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TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	04/10/2017
Subject: Accept report from the Public Works Department on meeting Municipal Regional Permit 2.0 requirements and forward to the Board for approval.
Submitted For:	TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
Department:	Conservation & Development
Referral No.:	5
Referral Name:	REVIEW issues associated with the health of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, including water quality.
Presenter:	Mike Carlson, PWD (925)313-2321	Contact:	Cece Sellgren, PWD (925)313-2296

Information

Referral History:

The Regional Water Quality Control Boards issue the County a stormwater permit on a five-year recurring cycle. The first permit was issued in 1993 and the current permit was issued in November 2015. The objective of the permit is to reduce pollutants in stormwater to improve stormwater quality, and increase stormwater infiltration into soils to improve watershed health.

Just before the first permit was issued, the County modified the Flood Control District Act to allow the District to collect an annual assessment on parcels throughout the County, for the cities and the County to fund permit compliance costs. The permit compliance cost for each subsequent permit has increased dramatically over the prior permit. The Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee and the full Board have been following the policy and financial issues associated with implementing these stormwater permits for many years.

Board members have testified before the Regional Water Board several times describing the impacts their stormwater permit has on the County budget.

Referral Update:

The new Stormwater permit, referred to as the Municipal Regional Permit 2.0, follows the prior Municipal Regional Permit 1.0 issued at the end of 2009.

In 2010, the beginning of the MRP 1.0 five-year permit, there was a surplus of funds in the County’s Stormwater Program. In 2015, the last year of the MRP 1.0 permit, compliance costs exceeded the annual revenue of assessment funds and the surplus was virtually gone.

On June 9, 2016, the Committee accepted a report on the policy implications of the MRP 2.0. That was the first of three reports to be developed on the topic. The second report, presented at the October 13, 2016 Committee meeting, outlined the financial implications of implementing the new Municipal Regional Permit 2.0.

This third report provides two budget scenarios, one compliance based in the other resource-based, and includes staff recommendations to implement MRP 2.0.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

ACCEPT report on implementing the new Municipal Regional Permit 2.0, CONSIDER staff's recommendations, PROVIDE direction on which budget to pursue, and FORWARD this report to the full Board for consideration and approval.

Attachments
Report
Appendix A
Implementing Municipal Regional Permit 2.0