HomeMy Public PortalAboutResolution 11-4748 Stormwater NPDES Permit and TMDL Requirements1
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RESOLUTION NO. 11 -4748
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE
CITY CALIFORNIA, SUPPORTING REASONABLE, PRACTICABLE,
AND ECONOMICALLY ACHIEVABLE STORMWATER NPDES
PERMIT AND TMDL REQUIREMENTS, THROUGH THE USE OF
PROGRESSIVE AND ADAPTIVE BEST MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY DOES HEREBY RESOLVE, DETERMINE AND
ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, the City of Temple City is proud of its environmental programs and invests significant
resources in improving water quality by implementing both federal and state environmental programs,
including the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits and the Total Maximum
Daily Load (TMDL) program; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is governed under a
consent decree issued by a federal district court in 1999 which requires USEPA to adopt 96 TMDLs for water
bodies in the Los Angeles region, under an accelerated time schedule; and
WHEREAS, the State of California, through the State Board and Regional Board, has been
designated by the USEPA to enforce federal storm water regulations, including the municipal NPDES
permits and TMDLs, under the Clean Water Act; and
WHEREAS, TMDLs are the means by which water quality standards are applied to the municipalities
and TMDLs are specifically designed to achieve beneficial uses of water bodies by limiting the amount of
pollutants in runoff conveyed to them; and
WHEREAS, TMDLs are typically implemented 'and enforced against local governments through the
Municipal NPDES permits and that the Clean Water Act allows for third -party litigation /citizen suits against
local governments if they fail to comply with their NPDES permit requirements; and
WHEREAS, the USEPA and the Regional Board have adopted dozens of TMDLs since 2001 and
additional TMDLs are pending adoption under the consent decree; and
WHEREAS, the Regional Board has already incorporated into the current NPDES permit a
trash TMDL for the Los Angeles River and a bacteria TMDL for Santa Monica Bay, and plans to include in
the permit dozens of other TMDLs affecting Ballona Creek, Calleguas Creek, Dominguez Channel, Los
Angeles River, San Gabriel River, and Santa Clara River watersheds; and
WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) concluded that the storm water management program (including TMDLs) in the United States is
dysfunctional and in need of radical change;
WHEREAS, the USEPA study concluded that the cost of complying with TMDLs would impose upon
subject local governments tremendous costs that may not result in a significant improvement in water quality;
WHEREAS, a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report commissioned by Congress found that
compliance with existing TMDL regulations has been problematic and that limitations in USEPA's economic
analysis of the NDPES and TMDL programs raises questions about their reasonableness (GAO/T- RCED -00-
233); and
Resolution No. 11 -4748
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WHEREAS, the GAO also found that states have had difficulty in developing accurate water quality
standards for the TMDL program due to a lack of financial resources and that, as a consequence, local
governments risk directing limited resources to water bodies that have been incorrectly targeted for clean -up
(GAO- 03- 881T); and
WHEREAS, the State's non - partisan Little Hoover Commission found in its January of 2009 report that
local governments, representing small, poor communities, as well as larger, richer urban areas, are struggling
to pay for upgrades needed to protect the state's waters and that urban storm water is a vexing problem with
costly solutions, yet the State has not developed an adequate system for assessing and prioritizing the problems;
and
WHEREAS, the State Water Board commissioned a panel of experts to report on the feasibility of
relying on numeric limits in municipal NPDES permits and the panel reported on June 19, 2006 that "it is not
feasible at this time to set enforceable numeric effluent criteria for municipal BMPs and in particular urban
discharges "; and
WHEREAS, the League of California Cities adopted statewide water policy guidelines in March of 2010
supporting the development of reasonably achievable, environmentally sound and cost - effective TMDLs based
on monitoring and sound science, and opposes legislation that requires the use of numeric limits in NPDES
permits, because of the difficulties in meeting numeric limits, problems with exceeding numeric limits and the
costs and potential enforcement impacts of numeric limits; and
WHERAS, federal regulations allow for flexibility and provide discretion to the states when imposing
NPDES permit requirements and developing TMDL programs, and USEPA has adopted Interim Permitting
Approach for Water Quality -Based Effluent Limitations in Storm Water Permits, which allows municipalities to
employ best management practices (BMPs) as a reasonable, practicable and economically achievable method
to improve water quality in lieu of incorporating numeric limits into NPDES permits; and
WHEREAS, a recent USEPA memorandum reaffirmed the use of BMPs in addressing water quality
based effluent limits (WQBELs) as a means of complying with TMDLs in NPDES storm water permits.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY:
SECTION 1. That the City of Temple City supports the California League of Cities statewide policy
that TMDLs be reasonably achievable, environmentally sound, cost - effective and based on monitoring and
sound science.
SECTION 2. That the City of Temple City supports the California League of Cities statewide
policy that generally opposes strict compliance with numeric limits in municipal NPDES Permits because of
the difficulties in meeting them, problems with exceeding them, and the costs and potential enforcement impacts.
SECTION 3. That the City of Temple City recommends that the Regional Board allow the
municipalities to comply with TMDLs through reasonable, practical, and economically achievable
BMPs, in a progressive and adaptable manner.
SECTION 4. That the City of Temple City recommends that this BMP compliance approach
be included in the upcoming municipal NPDES permits in Los Angeles County, in lieu of absolute
compliance with numeric limits by whatever means necessary to achieve such compliance.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Resolution and shall enter
the same in the Book of Original Resolutions.
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Resolution No. 11 -4748
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PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED on this 19th day of April 2011.
Mayor
ATTEST:
I1 i Q-01,\A4Adt-t
City Clerk 0
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution, Resolution No. 11 -4748, was adopted by the City Council of
the City of Temple City at a regular meeting held on the 19th day of April 2011 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmember -Blum, Sternquist, Vizcarra, Yu, Chavez
NOES: Councilmember -None
ABSENT: Councilmember -None
ABSTAIN: Councilmember -None
L,.4
City Clerk U