TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Memorandum of Agreement, including subsequent amendments, with the Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water Management Joint Powers Authority, for the installation of monitoring equipment and ongoing monitoring, as required by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, for the Dominguez Channel and Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors' Waters Toxic Pollutants Total Maximum Daily Loads, at an approximate annual cost not to exceed $6,680, for a three-year term. (Districts 1,2)
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach (City) is subject to waste discharge requirements for its municipal storm sewer system (MS4) discharge under Order No. R4-2014-0024, National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. CAS004003. The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) established the NPDES Program to regulate the discharge of pollutants to waters in the United States. The CWA requires water bodies that do not meet water quality standards be placed on an impaired water body list called the Section 303(d) list. For each water body on the list, the State is required to establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for each pollutant impairing the water quality standards and are the basis to establish control of the water quality. A portion of the City’s storm water drains to the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers, which are on the Section 303(d) list.
This Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is for cost-sharing with other agencies tributary to the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and will provide monitoring coverage not included as part of the 2014 MOA. The following cities have worked together with the Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water Management Joint Powers Authority (GWMA) to develop this MOA to share the cost of the monitoring: Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bell, Bell Gardens, Bellflower, Bradbury, Burbank, Calabasas, Cerritos, Claremont, Commerce, Covina, Cudahy, Diamond Bar, Downey, Duarte, Glendale, Glendora, El Monte, Hidden Hills, Huntington Park, Industry, Irwindale, La Canada Flintridge, La Puente, La Verne, Lakewood, Los Angeles, Lynwood, Maywood, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Paramount, Pasadena, Pico Rivera, Pomona, Rosemead, San Dimas, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Fe Springs, Signal Hill, Sierra Madre, South El Monte, South Gate, South Pasadena, Temple City, Vernon, Walnut, Whittier, and Los Angeles County unincorporated. The GWMA will act solely as a fiduciary agent for this agreement. In 2014, the City entered into a similar agreement related to the Harbor Toxics TMDL, but the agreement was limited to the areas of the city discharging to the Los Angeles River Estuary and the Los Cerritos Channel.
The total cost for the three-year program will be $655,500, to be split between the cities mentioned above. Each participating agency equally shares a flat base rate fee and the balance is based on their percentage of area within the TMDL limits. The actual cost of sample collection and analysis varies from year to year due to the differences in the water or changes in the monitoring plan ordered by the Regional Board, but at the request of the responsible parties, the participation costs have been averaged over a three-year period. The total participation cost to date for the City is $18,922. The City’s participation cost for FY18 is a total not to exceed $6,680.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Amy R. Webber on June 22, 2017 and by Budget Analysis Officer Julissa Jose-Murray on June 28, 2017.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on July 18, 2017, to ensure the MOA is in place expeditiously.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total annual cost of this MOA is not to exceed $6,680. Sufficient funding to support the City’s participation is budgeted in the Tidelands Operations Fund (TF 401) in the Public Works Department (PW). If additional appropriation is needed in subsequent years, it will be addressed as part of the annual budget preparation process. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
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Respectfully Submitted,
CRAIG A. BECK
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER