gatos Creek’s wildlife, ecosystem, history, and the impacts of trash pollution. Potential activities may include virtual events, taskforce or stakeholder group facilitation, wildlife, and water monitoring, walking and bicycling tours, bird watching, native plant replacement, and school field trips. These organizations will also use volunteer cleanups as a means of community engagement. Volunteers play a key role in this work, providing a great amount of service to trash removal efforts. ESD will participate in community and youth related outreach events and host events as resources are available. The objective is to increase awareness of the watersheds and their environmental significance. o Outreach to community groups that serve the unhoused: how to do so without generating trash.
SECTION 5. Monitoring and Reporting
The City of San José will track and report annually o n the following metrics associated with work done to address direct discharges from people experiencing homelessness and their encampments along waterways in the Direct Discharge Focus Zones.
5.1: Capacities for Housing/System Performance
The region regularly monitors the supportive housing system performance. The goal of system performance measurement is to help the Continuum of Care (CoC) assess the effectiveness of our entire system of care and how it operates as a system, not just evaluate each program independently.
The most recent report h ighlights trends, successes, and challenges of the supportive housing system in Santa Clara County between July 2021 and June 2022. The report’s primary function is to communicate how different programs are contributing to an overall reduction in homelessness. The supportive housing system includes housing programs that fall into five main categories:
(1) Em
ergency Shelter (ES),
(2) Transitional Housing (TH),
(3) Rapid Rehousing (RRH),
(4) Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and
(5) Homelessness Prevention (HP).
Additionally, this report provides supplementary data focusing on the County’s Homelessness Prevention programs. Appendix A highlights data on two of the five overarching targets detailed in the County’s 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness (Community Plan). Appendix B provides program capacity and utilization for the five program categories outlined above plus the Safe Parking (SP) initiative. Appendix C illustrates key system performance measures, benchmarks for which are determined in coordination with community partners on an annual basis. A few highlights for the reporting period are provided:
• Seventy-five percent (75%) of households exiting rapid rehousing rental subsidy programs exited to permanent housing, meeting the 75% benchmark. Thirty-four percent (34%) of households DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
exiting emergency shelter programs moved on to permanent housing, exceeding the County’s 30% performance goal.
• The housing retention rate was 96.2% for people in permanent housing programs. • Homeless Prevention (124%) and Permanent Supportive Housing (97%) have the highest utilization, with prevention serving more households than the annual goal. • The system’s rapid rehousing rental subsidy program and the emergency shelter programs are both operating at 86% utilization.
This regular performance measurement helps the City and County understand how the system functions, what works, what doesn’t work, and what are the gaps and challenges. This data will be included in the annual DDTCP progress report.
5.2: Unsheltered Homeless Population
The Housing Department implements a comprehensive strategy for addressing homelessness in the three Direct Discharge Project Areas by providing enhanced services and proactive outreach.
The estimated number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in San José along with the estimated number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness living within receiving waters will be reported in the annual DDTCP progress report. Collecting information about the number of unsheltered people will provide an indication of the City’s success in reducing encampments initially in the Project Areas and then expanding within the entire three Focus Zones. Ultimately, the goal is to identify unsheltered individuals within all waterways within San José. Monitoring encampments in waterways as well as on-land will allow for an assessment of relative trends of the two areas (i.e., are encampments reducing and/or moving away from waterways). The biennial homeless survey will be a source of demographic information about San José’s homeless population and the primary source of the change in the number of homeless individuals from two years prior. This metric will allow the City to track progress on reducing the overall homeless population in the City, including those along waterways.
PATH, the Housing Department’s operator within these project areas, conducts a census quarterly.
Outreach services are provided to everyone that makes contact with the outreach teams. If the person is willing to engage with an outreach worker, individualized plans will be developed. Most commonly outreach teams conduct intakes, assessments (VI-SPDAT), documents, housing referral and linkage to various services such as basic hygiene support or housing problem solving The Housing Department will continue to provide updates on these project areas including the quarterly censuses. If additional resources are allocated to other areas along waterways, similar reporting can be provided by the Housing Department and its partners. This data will be included in the annual DDTCP progress report.
5.3: Housing Services and Outreach
The Housing Department reports the number of individuals referred to services and the number of individuals referred to housing each year through the annual DDTCP progress report, which documents these metrics on a city-wide basis. The number and scope of sanitation controls and services provided to SOAR encampments will also be reported. The number and scope of trash controls and services provided to homeless encampments; and the number and scope of sanitary cleanouts and other services provided to RVs.
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
The region regularly monitors the supportive housing system performance. The Community Plan has four primary targets and reports o n these metrics quarterly to the region’s Continuum of Care Board.
The goal of system performance measurement is to help the Continuum of Care assess the effectiveness of our entire system of care and how it operates as a system, not just evaluate each program independently.
5.4: Encampment Cleanups
The estimated tons of trash removed from encampment cleanups will be reported in the annual DDTCP progress report. Compactor trucks contain trash and debris from several cleanups, including from on- land cleanups. The total tonnage collected from waterways is averaged using the number of sites serviced on a given day. This is likely a conservative total since staff reports trash loads along waterways may be much higher than on land. A list of cleanups with the date, location and total trash removed along with the calculation for the offset credit will be reported annually. This metric will allow the City to assess trends in the volume of trash collected.
