TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) D13-014 with the Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC), for a four-year term at a total anticipated cost of $60,000, to develop scientific and technical tools for stormwater implementation, assessment, and monitoring, requiring further development and/or upgrade for use in complying with United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Requirements. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Staff is requesting City Council authorization to execute a new Memorandum of Agreement with the Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition. The new agreement, Agreement D13-014, is requested for the purpose of continuing the implementation of the cooperative Stormwater Research Needs Program (SRNP) to develop scientific and technical tools for stormwater implementation, assessment, and monitoring, requiring further development and/or upgrade to support the implementation of the new NPDES Permits. The objective of the agreement will be to identify data gaps that inhibit effective stormwater management and/or regulation, and then prescribe specific studies to address the gaps. Each study is intended to result in specific actions or recommendations that benefit water quality and comply with mandatory requirements of the US EPA TMDLs and current implementation of the NPDES Permits. The studies will aid the City in complying with our own NPDES permit. The agreement will be for a term four years.
Stormwater regulators and municipal stormwater management agencies throughout Southern California have developed a collaborative working relationship. The goal of this relationship has generally been to develop the technical information necessary to better understand stormwater mechanisms and impacts, and ultimately, to develop the tools that will effectively and efficiently improve stormwater decision-making, which contributes to compliance with United States Environmental Protection Agency Total Maximum Daily Loads (US-EPA TMDL) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit requirements. There was early recognition that these issues are often not localized, but typically cross watershed areas and jurisdictional boundaries. The recognition of Stormwater as a cross-jurisdictional issue culminated in the formation of the Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC), which is comprised of the Municipal Stormwater NPDES agencies who are the lead permittees, the NPDES regulatory agencies in Southern California and Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). A formal Memorandum of Agreement (099-072), for cooperative Stormwater Research Needs Program, was signed in 2001 for a term of five years.
The information and studies produced from the first agreement served the SMC until it became apparent that the information no longer met the requirements of new permits that were being developed for the City of Long Beach and the Los Angeles County, starting in 2008. In 2009, a second formal agreement (006-049) for a term of five years was signed to continue the work. The results of the research studies produced from these previous two agreements have served the SMC well. Ten of fifteen projects were completed and nearly all have had an immediate impact on the regulatory structure for municipal stormwater agencies. In 2014, it became apparent that a third agreement was needed to produce supporting information for the implementation of the new NPDES Permits.
The update to the original SMC research agenda and contintuation of the SRNP will be a multi-agency effort. The total cost for the four-year agreement is $300,000 per year, with the cost allocated to each of the participating agencies. The City's participation costs for FY 16 to FY 19 is an estimated annual amount of $15,000.
This matter was reviewed by Principal City Attorney Gary J. Andersson on September 14, 2015, and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on August 31, 2015.
SUSTAINABILITY
The information, tools, and support gained from participation in this MOA contribute tremendously to the City's efforts to comply with US EPA TMDL and NPDES Permit requirements. The end result will help to identify and abate pollutants, bacteria, and hazardous materials, which will lead to improved water quality in the City's beaches, harbors, rivers, and bays.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action on this item is requested on September 22,2015, to begin the scientific work in September, which is dependant on seasonal times of the year that are optimal for aquiring samples testing and monitoring water bodies in order to achive the best results for compliance of the TMDLs and NPDES Permit reqirements. The City's participation in this work contributes to research that will lead to improved water quality in the City's beaches, harbors, rivers, and bays.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City's cost under this agreement is estimated at $15,000 per year. For FY16, funding to support the City's participation cost is budgeted in the General Fund (GF) in the Public Works Department (PW). Funding for FY 17 to FY 19 will be addressed as part of the annual budget preparation process. There are no local jobs impacted by this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
ARA MALOYAN, PE
DIRECTOR PUBLIC WORKS
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER