TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Jeff Page, Utilities Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of a Resolution Approving a Five-Year Agreement with McGowan Consulting, LLC for Environmental Professional Services Pertaining to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Compliance at a Cost Not-to-Exceed $581,750 (Budgeted) (Public Works Director Lee).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 25-0067
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution approving a five-year agreement with McGowan Consulting, LLC for continued environmental professional services and assistance in the implementation of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit to meet stormwater quality objectives at a cost not-to-exceed $581,570, including a 10% contingency.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are sufficient funds available in the Stormwater Fund to support this agreement. The total contract amount exceeds the City Manager’s awarding authority per the City’s purchasing policy; therefore, City Council approval is required.
BACKGROUND:
Under the Federal Clean Water Act and the California Porter-Cologne Act, the Los Angeles Regional MS4 Permit (Regional Permit) identifies conditions, requirements, and programs that municipalities must implement to protect regional water resources from adverse impacts associated with pollutants in stormwater and urban runoff. On July 23, 2021, a new Regional Permit was adopted and became effective on September 11, 2021, replacing the previous 2012 LA MS4 Permit. The Regional Permit will expire on September 11, 2026; however, the California Code of Regulations specifies that the terms and conditions of an expired permit are automatically extended pending the issuance of a new permit.
Based on previous experience with permit cycles running about a decade in length, the current permit is likely to remain in place for another five years before a new permit is adopted. In the meantime, adherence to the requirements of the current Regional Permit will continue to demand significant coordination, reporting, regulatory tracking and expert assistance. This work will assist the City in overcoming challenges in meeting numeric pollutant limitations placed on municipal stormwater discharges and avoid enforcement action from regulatory agencies. Additionally, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted a Statewide Water Quality Control Policy in January 2025 for Standardized Cost Reporting in Municipal Stormwater Permits. This policy will increase the effort required for properly tracking and submitting the City’s fiscal year costs for implementing the Regional Permit.
DISCUSSION:
McGowan Consulting (McGowan) has assisted the City in meeting the requirements of the MS4 Permit, including technical and regulatory support in the development and implementation of compliance strategies to meet bacteria, trash, and metals water quality objectives under the Santa Monica Bay Beaches Bacteria Wet and Dry Weather Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), the Santa Monica Bay Trash TMDLs, the Dominguez Channel Toxics TMDLs, and the discharge limitations on trash to the Dominguez Channel. McGowan also represented the City’s interests during the negotiation of the 2021 Permit by providing written comments and verbal testimony resulting in positive changes to permit terms.
Additionally, McGowan has assisted the City in achieving many of its key accomplishments related to MS4 compliance in recent years, including:
• Grant Funding Assistance
McGowan prepared winning grant proposals to secure funding for stormwater capital projects for TMDL compliance including: $4.9M in Prop 68 Urban Flood Protection funding for the Manhattan Beach 28th Street Infiltration Project, $830K in Proposition 1 Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) funding for the Coastal Restoration and Resiliency Project (aka Trash TMDL Project) including $300K for dune restoration, $500K for the Manhattan Greenbelt Infiltration Project, and $5M in Proposition 13 and Proposition 12 Grant funding for Beach Cities joint Watershed Management Group projects in the Santa Monica Bay Watershed.
• Safe Clean Water (Measure W) Administration
McGowan assisted the City in preparing and submitting annual budgetary expenditure plans and annual expenditure reports as required for the City to receive its annual disbursement of Safe, Clean Water (Measure W) Municipal funds. The annual plans and reports document how approximately $410,000 in annual Measure W funds advance the City’s goals in meeting water quality objectives consistent with the terms of the Measure W Municipal Transfer Agreement with LA County Flood Control District. McGowan also supported the City's first independent 3-year audit of these expenditures in accordance with the Municipal Transfer Agreement. The audit report found that "the City complied, in all material respects" with the requirements in Los Angeles County Flood Control District Code Chapter Sections 16.05 and 18.05 through 18.07 that "could have direct and material effect on the City's Safe, Clean Water Program for the three-year period ended June 30, 2023."
