HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-10-07; City Council; 17341; Storm Water Pollution Protection Program Fee StudyCITY OF CARLSBAD -AGENDA BILL
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PROTECTION PROGRAM REGULATORY FEE STUDY
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A SOLID WASTE SERVICE
WATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN PROCESSING
JITG. 3-
IEPT. Public Works
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Accept the City of Carlsbad Storm Water Pollution Protection Program Regulatory Fee Study Report
dated September 12, 2003. Set a public hearing on October 21, 2003 to consider approval of a solid
waste service fee increase and adoption of new storm water pollution prevention plan processing fees.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
Broadly, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Order No. 2001-01, (“Order“), issued by
the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, requires the City to protect its citywide storm
water conveyance system and receiving waters within its jurisdiction from pollution generated from both
public and private developed property. Pollutants include grass clippings, leaves, animal waste, brake
dust, soaps, cleansers, and other forms of solid waste.
The Order was issued under the authority of the Federal Clean Water Act and NPDES Permit
CAS0108758. The Clean Water Act, as implemented by the Order, imposed new and substantially
increased requirements to reduce pollutants entering the City’s storm drainage conveyance system.
The increased Clean Water Act requirements were imposed upon the City as an unfunded mandate,
meaning the City was not provided with any State or Federal funding to pay for the costs of satisfying
these increased requirements. Currently, the city is spending approximately $1.6 million annually on
this program using advances from the General Fund. Consistent with the City Council’s financial health
goal, a City-staffed-Financing Team has determined that alternative funding sources are available to
support the City’s compliance with the Order. The City of Carlsbad Storm Water Pollution Protection
Program Regulatory and Fee Study Report, (‘Fee Study Report‘ attached and incorporated herein as
Exhibit I), provides a detailed analysis of two potential alternative funding sources available to cover the
City’ costs to comply with the Order.
After a considerable amount of research and analysis of available program financing alternatives, the
Financing Team recommends adoption of a new fee structure for the City’s solid waste service program
to recoup the majority of the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program costs together with
establishment of a new processing fee to fund the review and inspection of construction related Storm
Water Pollution Prevention Plans, (“SWPPP’s”). The increased solid waste service fees and new
SWPPP fees are shown on Exhibit 2. Solid waste service fees can be increased and new processing
fees can be established by an approving City Council resolution adopted at a duly noticed public
hearing. Solid waste service rates and fees (or as they as referred to in the State Constitution as refuse collection fees) are exempt from the voting provisions of California’s Constitution Article XIII(D)(G)(c),
(Proposition 218).
Staff is requesting Council to set the public hearing for the meeting of October 21, 2003. At that time,
Council may receive input from interested citizens and groups wishing to comment on the proposed
solid waste service rate increase and new SWPPP processing fees. If approved, the solid waste service
rate increases will go into effect as soon as 30 days after the public hearing and the new SWPPP
processing fees will go into effect as soon as 60 days after the public hearing.
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Page 2 of Agenda Bill No. 17,341
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff has determined that the proposed solid waste service fee increase does not constitute a “project”
and therefore is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA).
FISCAL IMPACT:
If, after the public hearing, City Council approves the staff-recommended funding sources described in
this Agenda Bill and the attached Fee Study Report, the City’s solid waste service fees for residential
and commercial users will increase by thirteen percent (1 3%) and fifteen percent (1 5%), respectively.
The proposed fee increase will result in a monthly increase to residential solid waste service fee users
of $1.95. The monthly increase to commercial solid waste service fee users is dependent upon the type
of service requested by specific users and can be found on Exhibit 2 attached to this agenda bill. The
proposed solid waste service fee increases will generate additional estimated revenues of $1.3 million
annually.
The Fee Study Report also recommends establishment of two new developent processing fees - one
for the review of the City Code required SWPPP prior to issuance of project construction permits and
one for the inspection of the SWPPP during project construction. The proposed new fees are shown on
the attached Exhibit 2. If adopted by Council, the new fees will be set at $440 for the first new home in
any development ($1 90 per subsequent single family homes and $1 05 per subsequent multi-family
home built within the same development) and $680 for each new commercial or industrial lot developed.
Given the current development construction environment within Carlsbad, the proposed new SW PPP
processing fees will generate estimated revenues of approximately $1 80,000 annually.
The combined revenues of the proposed solid waste service fee increases and new SWPPP
processing fees will generate additional revenues totaling $1.5 million annually to fund the Storm Water
Protection Program costs currently advanced by the General fund.
EXHIBITS:
1.
2.
City of Carlsbad Storm Water Pollution Protection Program Regulatory Fee Study Report dated
September 12,2003.
Table of recommended Solid Waste Service fee increases and new SWPPP processing fees.
DEPARTMENT CONTACT: DAVID HAUSER, (760)602-2739, dhaus@ci.carlsbad.ca.us
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&it UT I
to AB #17,341
City of Carlsbad
Storm Water Pollution Protection Program
Regulatory Fee Study Report
September 12,2003
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. i
Regulatory Background ....................................................................................................... 1
City Solid Waste Service Area ............................................................................................ 1
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Activities ...................................................................... 2
Storm Water Pollution Protection Financing Alternatives .................................................. 5
Justification for Surcharges to Utility and Solid Waste Service Rates ................................ 6
Solid Waste Service Fee Rate Increase Computation .......................................................... 9
Existing Solid Waste Fee Structure ............................................................................... 9
Cost Apportionment - .................................................................................................... 12
Street Sweeping ....................................................................................................... 12
Litter Removal ......................................................................................................... 14
Storm Drainage Facility Cleaning and Light Maintenance - .................................... 15
Storm Event Activities - ............................................................................................ 16
Illicit Connection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program - ............................. 17
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP’s) - ............................................. 18
Rate Computation ............................................................................................................. 21
Residential Service Rate Increase - ............................................................................... 21
Construction Related SWPPP Plan Review and Inspection Fees ...................................... 25
Solid Waste Service Fees Authority and Justification ......................................................... 7
Legal mandates - ............................................................................................................. 9
Solid Waste Fee Revenues and Expenditures - ............................................................. 11
Miscellaneous Storm Water Activities - ................................................................... 19
Commercial Service Rate Increase - ............................................................................. 22
Table 15 ..................................................................................................................... 26
Glossary ............................................................................................................................. 29
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Executive Summary
In compliance with the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit, the City was tasked with developing mechanisms to provide permanent financing for
the costs to implement its Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program. Two years ago a City
storm water financing team (financing team), comprised of members from the Finance
Department, City Attorney’s Office and Publics Works MSA, was established to develop and
pursue viable financing alternatives. Last year the team oversaw the preparation of a Storm
Water Pollution Prevention Program Alternative Financing Mechanism Study Report. The
recommendations of the report were presented to the City Leadership Team to obtain
direction on which financing alternative to pursue.
The Leadership Team subsequently recommended a two phased financing strategy. The first
phase envisioned development of some form of utility and/or solid waste service rate
increases and the establishment of new fees for the review and inspection of construction and
business related Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP’s). The second phase of the
strategy envisions the formation of a Storm Water Utility and establishment of a new citywide
storm water utility fee.
This Regulatory and Fee Study Report was prepared by the City financing team in satisfaction
of the first phase of the Leadership Team’s strategy. After a considerable amount of research
and analysis of the alternatives, the financing team recommends adoption of a new rate
structure for the solid waste service program to recoup the majority of the Storm Water
Pollution Prevention Program costs together with establishment of a new development
processing fee to fund the review and inspection of construction related SWPPP’s.
Research done by the financing team supports a conclusion that nearly all the pollutants of
concern to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding storm water discharges are
classified as solid waste by definition found within existing State law and local ordinance.
(See Public Resources Code Section 40191; Carlsbad Municipal Code Sections 6.08.010A
(6)(8)( 13)( 18) (22)(26)). The Carlsbad Municipal Code (CMC) defines “solid waste services”
as “the collection, transport, and disposal of solid waste and designated recyclables, including
yard waste, from residential, commercial, and industrial generators.” (CMC 6.08.01 O(23).
