TASK FORCE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The meeting was convened at 7:15 p.m. Task Force members in attendance: Sandy Grant, Bill Selby, Mark Gold, Tom Nelson, and Susan Mearns. Santa Monica City staff in attendance: Craig Perkins and Dean Kubani. Others: Council Member Paul Rosenstein and MWD Board Member Judy Abdo.

Minutes

Minutes from the May 22 meeting were unanimously approved.

Continuation of Discussion of Environmental Programs Division Budget

Discussion on this item was deferred until the August meeting because a detailed budget breakdown had not been completed.

Presentation by the Coalition for a Santa Monica Disabilities Commission

Jerry Rubin spoke on behalf of the Coalition and asked that the Task Force write a letter of support recommending that the City of Santa Monica establish a Commission on Disabilities. This Commission would advise City Council on issues related to disability and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Task Force unanimously approved the request and agreed to write a letter in support of the Coalition.

SCAQMD Rule Adoption

Craig Perkins presented an summary of new rules adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board on June 16 intended to reduce air emissions from public fleet vehicles. The adopted rules (Rules 1191, 1192 and 1193) represent the first three of eight clean fleet rules being developed by the District. These rules respectively cover light- and medium-duty vehicles, transit buses and public and private waste hauling trucks. Under Rules 1192 and 1193, public transit agencies, cities and trash haulers under contract to public agencies will be required to purchase clean-fueled buses and trucks whenever they replace or add vehicles to their fleets. Clean fuels include compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane, methanol, electric batteries and fuel cells. Should manufacturers develop diesel trucks and buses certified by the state of California to be as low-polluting as clean-fueled models, AQMD pledged to amend the rules within 90 days to allow purchase of diesel vehicles too. Rule 1191 will require government agencies in the region to purchase from among the cleaner cars, pickup trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles on the market. A wide variety of makes and models that generally run on gasoline and are available at no extra cost will be allowed under Rule 1191. Craig indicated that these new regulations should help to increase the availability of alternative fuel engines for heavy-duty vehicles. Lack of availability has been the primary impediment to the City in meeting its AFV target for fleet vehicle purchases.

Regional Water Quality Control Board Stormwater Regulations

Mark Gold provided an update on an appeal by a coalition of 31 cities, the Building Industry Association (BIA) and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), of the Standard Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plan (SUSMP) for LA County, which was adopted by the LARWQCB in January 2000. The SUSMP includes requirements that new developments and major redevelopment projects utilize best management practices to contain or treat onsite the first .75” of runoff from a storm event. Mark indicated that based on the presentations given at the two-day appeal hearing he didn’t anticipate that the RWQCB would significantly revise the runoff requirements. The City of Santa Monica and several environmental groups support the SUSMP and spoke in opposition to the appeal. The Board is waiting to receive written responses to questions it distributed to all parties before making a final decision on the appeal. The final decision is scheduled to be made this Fall. Craig Perkins indicated that the SUSMP standards will require revision of Santa Monica’s Urban Runoff Ordinance, making it more stringent in some areas.

MTBE Lawsuit

Craig Perkins indicated that the City of Santa Monica filed suit on June 19 against 18 oil companies demanding full remediation of the Charnock Well Field plus recovery of the City’s costs and damages. Craig noted that he has a copy of the lawsuit if anyone is interested in reviewing it. The Task Force requested that in the future it be notified about major City actions related to environmental issues in advance. Craig indicated that he would include all Task Force members on the media list to receive press releases in the future.

School Garden Video

Dean Kubani presented a video that was produced by the Environmental Programs Division to promote the City’s School Garden Program to teachers and volunteers throughout the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Metropolitan Water District Update

MWD Board Member Judy Abdo provided the update. Currently several bills addressing MWD are pending in the State legislature. One that would have changed the structure of MWD to limit member agency representation died in committee. In the meantime, MWD continues to move ahead on its strategic plan. It is appearing likely that MWD will begin setting up contracts with member agencies for water allocation based on anticipated water use with provisions made for some insurance level to cover unforeseen shortages. However, even with the insurance levels, this plan will not be adequate to cover shortfalls due to catastrophic losses of water supplies, such as in Santa Monica due to MTBE contamination. These cases would likely require new contracts. Details on this plan are still being worked out. Stay tuned.

Public Input

No members of the public provided input.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35pm