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HomeMy WebLinkAboutID-3024-Clean-Business City of Palo Alto (ID # 3024) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Special Orders of the Day Meeting Date: 9/18/2012 Summary Title: Clean Bay Business Recognition Title: Community Partnership Presentation – 20 Years of Clean Bay Business Program From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works See attached Proclamation. Attachments:  A: Clean Bay Business Proclamation (DOC)  B: Clean Bay Business Factsheet (DOC) Prepared By: Kirsten Struve, Manager, Environmental Control Programs Department Head: J. Michael Sartor, Director City Manager Approval: ____________________________________ James Keene, City Manager CITY OF PALO ALTO PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING 20 YEARS OF CLEAN BAY BUSINESSES WHEREAS, the City of Palo Alto began a Clean Bay Business Program focusing on vehicle service facilities in 1992 and provided positive incentives and recognition to reduce pollutants such as heavy metals from entering our creeks and Bay from these facilities; WHEREAS, vehicle service facilities in the Regional Water Quality Control Plant tributary area (Palo Alto, East Palo Alto Sanitary District, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, and Stanford) are inspected yearly to ensure they implement best management practices and 98% of these facilities meet the Clean Bay Business Program Criteria; and WHEREAS, 17 facilities within the City of Palo Alto have been a Clean Bay Business for all twenty years of the programs successful partnership between the Regional Water Quality Control Plant and the vehicle service businesses. NOW, THEREFORE, I, Yiaway Yeh, Mayor of the City of Palo Alto, on behalf of the City Council, hereby express our heartfelt congratulations to the businesses that have made special efforts to protect local creeks and San Francisco Bay in Palo Alto by implementing routine shop practices that keep pollutants away from both storm drains and the sewer systems. Presented: September 18, 2012 ________________________ Yiaway Yeh Mayor CLEAN BAY BUSINESS FACT SHEET The City of Palo Alto operates the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP), a wastewater treatment plant, for the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Stanford University. Wastewater from these communities is treated by the RWQCP prior to discharge to the Bay. Stormwater runoff in Palo Alto washes pollutants from streets, gutters, and all other paved and covered areas to storm drains and creeks, which flow untreated to the Bay. Since 1990, the RWQCP and the City of Palo Alto have implemented an aggressive water pollution prevention program addressing wastewater and stormwater discharges to San Francisco Bay. In 1992, the RWQCP developed a Vehicle Service Facility Waste Minimization Program. The program approach was to combine increased regulation, education, and positive incentives to encourage pollution prevention. Vehicle Pollution Prevention Oils, dissolved metals (commonly found in vehicle fluids and cleaning wastes), cleaning solvents, and soaps can all too easily reach either storm drains or sanitary sewers, causing water pollution. Clean Bay Businesses Clean Bay Business vehicle service shops and car washes practice "waste minimization" and keep pollutants out of both the storm drains and the sewers. In order to be recognized as a Clean Bay Business, a vehicle service shop must adopt special practices to prevent water pollution, such as:  Closing all floor drains and sumps inside the shop  Good housekeeping around the shop; minimizing the use of water when cleaning floors  Catching leaks and spills promptly and cleaning up spills using "dry" cleanup methods  Cleaning and washing parts in ways that reduce or eliminate fluids or rinse water entering the sewer  Washing vehicles in ways that protect storm drains from soap, oil, and grease  Storing batteries and hazardous substances safely  Reusing or recycling vehicle fluids whenever possible Clean Bay Businesses receive free publicity in local newspapers in full page ads and recognition items such as decals and brochures to publicize their status. Shops that have been Clean Bay Businesses for 5, 10, 15, or 20 years consecutively receive special recognition. City staff inspects approximately 240 facilities yearly in the service area, with Mountain View conducting their own inspections on facilities in that city, to educate facility operators and evaluate compliance with Sewer Use Ordinance requirements. Heavy metal concentrations from vehicle service facilities that still discharge to the sewer have significantly decreased since the inception of the program, contributing to the RWQCP’s ability to meet its stringent heavy metal discharge requirements. An updated list of Clean Bay Businesses for the entire service area can be found on our website. For 2012, the following businesses in Palo Alto have been Clean Bay Businesses for 10 and 20 years. Palo Alto Clean Bay Businesses (10 consecutive years) Carlsen Motor’s, Inc. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Palo Alto Fire Station #1 Palo Alto Fire Station #2 Palo Alto Fire Station #3 Palo Alto Clean Bay Businesses (20 consecutive years) Art’s Bodycraft Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. D & M Motors Embarcadero Shell Hengehold Motor Company Jim Davis Automotive Maaco Painting & Bodyworks Nine Minute Oil & Lube Palo Alto Speedometer Service Palo Alto Unocal Service Park Automotive Service Park Avenue Motors Precision Automotive Say Ray Auto Service Sherman’s Auto Service West Valley Flying Club Campus Service/Valero - Stanford