Therefore the costs to remove transport and dispose of such wastes is a legitimate solid waste
program expenditure recoverable though the collection of fees assessed to solid waste service
users throughout the City. Solid waste service fees can be increased by an approving City
Council resolution adopted at a duly notice public hearing (CMC 6.08.180).
Furthermore, refuse collection service fees are excluded from the voting provisions of
Proposition 21 8. (Ca. Const. Art. XI11 C, D). Specifically, California’s Constitution, Article
XIIID, Section 6(c), excepts new or increased “fees or charges for sewer, water and refuse
collection services” from the broad voter approval requirements of this Article.
i
This report includes supporting facts and findings for allocating storm water pollution
prevention program activity costs between solid waste service users and non-users. Activities
involving the removal, transport and disposal of solid waste pollutants deposited on public
streets and within City rights-of-way are apportioned to solid waste service users based upon
their respective percentage of usage of the City’s public street network. This percentage was
calculated by dividing the number of lane miles required to exclusively serve the circulation
needs of local land uses by the total number of lane miles of streets within the City.
Costs for pollution prevention activities associated with City owned drainage facilities and the
general administration of the storm water program are apportioned to solid waste service users
based upon their proportionate share of the solid waste deposited within the City’s drainage
collection system. In this manner, only users of developed property, that contribute to the
storm water solid waste pollutant loading over and above normal undeveloped levels of
loading, pay their fair share of drainage facility cleanup and program administration costs.
The remaining share of facility maintenance and storm water program administrative costs
attributable to undeveloped properties will continue to be paid from the City’s General Fund
until such time as the properties develop or the City establishes a storm water utility.
After determining a fair share allocation of storm water costs attributable to solid waste
service users for each storm water program activity, it was necessary to spread the costs
between residential and commercial service users based upon their respective contribution to
the solid wastes deposited within the City’s storm drainage system. For all but one of the
applicable storm water pollution prevention program activities, the apportionment of the fair
share costs between residential and commercial service users was made using the ratio of total
annual curbside service fee revenues between residential and commercial solid waste service
customers. This ratio roughly approximates the ratio of solid waste generated by residential
and commercial service users that finds its way into the City’s storm drainage collection
system. The one storm water pollution prevention activity cost not apportioned in this manner
was for the business related SWPPP inspection program. Since the business related SWPPP
inspection program is exclusive to commercial users, 100% of the costs for this activity were
spread to commercial solid waste service users.
This methodology of allocating and spreading costs resulted in a residential user solid waste
rate increase of approximately 13.4% or $1.95 per month per residential customer. The
currently monthly charge for residential curbside service is $14.52. The increase to
commercial rate payers calculates to approximately 15.1 %. To put this in more perspective, a
commercial ratepayer with two - 3 cubic yard bins emptied twice weekly would see a monthly
increase of approximately $41 from $274.38 to $315.81. The total amount of revenue
generated from the proposed rate increase to solid waste service users would be
approximately $1.3 million dollars per year. All revenues generated from the increase in solid
waste service fees recommended in this report will be placed in a specific storm water
pollution prevention fbnd to be used solely for the purpose of storm water pollution
prevention.
This report also presents a fee study analysis justifjmg imposition of a new processing fee to
fund the City’s staff review and inspection of construction related Storm Water Pollution
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Prevention Plans (SWPPP’s). A construction related SWPPP is an NPDES-required document
that developers submit to the City that outlines the developer’s plan to stem and prevent storm
water pollution from leaving the construction site. The report recommends establishment of
separate plan review and inspection fees for each of three different categories of development - single family detached, multi-family attached and mobile home and, commerciaVindustria1.
For the two residential project categories, the proposed fee includes a base rate for the first
lot/unit with a reduced rate for subsequent lotshits. Commercial and industrial developments
will pay a uniform charge per lot. The proposed plan is to require payment of the review fee
concurrent with the initial submittal of the SWPPP for City review. The inspection fee would
be paid prior to issuance of the grading, right-of-way or building construction permit,
whichever occurs first.
