HomeMy Public PortalAboutResolution 03-41451
RESOLUTION NO. 03 -4145
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE
CITY, CALIFORNIA AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF A LAWSUIT
CHALLENGING THE STORM WATER/URBAN RUNOFF PERMIT FOR
THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES AND THE INCORPORATED CITIES
THEREIN, EXCEPT THE CITY OF LONG BEACH (NPDES NO.
CAS004001)
WHEREAS, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region ( "Regional Board ")
adopted Order No. 01 -182, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ( "NPDES ") Permit for Municipal
Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges within the County of Los Angeles and the incorporated cities therein,
except the City of Long Beach (hereinafter "NPDES Permit ") on December 13, 2001; and
WHEREAS, in January of 2002, forty -nine cities, including the City of Los Angeles, as well as the County of
Los Angeles, filed administrative petitions with the State Water Resources Control Board ( "State Board ")
challenging the validity of the NPDES Permit on a number of grounds, including its deletion of the "Safe Harbor"
provisions that existed in the prior 1996 NPDES Permit, the modifications to the terms of the Permit dealing with
Receiving Water Limitations and the requirements therein that would allow "numeric" limits to be imposed upon
municipalities (without compliance with the "maximum extent practicable" standard set forth in the Clean Water
Act), as well as those provisions allowing for the automatic incorporation of total maximum daily loads ( "TMDL ")
by the Regional Board's Executive Officer, the failure of the Regional Board to comply with the requirements of
CEQA or to adopt terms consistent with CEQA, the imposition of additional inspection obligations on
municipalities for various industrial and commercial facilities, and the attempt by the Regional Board to rollback
the changes that had been made to the Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan requirements ( "SUSMP
Requirements ") by the State Board, along with other objectionable terms, including various provisions which
infringe upon the local land use authority of the Cities; and
WHEREAS, although indicating in February of 2002 that it would address a number of substantive issues
raised by the administrative petitions, on December 18, 2002, after three settlement negotiation sessions that did
not lead to a resolution of the issues, the State Board denied all of the administrative petitions without providing a
hearing to the public, and concluded that the Petitions "failed to raise substantial, new issues;" and
WHEREAS, the City of Temple City ( "City") currently supports and funds efforts to reduce and eliminate
storm water pollution. During the five year period of the prior NPDES Permit, the City implemented additional
street weeping efforts, increased catch basin cleaning, funded a public information program on storm water
pollution, implemented construction project inspection programs, implemented a Standard Urban Storm Water
Mitigation Plan (the "SUSMP ") as modified by the State Board, completed the site visitation programs, initiated
waste -oil recycling programs and implemented various other storm water programs; and
WHEREAS, the NPDES Permit contains various language within the Receiving Water Limitations section
(and other provisions of the Permit) which violate the "maximum extent practicable" standard, and which in many
cases, directly or indirectly seek to impose responsibility on municipalities throughout the County, to insure that
storm water runoff into and from their storm drain systems, does not violate water quality objectives, including
numeric effluent limits that may be adopted through the incorporation of TMDLs; and
WHEREAS, under the NPDES Permit, the City, along with 83 other incorporated cities in Los Angeles
County and the County of Los Angeles, are required to expand existing storm water treatment programs, and to
implement new storm water programs which the Regional Board purports will improve the quality of municipal
storm water in a cost - effective manner. However, a cost - benefit study was never performed by the Regional
Resolution No. 03 -4145
Page 2
Board to illustrate that the new programs will result in cost - effective improvements to storm water quality. In
addition, the Board did not develop or rely upon scientific data to support the need for the numerous programs to
be imposed by the new Permit; and
WHEREAS, under the new NPDES Permit, the City will be responsible for implementing a comprehensive
inspection and surveillance program of industrial and commercial facilities to "control" storm water and non -storm
water runoff from these facilities. A recent study ordered by the United States Congress and completed by the
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences recommended that storm water programs
utilize "adaptive implementation ", and recognized that cities should not be subjected to fines and legal action
while they are developing new and untested storm water programs. The new NPDES Permit may place the
Cities in a constant state of violation, and will subject all municipalities covered by the Permit to needless
lawsuits by environmental organizations, and exposing the Cities to excessive fines. The removal of the legal
"Safe Harbor," combined with the addition of language putting the Cities in a constant state of violation, is legally
inappropriate and fundamentally unfair; and
WHEREAS, the revised SUSMP Requirements under the new NPDES Permit are contrary to a prior order
issued by the State Board, and require the imposition of mitigation measures that are contrary to existing State
law under the California Environmental Quality Act, and the Permit terms infringe upon traditional local land use
authority and the basic powers of local governments; and
WHEREAS, the NPDES Permit goes beyond the intent of the Clean Water Act, and violates the California
Porter - Cologne Act, by "micro managing" and dictating specific programs and a particular manner of compliance
on the Cities, and by imposing requirements that are not authorized anywhere under State of federal law; and
WHEREAS, the new NPDES Permit requires that the Cities expand the current private property side
visitation and education program to a mandatory inspection and enforcement program, that the Cities reduce
pollutants in runoff from private industrial and commercial facilities (including federal and State facilities) and that
the Cities modify their CEQA Guidelines and their General Plan requirements. All such requirements and
programs are being mandated on the Cities, without any provision for State funding; and
WHEREAS, the actions taken by the Regional Board in adopting the NPDES Permit are inconsistent with
the requirements of the Clean Water Act and State Law, will result in the imposition of unsupportable programs
on the City and its citizenry, and will result in the imposition of numerous unfunded mandates on the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Temple City, California, does hereby resolve as
follows:
Section 1. To participate with other Cities in the County with the filing of a lawsuit challenging Regional
Board Order No. 01 -182, NPDES Permit No. CAS004001, Waste Discharge Requirements for Municipal Storm
Water and Urban Runoff Discharges within the County of Los Angeles and the Incorporated Cities therein,
except the City of Long Beach.
Section 2. To authorize the City Manager to retain Richard Montevideo, Esq., in coordination with other
Los Angeles County Cities, to advise, assist and represent the City in the filing and in the prosecution of a lawsuit
challenging Regional Board Order No. 01 -182, the Municipal NPDES Permit for Los Angeles County and the
incorporated Cities therein, except the City of Long Beach.
Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this resolution.
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Resolution No. 03 -4145
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PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED on this 7th day of January, 2003.
ATTEST:
'Y'quvi l(L8-pAAA-c1
City Clerk
I, City Clerk of the City of Temple City, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution, Resolution No. 03-
4145, was adopted by the City Council of the City of Temple City at a regular meeting held on the 7th day of
January, 2003 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilman - Souder, Wilson, Zovak, Vizcarra, Gillanders
NOES: Councilman -None
ABSENT: Councilman -None