The Contra Costa Clean Water Program (CCCWP) consists of Contra Costa County, its 19 incorporated cities/towns, and the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (District), hereinafter referred to as “Permittees.”
In November 1990, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published final stormwater rules implementing the 1987 federal Clean Water Act (CWA) amendments, which established, among other things, a framework for regulating municipal stormwater discharges under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Program. The rules prohibit the discharge of pollutants in stormwater unless the discharge is in compliance with a NPDES permit. In response, the Permittees jointly established the CCCWP in 1991 through a Program Agreement, and jointly applied for, and were subsequently issued, joint Municipal NPDES Permits issued by the San Francisco Bay and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Water Boards). The Municipal NPDES Permits are reissued approximately every five years.
The permits mandate Permittees to develop and implement stormwater pollution prevention and control programs designed to reduce or eliminate the discharge of pollutants into and from municipal separate storm sewers (MS4s). Permittees conduct many of these mandated activities collectively (referred to as “Group Activities”). The roles and responsibilities of the CCCWP and Permittees are outlined in the Program Agreement, which was last updated and adopted by all Permittees in June 2010. In accordance with the Program Agreement, each City/Town/County/District manager designates a representative to participate on the Management Committee, which is the CCCWP’s decision-making body.
The Management Committee has directed that certain requirements of the Municipal NPDES Permits, such as monitoring of stormwater quality and pollutants of concern (POC), and related special studies be coordinated, implemented, and funded as a Group Activity. ADH Technical Services, Inc., (ADH) has been conducting such monitoring for the CCCWP since August 2011. Based on those earlier monitoring results, additional monitoring, including Stressor/Source ID studies, is now required to meet permit mandates.
In order to continue maintaining permit compliance, CCCWP staff, on behalf of the Permittees, respectfully requests approval of this contract amendment with ADH for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013/14.
If the Contract Amendment with ADH is not approved, the CCCWP would not be able to fulfill the permit mandates, and municipalities could be found in non-compliance with the NPDES permits issued by the Water Boards. Fines totaling $10,000 per day and $10 per gallon of stormwater discharge could potentially be imposed.