HomeMy WebLinkAbout0174.094~, . . . ,
, 't'0'
February 22, ~994
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
Palo Alto~ California
Meeting with Byron Sllf.L -Watershed Management Legislation
Members of the Coun::il:
Report in Brief
This is an informational Staff Report to update Council on the
status of Watershed Management legislat.ion just prior to their
February 25~ 1994 breakfast meeting with Assemblyman Byron Sher.
No action by Council is required.
Background
In recent years. new stringent requirement s to control toxic
pollutants have been imposed on the City's Regjonal Water Quality
Control Plant~ and more re~ently on the City's storm drain
discharges. Legislation is needed to insu:r"e that an allocation
plan is prepared and implemented to insure that the most cost
effective pollutant reduction measures are initiated first in each
watershed. Iii for example, it is cheaper per pound of pollutant
to control abandoned mines than to further control the electronics
industry in a given watershed i the mines should be controlled
first.. This approach will avoid a misallocation of society's
resources.
A related legislative need is to provide the State the autho!.'ity to
restrict or ban the sale or use of certain chemical products which
are contributing to violations of standards and far which good
altern.i.tives exist. While Palo Alto has been a leader in
controlling such substances. it is now clear that local ace ion
cannot be as effective as area-wide or statewide restrictions.
Status of Legislation
Council urged t.he California League of Cities to adopt a Resolution
supporting the above mentioned legislative concepts which have come
to be referred to as Water&hed Management. The Palo Alto
Resolution was adopted by the League at their October 1993 annual
meeting (CMR:GC7:93). During the same time fra,ne. contacts were
initiated with Assemblyman Sr .. er and his staff requesting that he
carry the legislation CC'MR:329: ~n and attached letter dated June B~
19.93'. Febr'..l.ary 25, 1994-is the deadline for submitting new billa
for conaideration in ~9.94 and Assemblyman Sher m·.lst decide whether
the proposal is ripe for introduction nowi or whether the affected
partias should cOLtinue to negotiate the wording of the bill tor
introduction next year.
1
'-"" .
. "
Staff is urging Asse~blyman Sher to introduce the legielation now
in order to focus the attention of the ,lffected parties on the
legislation and to facilitate negotiation, It may not be possible
to craft the nece9sary compr:omises QutEide of the legislative
process.
Respectf'.;lly submitt~d.
JieL-r .b.. 71~-'"
KELLY D. MORAN
Manager, Environmental Control Pr0grams
Vi2f~ ,
PHILIP BOBEL
~4nager, Environmental Compliance Division
~~± ~D~ lir::~
I !. n ING l;/t y Manage
Attachments:
CMR:~74:94
CMR,607,93
CMR.:329!93
Letter dated 6/8/93 from MayOl." McCown to Assemblyman
Sher
December 9, 1993
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
Members of the council:
This is an information report. No Council action is required.
Prior to the League of California Cities Annual Conference, which
was held in San Francisco on October 16-19, the Council reviewed
the resolutions which 'Were to be considered at the. Conference,
determined the City's positions on each. and instructed the
Council's votinq delegate accordingly.
Council guidelines adopted April 18, 1988 instruct that follo~ing
the Annual League Conference a report to Council will be pl:cpared ..
in£o~ing Council of the adopted resolutions and indicating how the
Council's delegate voted en each.
The attachm9nt, whic~ has recently been ~eceived from the LeaguE,
indicates on pages 3-5 the titles of all 42 resolutions which ~ere
considered by the League and contains the text of each .of the 31
resolutions which were adopted by thE League General Assemb!y. The
City ct Pale Alto submitted Resolution 18 regarding -wastewater
treatment plants and 'Watershed management plans, which 'Was approved
by the General Assembly.
The amendlllent which the City l_!Iged be incorporated into Resolution
6 reqardinq hazardous recreational activities ~as also approved.
The actions by the General Assembly were consistent with the
council's instructions to its voting delegate., wit..l1. the. following
exceptions!
The General Assembly approved Resolution 21 relating to American
pr-oducts whereas the Council had recommended no action. The
concern raised in the League policy committee,-with which council
concurred, was the difficulty in determining which products were
actually manufactured by American workers.
CKR:607:93
· ~"
Page Two
The Council had directe.d disapproval of Resolutions 25 and 26 which
dealt with group home facilities and residential care facilities.
The council's view was that greater local revi6w authority ~ust be
accompanied by some mechanism for assuring that the need for such
facilities will nevertheless be met. The two resolutions wer-e
combined and approved by the General Assembly~
The General Assembly approved Resolution 27 relating to the
Mobilehome Parks Act. Council had recommended no action, based
primarily on the City's limited experience with the provisions of
the Act and its implementing regulations, as well as consistency
with a siailar resolution position in 1992.
Resolutions 28 and 29 relating to emergency
referred to a policy com.mittee for fur-ther
~~uncil had recommended approval.
instructions were
study wher.ea s the
Resolution 30 relating to assault-type waapons was recommended for
approval by the General Resolutions Committee of the League, but a
roll call vote on a motion to refer was requested on the floor of
the General Assembly. As a result of the vote (128-125), the
resolution was referred to committee. The Council had"supported
this resolutio~.
