TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Public Works Director
Raul Saenz, Utilities Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Introduction of Ordinance No. 15-0004 which will Revise Title 5 - Sanitation and Health, Chapter 5.84 - Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control of the City of Manhattan Beach Municipal Code (Public Works Director Olmos).
INTRODUCE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council introduce Ordinance No. 15-0004 which will revise Title 5 - Sanitation and Health, Chapter 5.84 - Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control of the City of Manhattan Beach Municipal Code.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The cost of future City Public Right-of-Way Capital Improvement Projects will increase to accommodate construction of stormwater retention facilities that comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit.
BACKGROUND:
On November 8, 2012, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) adopted the fourth NPDES Permit under the Federal Clean Water Act for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) within the coastal watersheds of Los Angeles County (Permit). The Permit became effective on December 28, 2012. The Permit identifies conditions, requirements and programs that municipalities must comply with to protect regional water resources from adverse impacts associated with pollutants in stormwater and urban runoff. The City of Manhattan Beach is a named Permittee subject to the Permit.
The Permit requires that each Permittee has the legal authority within its jurisdiction to implement and enforce the Permit requirements pursuant to the Clean Water Act and the implementing section of the Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR § 122.26(d)(2)(i)(A-F). The attached ordinance revises and updates Title 5 - Sanitation and Health, Chapter 5.84 - Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control of the City of Manhattan Beach Municipal Code to reflect the 2012 Permit requirements.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Manhattan Beach is pursuing the development and implementation of an Enhanced Watershed Management Program (EWMP) consistent with the Permit and in cooperation with the cities of Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance along with the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. As required by the Permit, a draft EWMP plan will be submitted to the Regional Board for review by June 28, 2015. A condition of Regional Board approval of the EWMP is that all participating Permittees must have Low Impact Development (LID) Ordinances enacted by the time of the draft EWMP submittal. LID is an approach to new development and redevelopment projects that work to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. LID employs structural features, such as bio-retention facilities, rain gardens, vegetated rooftops, rain barrels, and permeable pavements that minimize effective imperviousness to create functional and appealing site drainage that treats stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product.
The Draft Ordinance
The following summarizes key features of the draft ordinance:
· The Permit requires that each Permittee has the legal authority within its jurisdiction to implement and enforce the Permit requirements pursuant to the Clean Water Act and the implementing section of the Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR § 122.26(d)(2)(i)(A-F).
· The most significant changes in the ordinance are related to new development and redevelopment projects. These new planning and land development provisions are referred to as LID provisions. The draft ordinance replaces the Standard Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plan (SUSMP), which is a development planning provisions that determines how a development project needs to be designed to protect water quality, with the 2012 Permit LID provisions - Planning and Land Development Program Requirements for New Development and Redevelopment Projects.
· LID and SUSMP projects include industrial parks, commercial malls, retail gasoline outlets, restaurants, parking lots, hillside residential developments, street and road construction, automotive service facilities, and projects whose drainage impacts Significant Ecological Areas.
· Size thresholds that trigger LID requirements for projects are similar to the SUSMP thresholds with some minor changes. The previous development category under the 2001 Permit which covered housing developments of ten units or more (either single-family or multi-family) has been eliminated and replaced by the general category of new developments of any type which create 10,000 square feet or more of impervious surface on a one-acre disturbed site.
· Proposed new development and redevelopment projects subject to LID will be required to capture and retain the 85th percentile 24-hour design storm depth onsite through infiltration, bio-retention and/or rainfall harvest for non-potable use onsite. Projects will no longer be allowed to address stormwater runoff via treatment alone as was often done under SUSMP without first demonstrating that it is technically infeasible to retain the design storm runoff onsite. If onsite retention of stormwater is demonstrated to be technically infeasible, then alternatives may include onsite bio-filtration, or onsite treatment, plus offsite mitigation of the design storm volume.
· The 85th percentile 24-hour design storm depth varies by 20% depending on location within the City. Under SUSMP the design storm was 0.75 inches regardless of location within the City, whereas with LID the design storm may vary from 0.75 to 0.88 inches depending on the project's location on the County's historical rainfall map of the 85th percentile 24-hour storm depth.
· The LID provisions of the draft ordinance utilizes the County of Los Angeles LID Standards Manual as the design reference for selected LID Best Management Practice design.
· Definitions in the ordinance have been updated and other changes made for consistency with the 2012 Permit.
· The Green Street Policy is incorporated in the ordinance as a reference.
At their request, a draft copy of the Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance was submitted to the Regional Board for their review and input prior to City Council adoption to assure that the City is compliant with the Permit. Based on discussions with the Regional Board, staff anticipates Regional Board approval of the draft Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance. It is anticipated that if Regional Board has any comments, they will be minor and easily incorporated before the Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance is enacted.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
The revised Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance is regulation driven as a compliance requirement of the current NPDES Permit under the Federal Clean Water Act for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer systems. Given the prescriptive nature of the regulation, the City is not at liberty to customize an alternate ordinance.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
City staff involved in private and public development and redevelop construction projects will be provided training on the key elements of the Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance in order to provide assistance to developers and consultants through the permit approval process. Supplemental information will also be provided to developers and consultants in the form of an information memo, in addition to providing them with the City's website address that directs them to the Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control ordinance.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council introduce Ordinance No. 15-0004 which will revise Title 5 - Sanitation and Health, Chapter 5.84 - Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Control of the City of Manhattan Beach Municipal Code..
Attachment:
1. Ordinance No. 15-0004
2. Red Lined Ordinance No. 15-0004