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 stormwater quality monitoring and pollutants of concern investigations, special studies, and pilot projects be coordinated, implemented and funded as a Group Activity.
The CCCWP’s stormwater monitoring programs are designed to identify and evaluate sources, pathways, loadings and impacts of pollutants, such as mercury and PCBs, that reach local creeks and streams, and eventually into the San Francisco Bay; and, to investigate the effectiveness of stormwater treatment control technologies. Additional technical support services provided by Larry Walker Associates, Inc. (Larry Walker) are necessary to assist the CCCWP with compliance of these mandates including the need for additional program staffing and project management assistance due to the temporary leave of absence of a CCCWP staff member and the preparation of reports to fulfill CCCWP’s required commitments to the “Clean Watershed for a Clean Bay (CW4CB)” grant from USEPA’s Water Quality Improvement Fund, and the NPDES permits.
In order to help continue to maintain permit compliance, CCCWP staff, on behalf of the Permittees, respectfully requests approval of this contract amendment with Larry Walker for the remainder of the contract term (through June 30, 2015).
If the contract amendment with Larry Walker is not approved, the CCCWP would not be able to fulfill the NPDES permit mandates, and municipalities could be found in non-compliance. Fines totaling $10,000 per day and $10 per gallon of stormwater discharge could potentially be imposed.