HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-09-14 City CouncilCity of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:
FROM:
HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
DATE:SEPTEMBER 14, 1998 CMR: 349:98
SUBJECT:REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT 0RWQCP)
DISCHARGE PERMIT UPDATE
This is an informational report, no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
On June 17, 1998, a new discharge permit for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant
(RWQCP) was issued (CMR 297:98).
DISCUSSION
On July 15 and 16, 1998, environmental advocacy organizations appealed the Palo Alto
RWQCP permit, as well as the permits for San Jose and Sunnyvale. The permits were issued
by the Regional Water Quality Control Board and are now being appealed to the State Water
Resources Control Board. The environmental advocacy organizations do not believe that the
discharge limits are stringent enough. Palo Alto staff believes that information has been
submitted documenting that more stringent limits would not be necessary or appropriate.
Palo Alto will have the opportunity to summarize this information and respond to the appeal
in the coming months. The appeal is not likely to be resolved quickly, however, the Permit
remains in full force and effect during the appeal process.
ATTACHMENT
CMR:297:98
PREPARED BY: Philip B~ager~,)Envi~Nfl~n~ance Division
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
GLENN S. ROBERTS
)irector of Public Works
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
EMILY i
Assistant City Manager
CMR:349:98 Page 1 of 1
City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
DATE:JULY 13, 1998 CMR:297:98
SUBJECT:REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLANT (RWQCP)
DISCHARGE PERMIT UPDATE
This is an informational report, no action by Council is required.
¯ BACKGROUND
Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and San Jose operate the three sewage treatment plants south of the
Dumbarton Bridge. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
(Regional Board) established discharge standards that are specified in these plants’ permits.
Establisliing these standards has .been controversial. The old copper standard, 4.9 parts per
billion (ppb) was invalidated by the courts, leaving the permits for the three cities without
a water quality based effluent limit (WQBEL) for copper. Palo Alto’s permit was set to
expire in July 1998, which triggered a series of meetings during the first half of 1998 to
arrive at new permit language. The San Jose and Sunnyvale permits were also on the same
time schedule, therefore, the meetings included the three cities, State and Federal regulatory
agencies, and environmental advocacy organizations. Data from the three plants collected
over the past three years was used as the basis for these discussions.
DISCUSSION
A consensus on all points was not reached at the meetings, but much~ progress was made.
Permit language for copper limits was crafted based on three concepts:
Effective immediately, an interim limit has been established holding the three
dischargers to the current levels (based on the last three years data). During this
period, January 1, 1995 through December 31, 1997, Palo Alto has been at or below
the selected interim limit of 12 ppb.
San Jose, under the Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative, is funding
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies to establish an effluent limit within five
years. When these studies are completed, permit limits will be based on these
findings.
CMR:297:98 Page 1 of 2
If the Watershed Management Initiative’s TMDL study is not successful, a default
value will go into effect in five years. The default value for Palo Alto is 8.2 ppb,
which the City achieved 95 percent of the time over the past three years.
Environmental groups believe that the default value of 8.2 ppb is too high, and that the
previous limit of 4.9 ppb should be used. Despite this disagreement, the new permit based
on the above concepts was adopted by the Regional Board on June 17, 1998. This permit
will expire on June 17, 2003.
Palo Alto believes that the 8.2 ppb default value is substantially lower than the effluent limit
that will be extablishedthrough the TDML studies. The City submitted to the Regional
Board detailed scientific studies demonstrating that the effluent limit should be at least as
high as 12 ppb, and that a Bay water dilution factor (mixing zone) should also be applied.
This dilution factor would raise the standard even further. However, the City did not object
to delaying a decision on the effluent limit until the matter could be considered by the Santa
Clara Basin Watershed Management Initiative and its subcommittees. In the meantime, Palo
Alto will continue to implement its extensive source control programs for copper and other
pollutants.
ATTACHMENT
CMR:461:97
PREPARED BY: Philip Bobel, Manager, Environmental Compliance Division
DEPARTMENT HEAD"
GLENN S. ROBERTS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:Ei~L~f HARRISON ~--
Assistant City Manager
CMR:297:98 Page 2 of 2