20150112_CC Legislative Days in Sacramento-MS4SACRAMENTO LEGISLATIVE TOUR
JANUARY 12-13,2015
MS4 Permit — Talking Points
The additional costs to implement the monitoring plans and the watershed
management plans are enormous, both as a whole and in comparison to the
costs to implement the requirements of the previous permits. While we can't
make real budget estimates until the plans are approved by the Regional Board,
early speculation is that the cost will be in the mid to high tens of millions for the
LA County permittees (that is, per permittee). This is a completely new burden
and will be an increase of many orders of magnitude over cost to implement the
previous three permits.
2. There are also new and extensive monitoring requirements going into
effect. Previously, the Los Angeles County Flood Control or the Sanitation
Districts conducted monitoring on behalf of the cities. Now this burden is
increasingly falling on cities. Annual costs are anticipated to be well into the six
figures for each watershed group.
3. The permit process is long and contentious. The 2012 permit should have been
delivered in 2006 and is still being contested. Consider extending the permit
cycle, or limit the scope of changes the Regional Board can make in the 5 -year
cycle. Cities are also being forced to monitor for and assume responsibility for
pollutant levels that are naturally occurring, and for which they have no ability to
control or regulate.
4. Many of the mandates placed on the permit holders to "prove their innocence" in
matters of compliance are very costly, on technical, legal and administrative
terms. Consider non-competitive state funding for meeting these requirements,
especially those that place the burden on the permittee to show that it is not
contributing to a pollution issue. Permittees should be required to manage their
pollution, certainly, but not to prove they're not polluting to the excessive
standards of a hyper -vigilant and litigious environmental community. Consider
placing this burden elsewhere, perhaps on the Regional Board itself.