• Municipal Permit Implementation
McGowan worked with City staff to develop a strategy for meeting the Statewide Trash Provisions in the City’s Dominguez Channel Watershed area for trash control from Priority Land Uses. This included reviewing the City’s recent business license database update for possible miscategorized industrial facilities and providing recommendations on which businesses may need assistance in evaluating whether they need to recategorize their business activity or obtain coverage under the Industrial General Stormwater National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit.
McGowan also developed the 2022 update of the City’s stormwater ordinance. This ordinance streamlined and simplified thresholds for Priority Development Projects while ensuring the provisions met the minimum stringency required by the Regional Permit.
• Watershed Group Coordination
McGowan assisted the City and its watershed partners in securing Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board approval for the 2024 Beach Cities Watershed Management Program (WMP) in accordance with the Regional Permit requirements. Through coordination, implementation, and reporting of joint activities, the City and its watershed partners were one of only four watershed groups (of a total of 24 watershed groups) to maintain deemed compliance status consistent with the State Water Board’s 2021 Order on WMP/EWMP Petitions (WQ 2021-0052). As part of this work, McGowan also supported the City Attorney in preparing oral testimony for the State Water Board on WMP/EWMP Petitions to clarify the applicability of Order WQ 2021-0052.
• TMDL Implementation
McGowan prepared documentation to successfully exclude the City from the plastic pellet provisions of the Santa Monica Bay Trash TMDL, which would have required ongoing plastic pellet monitoring. McGowan also obtained a 3-year extension for the City to meet the final compliance deadline for the trash provisions of the Santa Monica Bay Trash TMDL. Manhattan Beach was one of only three agencies, of 25 total agencies subject to the TMDL, to receive this extension.
Additionally, McGowan revised the City’s Santa Monica Bay Trash TMDL Implementation strategy and received approval from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board for a compliance approach combining centralized high-flow capacity devices, regional projects, and distributed catch basin devices. This effort also involved field assessment and documentation to support the exclusion of 11 Strand sumps from the City's MS4 inventory, negating the need to address them via trash capture devices.
• McGowan also worked with staff to prepare a request for additional time to implement the Santa Monica Bay Nearshore and Offshore Marine Debris (Trash) TMDL, including a robust justification for additional time along with a proposed schedule of actions to meet final TMDL milestones. McGowan also assisted staff in developing and implementing a trash sampling plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the City's source control measures for trash in the Santa Monica Bay watershed.
Based on McGowan’s thorough knowledge of the City’s MS4 compliance program and strategies, staff recommends that the City Council approve a five-year professional services agreement with McGowan Consulting, LLC, for environmental services pertaining to the implementation of the MS4 permit at a cost not to exceed $581,570.
Under the proposed agreement, the consultant will be responsible for assisting the City in implementing the City’s individual requirements under the Regional Permit and providing support for decision making and implementation of responsibilities under the Beach Cities Watershed Management Program (WMP), including:
a) Preparation of the City’s Individual Annual Report documenting its compliance with the Regional Permit requirements across all six required permit programs, trash discharge limitations, implementation of watershed control measures consistent with the WMP, and cost reporting for Regional Permit compliance;
b) Annual training of City staff across multiple departments and divisions with training customized/targeted based on specific requirements of the six permit programs as required by the Regional Permit;
c) Maintaining the inventory of critical commercial and industrial facilities based on results of ongoing inspections and updates to the City’s business license database and identifying new businesses that should receive outreach information or technical assistance regarding stormwater pollution control requirements;
d) Tracking of metrics as required by the Regional Permit to demonstrate the effectiveness of the City's stormwater outreach efforts;
e) Assisting staff in planning, budgeting and reporting on the expenditure of the City’s Municipal Safe Clean Water funds;
f) Pursuing external funding for stormwater capital improvement projects,
g) Representing the City’s interests at stakeholder and co-permittee meetings, and
h) Tracking and reviewing regulatory actions affecting the stormwater program and informing City staff of changing requirements and emerging issues.
In addition, McGowan serves as watershed coordinator for the Beach Cities Watershed Management Group (WMG). McGowan facilitates the WMG in cooperatively implementing the Beach Cities Coordinated Integrated Monitoring Program (CIMP), the WMP, and in preparing the watershed progress reports.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has approved the agreement as to form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 25-0067
2. Agreement - McGowan Consulting, LLC.