5.5: Community Engagement Events
Community events and volunteer cleanups activate areas and highlight the value of the urban creeks.
Non-profit creek cleanup partners Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful (KCCB), The Trash Punx, and South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition (SBCCC) will continue to conduct volunteer cleanups and outreach events along Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek. In FY 21-22, the City was awarded a $3,080,000 EPA San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund grant funded through June 30, 2025. Grant deliverables include trash cleanup, prevention, and community outreach. A portion of this grant funds KCCB and SBCCC to conduct creek cleanups and community outreach within the Direct Discharge Focus Zones. In addition, City’s general fund was provided in the amount of $70,000 to KCCB, SBCCC and The Trash Punx. Results from these events will be reported in the annual DDTCP progress report.
5.6: Receiving Water Monitoring
In compliance with the San Francisco Baykeeper Consent Decree (Provision V.C), the City submitted the Trash Receiving Water Monitoring Program Plan (Trash Monitoring Plan) in December 2016 and implemented it during the 2017 Trash Hot Spot season. The City contracted with EOA, Inc. (EOA) to provide technical support and assistance on the development of a Trash Monitoring Plan that addresses the requirements that are described in Provision V.C of the Consent Decree. The Trash Receiving Water Monitoring Program was consistent with and met the obligations of sub-provision C.10.b.v of MRP 2.0.
This sub-provision required public agencies to develop, submit and test a Receiving Water Trash Monitoring Program Plan (Trash Monitoring Plan). Permittees (including the City) joined together through the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) to develop a Trash Monitoring Program Plan to satisfy the MRP 2.0 requirement, which allows for regional consistency in the implementation of trash monitoring methodologies.
The Consent Decree identified six existing Trash Hot Spot locations in receiving waters for trash monitoring: Coyote Creek at Watson Park, Coyote Creek at Roosevelt Park, Coyote Creek at Singleton Crossing, Los Gatos Creek at West Santa Clara Street, Guadalupe River at Woz Way and Guadalupe River at West Alma Avenue. Sites have been shifted upstream and downstream due to safety constraints.
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Given that homeless encampments were the most dominant pathways of trash observed at receiving water monitoring sites in the City of San José, receiving water monitoring may be a useful indicator, along with other on-land and programmatic indicators, to measure trends in trash levels impacting local waterways. Results from these monitoring events will be included in the annual DDTCP progress report.
SECTION 6. PROJECT AREA
6.1 Focus Zones and Project Area Descriptions
San José is home to approximately 140 miles of waterways. Protecting the water quality of this vast riparian area requires significant resource commitment. Consequently, San José takes a prioritized approach by distributing available resources along waterways with a scale and frequency commensurate with the varying observed environmental conditions and needs.
The City implements its Plan in the following areas:
Focus Zones:
The Program Focus Zones are comprised of stretches along the City’s three major waterways: Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek and range from four to twelve miles in length. (See Map 1: Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Map).
1. Focus Zone #1: C
oyote Creek Focus Zone
The Coyote Creek Focus Zone encompasses a stretch of the creek approximately 10.7 miles long, beginning at Capitol Expressway and proceeding downstream to Brokaw Road (See Map 1: San José Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Map). Focus Zone #1 was selected because it encompasses several large park-like areas historically prone to establishment of entrenched encampments.
2. F
ocus Zone #2: Guadalupe River Focus Zone
Focus Zone #2 encompasses a stretch of the Guadalupe River approximately 11.6 miles long between Highways 85 and 101.
3. F ocus Zone #3: Los Gatos Creek Focus Zone
Focus Zone #3 encompasses a stretch of Los Gatos Creek approximately 4.4 miles long from Bascom Avenue to the confluence point with the Guadalupe River.
Project Areas:
These areas are specific priority locations within Focus Zones. In Project Areas, more tightly coordinated and frequent activity is deployed to provide consistent outreach to unhoused individuals, clean trash around homeless encampments and to remove residual trash.
1. Project Area #1:
A 30.4-acre area at intersection of Coyote Creek at Story Road known as “Coyote Meadows”. (See Map 2: Project Area #1).
2. Project Area #2: A 120-acre park-like area adjacent to the Los Lagos Golf Course, also known as the “Tea Cups”. (See Map 3: Project Area #2).
3. Project Area #3: A 66-acre park-like area adjacent to the San José Municipal Golf Course, also known as “North San José”. (See Map 4: Project Area #3).
Other Areas: The remaining areas along the City’s waterways are addressed mostly in a complaint-based manner. The City prioritizes cleanup with consideration to criteria including environmental impact, size DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
of encampment, number of complaints, safety, and proximity to other locations planned for cleanup.
The City addresses complaints from any location, but finds they are primarily in the more populated areas where proximity to services and resources is more prevalent. Therefor, work performed under this Plan may expand beyond the focus zones into other waterways.
6.2: Maps
Map 1: Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Map
Map 2: Project Area # 1: Coyote Meadows
Map 3: Project Area #2: Tea Cups
Map 4: Project Area #3: North San Jose
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Map 1: Direct Discharge Trash Control Program Map
DRAFT: Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for the final document
Map 2: Project Area # 1: Coyote Meadows
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Map 3: Project Area #2: Tea Cups
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Map 4: Project Area #3: North San José