That the City Council:  
A.  Approve the Amended and Restated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Permit Implementation Agreement ("Agreement") between the County of Orange, Orange County Flood Control District (District), and participating Orange County cities (collectively called Permittees); and,

B.  Authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement and any related documents necessary to implement the terms of the Agreement.

The City of La Habra is a Permittee under the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Santa Ana and San Diego Regions). The original NPDES Stormwater Permit Implementation Agreement (D90-094), which was executed in 1990 and amended in 1993 and 2002 (D02-048), established a cooperative framework for implementing the Orange County Stormwater Program to meet MS4 permit requirements and improve surface water quality. The Agreement allowed for collaboration, consistency, and cost sharing of regional compliance strategies, municipal staff training, watershed monitoring and reporting efforts, and other MS4 program elements required of each of the Permittees. 

While the current Agreement has achieved many significant water quality improvements to local beaches and inland waters, state regulatory requirements issued through the MS4 permits have changed significantly since the Agreement was last updated. Watershed-specific water quality priorities have become increasingly complex requiring targeted solutions including structural treatment projects to meet ongoing and forthcoming compliance requirements. 

The new proposed Agreement restates and updates the terms of the original Agreement to reflect current regulatory requirements, administrative practices, and programmatic needs. It continues the collaborative approach among the Permittees in Orange County to implement regional stormwater management strategies, but it also provides added flexibility in designing and developing watershed-specific strategies, programs, and projects using corresponding shared cost sub-budget scales. As part of the shared cost budget approval process, the amended and restated Agreement also formalizes the consultation process with the Orange County City Managers Association (OCCMA) each year, which updates and improves the existing annual budget collaboration process already implemented by the OCCMA.

The shared cost budget that is developed annually for this Agreement maintains the existing cost sharing formula approach based on land area and population for the unincorporated areas of Orange County and 34 Orange County cities, with the District contributing 10% of the overall cost.  For sub-budgets allowed under this Agreement that do not apply to all the Permittees, this same cost sharing formula approach would be applied for participating Permittees. Geographic areas that a sub-budget could apply include MS4 permit areas, watershed levels, or sub-watershed scales.

Key provisions of the amended and restated Agreement include:

The City’s financial contribution will be calculated annually based on its proportional share of land area and population, as outlined in the Agreement. Costs will be included in the City’s annual General Fund budget for stormwater compliance. For reference, in the current Fiscal Year the City budgeted $135,500 in co-Permittee fees payable to the County, and $29,150 for the Municipal Permit fee payable to the Regional Board.