TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an agreement and amendments thereto with the Gateway Cities Council of Governments (GCCOG) regarding the administration and cost sharing of a coordinated monitoring plan for the Los Angeles River’s Metals Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), with a contribution amount of $31,166, plus a 20 percent contingency, if needed and if available, over four years. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Several segments of the Los Angeles River (LAR) and its tributaries were identified on the 1998 and 2002 Clean Water Act (CWA) 303(d) list of impaired water bodies due to various metals. A TMDL establishes a maximum limit for a specific pollutant that can be discharged into a water body without exceeding water quality standards and impairing beneficial uses. As a result of a 1999 consent decree between three environmental organizations (Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Santa Monica Baykeeper) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) was required to abide by a 13-year schedule to develop over 90 TMDLs. The consent decree required that the LAR Metals TMDL be completed by March 22, 2004, however, that deadline was extended to December 2005. The EPA approved the LAR Metals TMDL as an amendment to the regional Water Quality Control Plan for the Los Angeles Region (Basin Plan) on December 22,2005 and the TMDL became effective January 11,2006.
This amendment also requires that watershed cities and agencies (Jurisdictional Group) prepare, fund, and implement a Coordinated Monitoring Program (CMP).
Coordinated Monitorinq Plan The CMP was developed by an 11-member Technical Committee (TC) that included representatives from the Jurisdictional Group. All cities and agencies have responded in the affirmative to participate in this CMP. The following agencies are currently members of the TC: Cities of Los Angeles, Hidden Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Pa...
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