SR-505-002 (3)
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jUL 25 1989
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council Meeting: July 27, 1989
Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City council
FROM: city Staff
SUBJECT: Request to Direct city Attorney to Amend Industrial
Wastewater Control Ordinance No. 1373 (CCS)
INTRODUCTION
This report reques~s tha~ the city Council direct the City
Attorney to amend Industrial Wastewater Control Ordinance No.
1373 (CCS) as discussed below.
BACKGROUND
The Federal Clean Water Act, enforced by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), mandated that the city of Los Angeles
adopt and enforce an industrial wastewater pretreatment program.
The program sets forth 1) requirements for pretreatment of
defined types of sewage; 2) legal sewage discharge definitions;
3) permit requirements; and 4) enforcement procedures for
business wastewater discharges. The City of Santa Monica, along
with several other area cities and agencies, contracts with the
city of Los Angeles for sewage treatment and disposal services.
Santa Monica was, therefore, required to adopt and enforce an
industrial pretreatment program at least as stringent as the
program adopted by the city of Los Angeles.
The city Council
directed the city Attorney to prepare such an ordinance and on
June 10, 1986, the city Council adopted Industrial Wastewater
Control Ordinance No. 1373 (CCS).
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jUL 25 \989
An industrial pretreatment program audit was initiated by the EPA
in September 1988 and the final report was submitted to the City
in November 1988. Ordinance No. 1373 (CCS) was reviewed and
found to adequately address the legal requirements of the Federal
Clean Waters Act with the exception of:
An accurate definition of "interference" in Section
5400. Reference to The Marine Protection, Research
and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) should be included in the
definition in order to be consistent with the federal
definition. The city's definition omits the mention
of MPRSA while listing all other statutory programs
cited in the federal definition. It could be
construed that, under the City's definition, the
MPRSA is not an authority to which dischargers are
subject.
- specific prohibition against the discharge of
wastewaters with extreme temperatures. The EPA
recommended that the heat limitation be removed from
the table of specific pollutant limitations in
Section 5404 (a) and be merged into the narrative
provision at Section 5403(j). This change will
clarify that the 140 degree heat limitation cited in
Section 5404(a) applies at point of entry of
discharge into the wastewater collection system.
This is important as the heat limitation drops to 104
degrees at point of entry into the Hyperion Treatment
Plant.
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- provisions for the collection of administrative
penalties for violations of permit conditions. A
section must be added to give authority to seek
injunctive relief and assess civil or criminal
penalties in the amount of $1,000 per day for each
violation of pretreatment standards and requirements
by industrial users.
- Public notification of significant violators in the
previous twelve months. A section should be added
stating that the city will publish annually a list of
significant violators in the local newspaper in order
to conform with the Act and to avoid challenges made
by violators.
- Exclusion of discharge data from Section 5423
relating to confidentiality. Section 5423 states
that discharge data shall be available to the pUblic
except where there is a claim of confidentiality.
The section must be revised to exclude discharge data
from confidentiality as required by the federal
regulations.
Further, in implementing the ordinance, staff found several
ambiguities and unforeseen problem areas. By strengthening the
ordinance to address these deficiencies, staff will be better
able to enforce the ordinance as required by federal regulations.
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Clarification of Procedures for Disconnecting Illegal Dischargers
Presently, section 5429 authorizes the city to disconnect a
permitted discharger in violation of any of the provisions of the
ordinance. However, it does not provide for disconnecting a
non-permitted illegal discharger. The section should be revised
to state that the city has the authority to disconnect any
illegal discharger into the wastewater collection system.
Establish Requirements for Floor Drains and Curb Connections
Floor Drain. A section should be added to require that
any business which uses a floor drain in which chemicals or waste
discharge may be washed be required to: 1) install a clarifier or
other type of pretreatment device as determined by the City or 2)
seal the drain.
Curb Connections. In various areas of the City,
industrial wastewater is discharged directly into the street via
a curb connection. staff recommends that a section be added
requiring that all curb connections through which industrial
wastewater is discharged be sealed, effluent be pretreated (if
determined to be necessary by the City), and redirected to a
sewer connection.
Deletion of Reference to Storm Drain and Waters of the state
Section 5404, Specific Pollutant Limitations, states that no
person is allowed to discharge pollutants over specified
limitations into the city's sewer system. It also refers to II
the storm drain system, or the waters of the state... II. The
pollutant discharge limitations for sewer systems are less
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stringent than the pollutant limitations for storm drain systems
and waters of the State, since wastewater is subject to
additional
treatment
before
being
discharged
into
the
environment. The storm drains and waters of the state must be
subject to a higher level of protection so it is recommended that
reference to storm drains and waters of the state be deleted from
the section.
BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT
By amending the ordinance as described above, the City would be
able to assess civil and criminal penalties in the amount of
$1,000 per day.
As fines would be levied on a case by case
basis, staff is unable to determine the fiscal impact at this
time. No budget/fiscal impact results from the other revisions.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council direct the City Attorney
to amend Industrial Wastewater Ordinance No. 1373 as described
above.
Prepared by: Byron Gaines, utilities Manager
Chris Cataldo, Industrial Waste Inspector
Jean Stanley Higbee, Administrative Analyst
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