Municipal Stormwater Permit

1. Municipal Stormwater Permit Presentation by the Building Industry Association of San Diego County to the Business Leadership Alliance Matt Adams & Mike McSweeney August 2, 2012

2. Regional Water Quality Control Board(RWQCB) • Established by State Legislature, 1967 • Granted Enforcement Authority via Porter-Cologne Act, 1970 • Regulates all stormwater discharges (MS 4 permit) • 9 RWQCB’s across California • San Diego RWQCB includes South Orange and Riverside Counties • Governor Appoints/Senate Confirms • Nine, part-time members (3-vacancies)

3. Regional Water Quality Control BoardMunicipal Permit Concerns • Direct Communication Prohibited (Ex-Parte rules) • Budget financed via fees and penalties • Regional boards lack scientific and cost effectiveness research. Little Hoover Commission, 2009 “Clearer Structure, Cleaner Water” • “A dramatic negative effect on our regions’ economy” CA State Senate Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness

4. RWQCB Permits • Construction Permit- first issued 1992. BIA has been actively regulated since • MS 4 Permit requires: – Existing--“pre-development” water runoff on all properties, filtration – New--Mandates infiltration or reuse Geologically infeasible, massive storage tanks, public health hazards, huge liability exposure

5. Business Impact • Directly affects business and commercial property owners, managers and tenants as they are responsible for individual stormwater and non-stormwater retention systems • Mandatory capture for reuse or infiltration • Direct prohibition of discharge for 85th percentile rainfall • Mandatory inspections for all businesses in San Diego every 5 years. • Point of sale transfer inspection/compliance

6. Business Impact • Full property retrofitting for any 5,000 sq.ft. expansion • Massive underground storage tanks • Retrofitting/reworking irrigation systems • Reworking A/C condensate, chiller lines • Not an unfunded mandate: Cost born by local government and businesses. How?

7. Countywide Enforcement Costs • 14,000 “high priority” dischargers, 14,000 sites. (Dunn & Bradstreet) • Expansion from 400 sample sites to 6,000 • Projected cost: $1 Billion dollars/20 years per watershed • $400 million annually on local governments • Significant Capital Improvement Costs increases for Public Works projects • How will these costs be passed on to businesses?

8. Regional Approach Needed • Property by property approach may take 100 years for positive results (RWQCB) • Regional/Watershed based program • Offsite mitigation/habitat restoration options • Establish water quality goals based on science & engineering standards • Results oriented permit instead of a proscriptive, command/control approach

9. Next Steps • Timeline . . .Comment deadline is Sept 14th, 2012 • BIA has been taking the lead because we know how onerous this has been to our industry, and the RWQCB is accountable to nobody • Separate from the Construction Permit, this permit targets businesses • BIA has partnered with the County and other cities, and has a working group with BOMA, AGC, Realtors, NAIOP, ABC, & Environmental Groups • Is writing an Alternative Plan due by Sept. 14th

10. We need BLA’s help! • A New MS4 Permit is coming & will affect all businesses • Requesting BLA take a formal position against the permit as written • The goal is to make the permit pragmatic • Remove job killing provisions • Results oriented, cost effective • Backsliding—must remove the retention mandate • We’re asking the BLA to represent the collective business community’s voice in asking for a watershed based stormwater permit