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SR-6-D (91) 60 - 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 1 60 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 2 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 3 -- -- - 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 4 - - --- contract language, as they have been in the development of all relevant elements of the application. Budaet/Fiscal Imoact - - 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 5