Development Category
The following table presents the proposed fee structure for the review and inspection of
construction-related SWPPP’s:
Proposed Fee
Plan review Inspection
Lotnrnit LotAJnit LotAJnit Lot Unit
Initial Subsequent Initial Subsequent
Single Family Detached
Multi-family Attached and
Mobile Homes
Commercialhdustrial
$210 $70 $230 $120
$210 $3 5 $230 $70
$280 $280 $400 $400
Given the current development schedules, the total estimated annual revenue to be generated
from the construction related SWPPP review and inspection fee for FY 2003-04 is $72,000
and $1 14,000 respectively for a total of $1 86,000.
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Redatow Backmound
The City of Carlsbad is one of twenty co-permittees in San Diego County subject to National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Order No. 2001-01 (the Order) issued by
the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (SDRWQCB). The Order was issued
under the authority of the Federal Clean Water Act and NFDES permit CAS0108758. It
requires the City to enforce federal law and the orders of the SDRWQCB to reduce pollution
that enters the waterways from developed property, whether public or privately owned.
Although the Order and the response required of the co-permittees are sometimes referred to
as the “storm water program”, it has received that name only because it is the storm drainage
system that channels the pollutants carried from the developed surfaces of public and private
property. In fact, with the exception of thermal pollution (warm water discharge) all of the
pollutants may be defined as solid waste pursuant to State and City Codes. (See Public
Resources Code Section 40191; Carlsbad Municipal Code Sections 6.08.010A (6)(8)(13)(18)
(22)(26)). Therefore, prevention, reduction, removal, transport and disposal of the pollutants
found in storm water and other drainage flows can be considered part of the City’s solid waste
handling services.
Pollutants such as grass clippings, leaves, animal waste, manure, dirt, grime, ashes, brake
dust, tire shavings, trash and other debris and even liquids such as soap and cleaners are
defined as solid wastes by City Code (Carlsbad Municipal Code Sections 6.08.010A
(6)(8)( 13)( 18) (22)(26)). Whether such pollutants are washed from the property by storm
water or potable water runoff, swept, blown or otherwise removed from a property by wind,
hand or mechanical blower or, shaken and abraded from a vehicle driving down the street,
their removal and disposal from streets and other parts of the storm drainage system are
considered an integral part of the City’s solid waste removal program.
Each user of developed property in the City is served by the City’s storm drainage system. As
used in this report the City storm drainage system includes all municipally owned and
operated storm drainage facilities including storm drain pipes, inlets, outlets, access holes,
retention, sedimentation and pollutant control basins, ditches, channels (lined and unlined)
and energy dissipaters. Also to be considered included are the public roads and other
impervious surfaces within the public right-of-way used to convey drainage flows to City
storm drains, channels, ditches and other drainage watercourses. The Clean Water Act, as
implemented by the Order, now imposes new and substantially increased requirements to
reduce pollutants entering the City’s storm drainage conveyance system. The new obligations
to the City imposed by the State and Federal government were established without provision
of any funding to meet the program costs for storm water cleanup.
Citv Solid Waste Service Area
The City provides refuse collection service to the users of developed property within the full
extent of the City limits (For the purposes of this report, refuse collection, trash collection and
solid waste service may be used interchangeably). The owners of undeveloped property do
not pay solid waste service fees. A regulatory fee added to the solid waste services (trash
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collecton) bill for storm water pollution prevention activities would be paid only by those who
are using developed property, the same users that contribute pollutants to the receiving waters
via the City’s storm drainage system.
City utility (water and sewer) and solid waste service fees are billed together within a single
bill for those areas inside the City’s utility service areas. Outside the boundaries of the City’s
utility service areas, solid waste service fees are billed separately by the City’s waste
management company. Solid waste service fees are the only City service fee billed to all users
of developed property throughout the full extent of the City limits. Although, such billing is
currently split between the City and the City’s waste management company.
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Activities
In compliance with the Order, the City has prepared several regulatory documents that define
the activities required by the City to meet the water quality objectives of the Clean Water Act.
