SR 10-09-2018 3E
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: October 9, 2018
Agenda Item: 3.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Susan Cline, Director, Public Works, Office of Sustainability & the
Environment
Susan Cline, Director, Public Works Department
Subject: Authorization to Include Development and Implementation of Annual Trash
Monitoring Plan in Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Los Angeles
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the Memorandum of Agreement with
the City of Los Angeles to include the development and implementation of an annual
trash monitoring plan.
Summary
As one of the cities that drains into the Ballona Creek watershed, the City is obligated to
comply with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit
requirements to reduce pollution from runoff there. NPDES permit requirements include
coordinated integrated monitoring plans to collect data and demonstrate compliance
with water quality objectives. The City is obligated to share the costs associated with
implementing the coordinated integrated monitoring plan, specifically the trash
monitoring costs. Council approved a five-year $16,946 cost-sharing Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) with the City of Los Angeles on May 8, 2018 for water quality
monitoring. The May 8th staff report did not specifically include annual trash monitoring
services in its list of MOA activities. Staff is requesting that Council include annual trash
monitoring services within the list of responsibilities outlined in the MOA. The cost for
this work was already included in the MOA approved by Counc il on May 8, 2018.
Therefore, no additional funds are being requested as part of this recommendation.
Discussion
The Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires the California Regional Water Quality
Control Board, Los Angeles Region (Board) to develop water quality standards that
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protect beneficial uses, such as habitat, swimming, fishing, and drinking water, for each
water body found within its region. The Ballona Creek Watershed has been included on
California’s Section 303(d) list of water bodies that do not meet water quality standards
since 1998 due to impairments by bacteria, trash, organic chemicals and metals. Section
303(d) of the CWA requires the establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
for each of those water bodies. A TMDL represents an amo unt of pollution that can be
released by human activity and natural sources into a specific water body without
causing a decline in water quality and beneficial uses. The Board has adopted multiple
TMDLs for these pollutants since 2003 to address these impairments. The City Council
approved the Ballona Creek MOAs for cost-sharing monitoring for bacteria, metals, and
toxics in July 2009, and the City has been sharing costs ever since.
In accordance with these TMDLs, the City of Los Angeles submitted a coordinated
integrated monitoring plan for compliance with the TMDLs on behalf of the cities that
drain into the Ballona Creek watershed. The City of Los Angeles is responsible for
performing all required monitoring and reporting to the Board and invoices the City of
Santa Monica annually for its share of monitoring costs.
Council authorized the City Manager to execute a five-year $16,946 MOA with the City
of Los Angeles in May 2018, for Ballona Creek monitoring, which included specific
responsibilities. The trash monitoring responsibility was not specifically delineated in the
original May 8th staff report but is included in the cost breakdown, with first year costs at
$4,056, followed by four annual charges of $56. A minimal contingency amount of $28
would also be set aside. The trash monitoring services MOA language would include the
following:
Trash Monitoring Services: The City agrees to collaboratively develop with
the City of Los Angeles and implement a Trash Monitoring Reporting Plan
(TMRP) to meet the monitoring requirements of the amended Ballona Creek
Trash TMDL. The City will contribute to the City of Los Angeles performing
the Trash Monitoring Services in accordance with the TMRP and applicable
provisions of the MS4 Permit. Any changes to the Trash Monitoring Services
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or TMRP as a result of new requirements of the Board will require approval
by all parties.
The MOA five-year budget for the TMRP and monitoring are listed below by fiscal year:
Fiscal Year Budget
18/19 $4,056
19/20 $ 56
20/21 $ 56
21/22 $ 56
22/23 $ 56
Contingency $ 28
Total $4,308
The $4,308 budget is based upon the amount of land area within the City of Santa
Monica that drains to Ballona Creek. This land area represents 0.28% of the Ballona
Creek watershed.
Past Council Actions
05/08/18 (Attachment A) Cost-sharing MOAs with the City of Los
Angeles for coordinated integrated
monitoring plan and trash monitoring plan
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of
recommended action.
Prepared By: Neal Shapiro, Senior Sustainability Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. May 8, 2018 Staff Report
REFERENCE:
Agreement No. 10761
(CCS)