The Geheral Assembly also approved three initiative resolutions.
The Counci1's delegate supported all th?ee.
Respectfully submitted,
tkci~
I
VICCI RUDIN
Assistant to the City Manager
~~1 B II. . '-'NY
k~sistan· city Hanaqer
Attachments: 1. Resolutions Adopted, 1993 Lee Conference
2. Status of 1992 Annual Conference Resolutions
CI!R:607:93
.';.,
3
June 3, i993
THE HONORABIJE CITY COUNCIL
Watershed Mp,nagernent Legislat:i,._on
Members of the Council:
Report in Brief
Staff reg-clests that Council approve the at.ta~hed letter to
Assernblymember sher reg'..le.:::tirrg that he introduce l~gislat.! an to
authorize the State 'to prepare watershed ITIar..ag~ment pI an5', to
recommend the most cost-affective measures for reduction of
pollutants discharged to San Francisco Bay and othe.r surface \o,raters
of the State.
Discussion
The City of Palo Alto is facing extremely stri~gent standords for
the discbarges of treated .... 'Ciste ..... ater from the Regional Water
Quality Control Plant (RWQCP) and surface runoff froill the City's
storm drain system. A recent agn:ement with environmental groups,
concerning the RWQCP' s pollution prevE',ntion program, has greatly
reduced the likelihood that the City will be s~bjectcd to litiga
tion in the immediate future, However, there remains the possibil
ity that large expenditures by the public and/or private sector may
ultimately be needed to ensure compliance with standards_
Staff requests that Council support legislation authorizing
the State to prepare watershed protection plans which address
environmental protection priorities, limited public resou!:"ces and
economic consideratiDns_ One concerr,. of local governments is that
their municipal sewage discharge is currently scheduled far the
greatest pollutant. reductions, Decause controlling them appears as
the path of least resistance to State and Federal agencies,
especially as compared with controlling pollution in urLan runoff
and from nor-point sources such as agricultural and mine dTainage_
The propos-ed water~hed prote~tiC'n plans ;"'ol.lld analyze the sources
of pollut.ants and the ..;ost of controlling each 5GUrce. This
information would be used to decide which source control mO;:dsures
are r_he mos"( cost effective for soci.cty and furthe:z· analyze the
site specific nature of each wate!" body, to determine .... ·hat
standards are needed to protect beneficial uses. The purpose of
the legislatieon is to establish a c;ompr~hensive watershed [l"lil!1,3.ge
ment strategy to facilicate implementat.ion of the mo.st. effective
1-
CMR:329: 93
and least costly approaches to safeguarding beneficial uses and
improving water quality.
RecQtru't1~ndation
Staff ~-equests that Council approve and authori::':e the Mayor to
execute the attached letter to Asse~bl}~ember Sher.
Respectfully submitted.
PHILIP BOBEL
Manager, Environmental Compliance Division
G~~ S. ROBERTS
Director of Public Horks
City Manager
Attachment: Letter
-:2 -.
The Honorable Byron Sher
Member, State Assembly
Assembly Nal'.rraI Resou.-ce Committee
State C.pitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Watershed Management ug'..,lation
DearA5~
Ju"" 8, 1993
Despite continuing redt..lCtions in pollutants discharged to San Franc isco Bay south of the
Dwnbarton Bridge and encouraging agreements with a coalition of environmental groups, our
City and others are facing extremely stringent discha!ge standards for aUf sewage treatment plant
and stonn drain system which require t.1I1her public and private seetN expenditures. To ensure
that society·s reso~ are spent on the most cost effective control measures, we endorse
consideration of legistation to require preparation of watershed protection and toxic clean up
programs. The intent of these programs is to protect public health and welra.-e, enhance the
quality of the State's waters, and furtber compliance with federal I • ., pertaining to the control
of toxic poUutanrs in the nation's waters.
We c:ncourage your sponsorship of appropria[e legislation which would result in watershed plans
analyzing the effectiveness ()f l.'ODtrolliDg each pollution source, and retommenJing reductions
based on the most effective and k'ast costly measures. This approach will assure that rcsv"Ul"CCS
will not be overspent on control measures with a weak "bang for r:he buck:" + We believe that
this concept will be supported by .a wide range of interest and mar Lltis legislation is in the bes~
interest of a healthy ecosystem and a healthy economy 1..1. Californi.a.
The City of PaID Alto urges your sponsorsl::t.ip of watershed management legislation. Our staff
member, Phil Robel, Manager, Environmental Compliance Division, is av.ailable to worle with
you and me Assembly N :J.tural Resoufce5 Committee staff on -crafting and revie'iJ,'ing draft
proposals_
Mayor
PB:JM/kQ
p.o. 'Bo,; laB.'!
PaloAltc;.CA9-O:D
415 329.24;'7
4l5..328.3631 Fax