There are three basic documents required by the Order, a Jurisdictional Urban Runoff
Management Program (JURMP), a Watershed Urban Runoff Management Program
(WURMP) and a Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan (SUSUMP). A brief
description of each document and its purpose can be found in the glossary at the end of this
report. The basic storm water pollution prevention activities described in and required by
these three documents are listed in Table 1.
Over the past two years the City has seen a significant rise in costs required to provide and
maintain the level of storm water pollution protection activities required by the Order. Many
of the storm water pollution prevention activities performed by the City were being carried
out prior to issuance of the Order but generally at a more reduced level than currently required
such as street sweeping and inlet cleaning. Other activities are completely new and are still
within the early implementation stage such as the preparation, review, inspection and
implementation of storm water pollution prevention plans (SWPPP’s).
To better manage the increasing costs of this new program, the City established a special
revenue account for storm water protection activities within the Operating Budget. The total
costs listed in the Fiscal Year 2003-04 Budget for storm water protection activities is
$1,244,750. However, the budget figures in the special revenue account do not account costs
for all the activities listed above. Cost for some of the activities such as maintenance of the
various municipal facility SWPPP’s, inspection of construction related SWPPP’s, storm event
preparations, GIS updates and litter removal are included in other Public Works budgets. The
cost for some activities such as the inspection of business-related SWPPP’s are not fully
funded in the current budget since the program is presently in the early stages of development.
Table 2 was prepared to capture and display all of the storm water pollution prevention
activity costs regardless of budgetary location. The table headings include the activity
description, unit cost, number of units occurring in an average year, the yearly total for the
activity, current budget location by department and the current funding source for the activity.
The left hand column identifies the various activities, as described above (and in some cases
is further broken down into sub-activity categories). For most activities, the unit costs listed
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under this heading are actual budgeted amounts. For those programs being developed, such as
the SWPPP preparation and inspection activity, the costs represent the amount estimated to
ensure compliance with the Order. The total yearly cost to perform all activities required by
the Order is $1,611,527.
An equitable method of sharing the storm water pollutant reduction costs requires users of
developed property in the City to bear a fair share allocation of the costs in reasonable
proportion to their pollutant contribution andor benefits received. The use of developed
property, whether public or private, creates the pollution that requires cleanup imposed by the
Order. Undeveloped property generates little of the pollutants of concern and its owners
should not bear any of the fees or charges proposed in this report.
Table 1
Street Sweeping - Public Streets and Parking Lots
Litter Removal - Public rights-of-way and City Properties
Storm Water Facility Cleaning and Maintenance - Public Facilities including: . Inlets . . Channels . PiDes
Sedimentation and Floodwater Retention Basins
Storm Event Activities - Filling and Placement of Sandbags, Patrolling and Clean-up
Illicit Connection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program
Dry Weather Testing of Storm Sewer Outfalls . . Investigations . Enforcement
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) - Preparation, Review, Inspection and
Implementation of Plans to Limit Pollution from:
Construction Related Activities
0 Municipal Facility Operations
0 Business-Related (CornmerciaVIndustrial) Operations
Public Education and Outreach
Program Administration Including: . Annual Reporting . . . Wet Weather Testing .
Maintenance of Storm Sewer Geographical Information System (GIS) Database
Updating of Drainage and Storm Water Quality Master Plan
General Administration Including Payment of Annual Permit Fees
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Table 2
Storm Water Pollution Prevention FinancinP Alternatives
As shown in Table 1 the city presently funds all storm water protection activities from the
General Fund. The increase in program costs over the past several years has put a strain on the
General Fund and will over time force reductions in other City services. To prevent this from
happening, new sources of program funding must be developed. In FY 2001-02, the City
commissioned an Alternative Financing Mechanism Study, which was subsequently prepared
by the consulting firm of Brown and Caldwell. The recommendation of the financing study,
as amended by the City Leadership Team, is to pursue four separate funding sources.
