Title
Report regarding a resolution approving the South San Francisco Green Infrastructure Plan in accordance with provision C.3.j of the Municipal Regional Permit. (Matthew Ruble, Principal Engineer)
label
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution approving the South San Francisco Green Infrastructure Plan in accordance with requirements of provision C.3.j of the Municipal Regional Permit.
Body
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Municipal Regional Permit (MRP) regulates pollutants in stormwater runoff from municipal storm drain systems throughout San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. Provision C.3.j of the MRP requires each jurisdiction subject to the MRP, including City of South San Francisco, to develop a Green Infrastructure Plan that demonstrates how each permittee will gradually shift from traditional “gray” storm drain infrastructure - which channels stormwater runoff directly into receiving waters without treatment - to a more resilient and sustainable storm drain system comprised of “green” infrastructure, which captures, stores and treats stormwater using specially designed landscape systems. In addition to managing runoff in a more sustainable fashion, the Green Infrastructure Plans must be designed to collectively achieve specific reductions in mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in stormwater runoff by 2020 and 2040, per Provisions C.11 and C.12 in the MRP.
The Green Infrastructure Plans must:
• Include a mapping and prioritization mechanism to identify and prioritize both private and public green infrastructure project opportunities;
• Identify locations and timeframes for implementing green infrastructure, including numeric targets for retrofitting impervious areas to achieve mandated pollutant load reductions;
• Utilize a regionally consistent process for tracking and mapping completed projects to ensure progress towards meeting the pollutant load reduction targets;
• Include and/or reference design and construction guidelines and standard specifications and details for green infrastructure to guide and enable the completion of projects;
• Integrate with other planning efforts, including updating other relevant City of South San Francisco plans, policies, codes and ordinances to incorporate green infrastructure for stormwater management to support the implementation of project opportunities;
• Evaluate long-term funding options, including those for design, construction, and long-term operations and maintenance, from the City and other sources;
• Incorporate any necessary legal mechanisms to enable implementation of the plan and projects within and by the City of South San Francisco; and
• Include public outreach on development and implementation of the plan.
The City of South San Francisco’s Green Infrastructure Plan, attached to the accompanying resolution as Exhibit A, must be developed and submitted to the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board by September 30, 2019.
The City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG) and its consultants have worked with member agencies and City staff members to develop model green infrastructure planning materials, including the South San Francisco Green Infrastructure Plan and Workplan. On August 27, 2017, City Council approved the attached Green Infrastructure Plan Workplan, included here as Attachment 1, which was a framework for developing the City’s Green Infrastructure Plan by September 30, 2019. This workplan detailed the various activities necessary for creating a Green Infrastructure Plan compliant with MRP requirements, and indicated which aspects of the Green Infrastructure Plan would be undertaken by C/CAG and which must be done by City staff.
A presentation by the Regional Water Quality Control Board on February 27, 2019 and a Study Session conducted on July 22, 2019 were held in order to further inform City Council on the various facets of the Green Infrastructure Plan, including long-term implementation costs and potential funding options.
The potential long-term costs to retrofit existing urbanized areas with green infrastructure at levels necessary to achieve the required pollutant load reductions may be significant. C/CAG and its consultants have worked with member agencies to develop projections of future development patterns in order to estimate how much green infrastructure will be implemented on private sites, under separate MRP requirements that have mandated since 2005 on-site stormwater management for most new and redevelopment projects. Based on the private site projections as well as any known regional projects (such as Orange Memorial Park), projections of additional public green infrastructure needed to meet the mandated pollutant load reductions were developed. The attached Green Infrastructure Plan contains these C/CAG estimates of public versus private green infrastructure needs for both short and long-term load reduction requirements for 2020 through 2040.
A combination of private and public projects will be needed in order to meet the pollutant load reductions in both 2030 and 2040, as required by the MRP. As previously discussed, additional regional projects and changes to the City’s stormwater conditions of approval have the potential to decrease the number of public projects required to be installed by the City. For example, if South San Francisco follows the lead of other municipalities in San Mateo County and requires private developments to implement stormwater treatment above MRP requirements, including greening property frontages and rights-of-way, the public project burden to the City could decrease significantly.
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
The City’s Green Infrastructure Plan and implementation will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan goal of improving Quality of Life. This effort will help to clean stormwater runoff to Colma Creek and the San Francisco Bay, which will contribute to protecting public health and safety.
FUNDING
The potential long-term cost of implementing the Stormwater Green Infrastructure Plan is estimated to be $2,000,000 - $5,000,000 annually.
It is likely that no single source of revenue will be adequate to fund the implementation of GI, and a portfolio of funding sources will be needed. There are a variety of approaches available to help fund up-front and long-term investments, including current City funding sources, grants, and additional sources identified with assistance from C/CAG.
The stormwater program is currently funded by a local assessment referred to as the Stormwater Fund, Gas Tax, Measure M, and the General fund. The C/CAG Stormwater Fund was established in 1993 to support the local implementation of stormwater permit compliance activities and is a parcel tax. The stormwater program is further subsidized by monies from the Gas Tax and the General Fund to address the increase in stormwater permitting requirements. All monies in the stormwater program are applied to efforts related to MRP compliance, including Green Infrastructure.
As required by the MRP, the City conducted an evaluation of additional potential funding options for the design, construction, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of GI projects. These opportunities consist of grant funding opportunities at the regional, state, and federal level, including funding through the San Mateo County Stormwater Resource Plan and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Finally, C/CAG developed a Green Infrastructure Funding Nexus Evaluation report (presented in Appendix C of the GI Plan), which discusses other funding options such as special taxes, property relations fees and general obligation bonds
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a resolution approving the attached Green Infrastructure Plan per the requirements in provision C.3.j of the Municipal Regional Stormwater Permit.
Attachment 1: South San Francisco Green Infrastructure Workplan