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WORK STUDY SESSION • Federal Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological quality of the Nation's waters • The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was established as part of this legislation • Phase I of NPDES began in 1990; Phase II begins in 2003 • Currently in 3rd term of permit (2002-2006) • Fines for violators range from $2,500 to $25,000 per day • The NPDES principal permittee is the County of Orange and the 34 Orange County cities are the co-permittees • New permit requirements include: implementation of stormwater controls as set forth in the permit, ensure city ordinance meets permit requirements; conduct storm drain inspection and maintenance on 80% of drainage system; submittal of annual report to Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board; increase public education and outreach • There are 108 projected annual construction sites and 12,000 existing industrial/commercial facilities that must be inspected and prioritized • Pollutant reductions methods can be structural or non-structural • Examples of non-structural methods include: housekeeping, alternative products, material storage controls, household hazardous waste collection, land use planning and management, catch basin cleaning, public participation and education, and, street sweeping • Santa Ana sweeps residential and arterial streets once per week, and sweeps downtown streets daily • Structural examples include: porous pavements, dry weather diversion, vegetative treatment, detention, oil/water separators, catch basin filters, and, hydrodynamic separation • The new permit requirements increase Santa Ana's costs relative to the County of Orange permit fee from $120,000 annually to $514,000 • Other increased costs are in the areas of enforcement, inspections of construction, industrial and commercial facilities, increased public education and outreach, and, catch basin and channel cleaning • Most city departments are affected • In 2002-2003, the total City of Santa Ana Stormwater program cost is $2.1 million • The funding options include the general fund or a Federal Cleanwater Protection Enterprise • Staff recommends that the Council adopt a storm water fee program that is Proposition 218 exempt in the current fiscal year • City has hired consultant to assess new permit impact to City operations and recommend required resources • Findings of consultant's report indicate that required resources equal 2.25 full time employees in Public Works and a need for additional outside consultants/contractors CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 275 JULY 15, 2002