The first of these sources is the establishment of new processing fees for the review and
inspection of SWPPP’s for construction related activities and business-related
commercialhdustrial activities. The second source is the establishment of new and/or
increased fines and levies against storm water code violators. The third source is to impose
utility surcharges on the City’s water, sewer and/or solid waste service bills to pay for those
storm water activities reasonably related to the provision of utility and solid waste services.
The fourth source is the creation of a new storm water utility charge to pay for property
related storm water activities and potentially for major repair and replacement of storm water
collection and treatment facilities. This report is concerned only with the establishment of
new construction related SWPPP processing fees and imposition of solid waste service
surcharges.
One of the Leadership Team recommendations was not to pursue the imposition of fines and
levies at this time. At this stage of the storm water program, enforcement of the regulations is
being carried out on a cooperative basis a gain voluntary compliance from, for example illicit
discharges into the City’s storm water drainage system.. Failing that, the City has the means
to enforce compliance through its already-established code enforcement process. Eventually
as the program progresses, the City will want to establish a more aggressive fine and levy
mechanism to recoup all its enforcement costs.
Another recommendation of the Leadership Team was to delay the creation of a storm water
utility and establishment of a storm water utility fee. Establishment of a storm water utility fee
is subject to the requirements of California Constitution Articles XI11 C and D (as amended by
Proposition 21 8). Articles XI11 C and D essentially make it mandatory to submit any new
property-related service fee or charge to a vote of the electorate or property owners. Water
sewer and solid waste service fees are specifically exempt from the voting provision of the
Articles.
Establishing of a storm water utility will require either a two thirds approving vote of the
general electorate or a simple majority vote of the property owners subject to the fee or
charge. The process of establishing a storm water utility is lengthy and requires a considerable
amount of public education to obtain a successful vote. Staff will proceed with the formation
of a storm water utility during FY 2003-04 at City Council’s discretion. In the interim, the
Leadership Team recommended establishment of the new SWPPP processing fees and
imposition of surcharges upon existing water, sewer and/or solid waste service bills.
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Justification for Surcharges to Utilitv and Solid Waste Service Rates
Imposition of utility surcharges to provide storm water protection services has been carried
out by other agencies without the need for a Proposition 21 8 vote. The main reason for this is
that storm water facilities and their respective maintenance operations perform a bilateral
function. Historically, storm drainage facilities have served to protect property from flooding.
As such they collect and control the rainwater that falls onto properties in a manner that
reduces the likelihood of flooding. The amount of runoff is directly related to the size of the
property and amount of impermeable surface upon the property. For this reason a fee or
charge for the flood control function of storm drainage facilities can be considered a property-
related fee subject to Proposition 2 18.
The passage of the Clean Water Act has increasingly led to the use of storm drainage facilities
for a secondary function, that of storm water pollution prevention. The Clean Water Act
regulations as expressed in the Order established strict requirements for the cleaning and
maintenance of inlets, sedimentation basins and storm water pipes, testing and monitoring of
storm water and drainage flows, removal of litter and sweeping of streets, erosion control,
illicit connection and illegal discharge detection and, reporting and general administration of
cleanup activities. However, unlike flood control, the storm water pollution prevention
function of storm drainage facilities is directly related to the development and use of a
property and not the property itself. For example, a fast food restaurant generates significantly
more pollutiodsolid waste than does a single family residence.
The Order does not seek to control runoff for native, undeveloped property; however it should
be understood that even undeveloped property creates a certain amount of pollutants. Eroded
soils and vegetative matter escape undeveloped property and find their way into the
waterways. This undeveloped or native pollutant loading is generally considered to be
beneficial and comprises the ecological base line for a lagoon or waterway. However, hrther
addition of soils and vegetative matter, addition of different types of vegetative matter and
addition of new pollutants created by development and use of properties is considered non-
beneficial and potentially ecologically damaging to waterways.
Water, sewer and solid waste (refuse collection) services are not purchased by property
owners, as owners, but as users of property. The charge for water, sewer and solid waste
services is not per parcel, but according to the amount or volume of the service purchased and
used. The charge can be avoided by discontinuing the use. For these reasons, a surcharge on
water, sewer and/or solid waste service fees is not a “property-related” fee or charge as that
term is used within Articles XI11 C and D of the California Constitution (and Proposition
218).
