SR-6-D (91)
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EPWM:CP:BJ:bjcupa3.sr
council Meeting: 12/12/95 Santa Monica, California
To: Mayor and city council
From: City staff
Subject: Recommendation to Authorize the Submittal of an
Application to the California Environmental Protection
Agency to Designate the Ci ty as the Certified Unified
Program Agency and Recommendation to Authorize the City
Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Contract with the
County of Los Angeles to Support the city as a
Participating Agency.
Introduction
This report recommends that the city council authorize the
submittal of an application to the California Environmental
Protection Agency to designate the City as the lead environmental
program implementation agency within the city. It further
recommends that the Clty Council authorize the City Manager to
negotiate and execute a contract with the County of Los Angeles to
formalize the County's continued implementation of one element of
the city's unified hazardous materials management program.
Backaround
Recently adopted state legislation (Senate Bill 1082) requires the
consolidation of SlX hazardous materials management programs under
a single agency within every jurisdiction in the state. A
Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) will be responsible for
overseeing the implementation of the following six programs within
that jurisdiction: the Community Right-to-Know program (CRTK) , the
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Risk Management and Prevention Program (RMPP) , the Underground
storage Tank Program (UST), the Above Ground storage Tank Program
(AGT) , Article 80 of the Uniform Fire Code (Article 80) and the
Hazardous Waste Generator/Treatment Program (HWGT) . The CUPA has
the option of directly administering all six programs or may
utilize other agencies, known as Participating Agencies (PA) to
administer any of the six programs the CUPA chooses not to
administer. A city, county or joint powers agency may act as a
CUPA or a PA. state regulation requires that the obligations and
responsibilities in a CUPA/PA relationship be set forth in a
contractual agreement. In the event a City is not certified as the
CUPA, the county or state will be assigned this role.
Currently, the city administers five of the six CUPA programs;
Environmental Programs Division (EPD) administers the UST, CRTK and
RMPP programs; the Fire Department (FD) administers the Article 80
and AGT programsi and the County administers the HWGT program. In
addition, the City administers several related environmental
protection programs which are not required by the state to be
included in the CUPA program, including hazardous waste site
cleanup oversight, underground tank cleanup overs1ght, industrial
waste pretreatment, ozone depleting compound restriction ordinance,
urban runoff ordinance and a small business and household hazardous
waste collection program.
In December of 1994, the City forwarded a letter of intent to the
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CALEPA and Los Angeles County indicating the City's intention to
assume CUPA status for the administration of these programs within
the city. Included in the letter of intent was a statement of our
intention to utilize Los Angeles County as a PA for their continued
implementation of the HWGT program.
Discussion
The rationale supporting the recommendation to become the CUPA are
numerous. Becoming the CUPA places the City in the primary role to
oversee the administration, consolidation and coordination of the
programs, and allows the City the continuing ability to adopt
environmental protection programs without the need for county
approval (as would be required if the City were not the CUPA). The
City has a demonstrated ability to work in cooperation with
businesses to ensure high levels of compliance. In addition, if
the County were to become the CUP A by default, the city may have
reduced authority to pursue legal remedies against non-compliant
businesses.
The CUPA is also responsible for collecting fees associated with
the six programs. In the event the County is the CUPA, they would
collect fees for programs which the City would be administering
(assuming the city is a PA), thereby making the Clty subject to
County financial management practices for the recovery of city
program costs. It is important to note that the uncertain fiscal
condition of the County discourages extensive reliance upon them
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for critical environmental protection services.
The intent of the CUPA program is consistent with the City's
ongoing activities to consolidate and better coordinate hazardous
materials management programs 1n the city. Discussions between
EPD, Fire Department and Industrial Waste Pretreatment have focused
on opportunities to provide more coordinated and efficient
hazardous materials management oversight. The effect of this
strategy will be to facilitate compliance for impacted businesses
and minimize jurisdictional overlap and duplication. Although
state regulations allow for up to five years to transition to
consolidated program elements, staff has met with the Finance
Department and city Attorney to ensure that all potentially
impacted City departments are included early in the planning
stages. Preliminary discussions with business leaders in the
community indicate support for the city's application for CUPA
status. In addition, numerous businesses have expressed a
willingness to serve on an ad-hoc committee with City staff to
assist in the development of the CUPA program.
state regulatlons require that the CUPA and the PA enter lnto an
agreement which speclfies the rights, obligations and
responsibilities of each party relevant to the planning,
implementation and evaluation of the unified program. A draft or
final copy of this agreement must be included in the application.
staff has been in close contact with County staff in drafting the
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contract language, as they have been in the development of all
relevant elements of the application.
Budaet/Fiscal Imoact
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There are no direct budget or fiscal impacts which would result
from approving the actions recommended in this staff report. Once
the CUPA application is approved by the state, staff anticipates
minimal budget impacts resulting from the consolidation of fees.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the city council authorize the submittal of
an application to the California Environmental Protection Agency to
designate the City as the Certified Unified Program Agency and
recommends that the city council authorize the City Manager to
negotiate and execute a contract with the County of Los Angeles to
support the city as a Participating Agency in the adoption and
implementation of the Unified Program.
Prepared by: Craig Perkins, Director, Environmental and Public
Works Management
Brian Johnson, Environmental Programs Coordinator
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