HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 2003-01RESOLUTION NO. 2003--01
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING THE
FILING OF A LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE STORM
WATERIURBAN RUNOFF PERMIT FOR THE COUNTY OF
LOS ANGELES AND. THE INCORPORATED CITIES
THEREIN, EXCEPT THE CITY OF LONG BEACH (NPDES
NO. CAS004001)
WHEREAS, the California Regional Water Quality Control Boa
Los Angeles Region ("Regional Board") adopted Order No. 01-182,
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") Permit fc
Municipal Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges within the County c
Los Angeles and the incorporated cities therein, except the City of Lon
Beach (hereinafter "NPDES Permit") on December 13, 2001; and
WHEREAS, in January of 2002, forty-nine cities, including the City
of Los Angeles, as well as the County of Los Angeles, filed administrative
petitions with the State Water Resources Control Board ("State Board")
challenging the validity of the NPDES Permit on a number of grounds,
including its deletion of the "Safe Harbor" provisions that existed in the
prior 1996 NPDES Permit, the modifications to the terms of the Permit
dealing with Receiving Water Limitations and the requirement therein th 11
would allow "numeric" limits to be imposed upon municipalities (witho 1
compliance with the "maximum extent practicable" standard set forth int e
Clean Water Act), as well as those provisions allowing for the automat c
incorporation of total maximum daily loads ("TMDL") by the Regional
Board's Executive Officer, the failure of the Regional Board to comply wi h
the requirements of CEQA or to adopt terms consistent with CEQA, the
imposition of additional inspection obligations on municipalities for vario s
industrial and commercial facilities, and the attempt by the Regional Boa d
to rollback the changes that had been made to the Standard Urban Stor
Water Mitigation Plan requirements ("SUSMP Requirements") by the Sta e
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Board, along with other objectionable terms, including various provisions
which infringe upon the local land use authority of the Cities; and
WHEREAS, although indicating in February of 2002 that it would
address a number of substantive issues raised by the administrative
petitions, on December 18, 2002, after three settlement negotiation
sessions that did not lead to a resolution of the issues, the State Board
denied all of the administrative petitions without providing a hearing to the
public, and concluded that the Petitions "failed to raise substantial, new
issues;" and
WHEREAS, the City of Diamond Bar ("City") currently supports and
funds efforts to reduce and eliminate storm water pollution. During the five
year period of the prior NPDES Permit, the City implemented additional
street sweeping efforts, increased catch basin cleaning, funded a public
information program on storm water pollution, implemented construction
project inspection programs, implemented a Standard Urban Storm Water
Mitigation Plan (the "SUSMP") as modified by the State Board, completed
the site visitation programs, initiated waste -oil recycling programs and
implemented various other storm water programs; and
WHEREAS, the NPDES Permit contains various language within
the Receiving Water Limitations section (and other provisions of the
Permit) which violate the "maximum extent practicable" standard, and
which in many cases, directly or indirectly seek to impose responsibility on
municipalities throughout the County, to insure that storm water runoff into
and from their storm drain systems, does not violate water quality
objectives, including numeric effluent limits that may be adopted through
the incorporation of TMDLs; and
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WHEREAS, under the NPDES Permit, the City, along with 83 other
incorporated cities in Los Angeles County and the County of Los Angele ,
are required to expand existing storm water treatment programs, and t
implement new storm water programs which the Regional Board purport
will improve the quality of municipal storm water in a cost-effective
manner. However, a cost -benefit study was never performed by the,
Regional Board to illustrate that the new programs will result in cosi-
effective improvements to storm water quality. In addition, the Board di
not develop or rely upon scientific data to support the need for th
numerous programs to be imposed by the new Permit; and
WHEREAS, under the new NPDES Permit, the City will
responsible for implementing a comprehensive inspection and surveilla
program of industrial and commercial facilities to "control" storm water
non -storm water runoff from these facilities. A recent study ordered by
United States Congress and completed by the National Research Council
of the National Academy of Sciences recommended that storm water
programs utilize "adaptive implementation", and recognized that cities
should not be subjected to fines and legal action while they are developing
new and untested storm water programs. The new NPDES Permit m y
place the Cities in a constant state of violation, and will subject all
municipalities covered by the Permit to needless lawsuits ty
environmental organizations, and exposing the Cities to excessive fines.
The removal of the legal "Safe Harbor," combined with the addition of
language putting the Cities in a constant state of violation, is legally
inappropriate and fundamentally unfair; and
WHEREAS, the revised SUSMP Requirements under the n
NPDES Permit are contrary to a prior order issued by the State Board,
and require the imposition of mitigation measures that are contrary
existing State law under the Califomia Environmental Quality Act, and
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Permit terms infringe upon traditional local land use authority and the
basic powers of local governments;
WHEREAS, the NPDES Permit goes beyond the intent of the
Clean Water Act, and violates the California Porter -Cologne Act, by "micro
managing" and dictating specific programs and a particular manner of
compliance on the Cities, and by imposing requirements that are not
authorized anywhere under State or federal law; and
WHEREAS, the new NPDES Permit requires that the Cities expand
the current private property site visitation and education program to a
mandatory inspection and enforcement program, that the Cities reduce
pollutants in runoff from private industrial and commercial far-iflflP4z
(including federal and State facilities) and that the Cities modify their
CEQA Guidelines and their General Plan requirements. All such
requirements and programs are being mandated on the Cities, without any
provision for State funding.
WHEREAS, the actions taken by the Regional Board in adopting
the NPDES Permit are inconsistent with the requirements of the Clean
Water Act and State Law, will result in the imposition of unsupportable
programs on the City and its citizenry, and will result in the imposition of
numerous unfunded mandates on the City.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. To participate with other Cities in the County with the
filing of a lawsuit challenging Regional Board Order No. 01-182, NPDES ^�
Permit No. CAS004001, Waste Discharge Requirements for Municipal
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2003-01
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Storm Water and Urban Runoff Discharges within the County of
Angeles and the Incorporated Cities therein, except the City of
Beach.
Section 2. To retain Richard Montevideo, Esq., in coordination wi-
other Los Angeles County Cities, to advise, assist and represent the Ci
in the filing and in the prosecution of a lawsuit challenging Regional Boa!
Order No. 01-182, the Municipal NPDES Permit for Los Angeles Coun
and the incorporated Cities therein, except the City of Long Beach.
Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and
hereof.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of
City Council this 7th day of January 2003.
Carol Herrera, Mayor
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I, LYNDA BURGESS, City Clerk of the City of Diamond Bar, do hereby certify
that the foregoing Resolution was passed, approved and adopted at a regular
meeting of the City Council of the City of Diamond Bar held on the 7th day of
January, 2003, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Chang, O'Connor, zirbes,
MPT/Huff, M/Herrera
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSTAINED: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
LYN
A-6URGESS, ity Clerk
City of Diamond Bar
2003-01