There is a reasonable relationship between the use of potable water and the creation and
transport of pollution into the City’s storm sewer system. There is also a reasonable
relationship between the generation of solid waste and other pollutants from the use of a
property and its unintentional or intentional transport into the City’s storm drainage system. It
is fair and reasonable that a portion of the costs of cleaning the storm drainage waters be
borne by users of potable water and/or solid waste services. It is the use of developed
6 13
properties that generate the solid waste and other pollutants, and it is the use or misuse of
potable water that increases the generation of solid waste and helps to transport such wastes
and other pollutants into the City’s storm sewer system and ultimately into the waterways the
Clean Water Act seeks to protect.
Because the City’s water service area covers roughly 80% of the City’s incorporated
boundary, development of a water rate surcharge would not extend to all developed properties
within the City. Imposition of a water rate surcharge would, therefore, create both a shortfall
in revenue and an inequity of payment by users. Fortunately, the City has a superior
alternative, the imposition of a rate increase for solid waste services.
Solid Waste Service Fees Authoritv and Justification
Nearly all the constituents that make up the pollutants discharged into the City’s storm sewer
system qualify as solid waste under the definitions established in State and local codes. City
Code Section 6.08.010 (A)(22). defines solid waste as meaning “putrescible and
nonputrescible solid, semisolid and liquid wastes, generated in or upon residential or
commercial premises, including garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial
wastes, construction and demolition wastes, abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded
home and industrial appliances, dewatered, treated, or chemically fixed sewage sludge which
is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other
discarded solid and semisolid wastes.” This definition is consistent with the Public Resources
Code Section 40191 definition of solid waste.
Pursuant to City Code, the City Council is authorized to establish rates and fees to be paid for
regular solid waste services by resolution (Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 6.08.180). The
City Code definition of solid waste services includes the collection, transport and disposal of
solid waste and designated recyclables, including yard waste, from residential, commercial
and industrial generators (Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 6.08.01 O(A)(23)).
The primary constituents that make up the pollutants of concern that enter the City’s storm
drainage system generally originate from one of the following sources:
1) The use of developed property within the City
2) Construction activities related to the development or redevelopment of property
3) The use, development or redevelopment of property in other jurisdictions
4) Travelers visiting or passing through the City for either commercial or non- commercial purposes
5) Natural sources from within and outside the City (soot from brush fires, native
vegetative matter, soil erosion, etc)
Of primary concern to this study are the pollutant constituents originating from source
numbers 1 and 2 listed above. The cleanup and prevention of these pollutants account for the
vast majority of costs expended by the City for storm water pollution prevention activities.
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Consistent with Article XI1 D Section 6(c), rates or fees established to collect, transport and
dispose of these solid waste pollutants from developing and developed properties within the
City can legitimately be to charged to solid waste service users as a regulatory fee.
A fee or charge for the cleanup of airborne pollutants, originating from other jurisdictions and
dispersed over all properties in the City (regardless of their use) or, for pollutants originating
from natural sources, whether they occur on developed or undeveloped property, could be
construed as property related fee and subject to the voting provisions of Article XI11 D of the
California Constitution. However, as will be described later in this report, the volume of such
airborne pollutants is negligible in comparison to the volume of pollutants from sources 1 and
2, above, and the costs to cleanup airborne pollutants does not significantly increase the City’s
cost to clean up solid wastes from sources 1 and 2..
This study does not address cost recovery for water borne pollutants originating from outside
the City or from travelers passing through the City. Such costs are not attributable to users of
developed or developing property within the City and therefore cannot be reasonably charged
to solid waste service users within the City. However, costs to clean up solid waste and other
pollutants generated from travelers that visit developed properties within the City can be
charged to solid waste service users within the City.
The City currently charges a solid waste service fee to the owners of all developed property
within the City including those used for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. The
City’s current fee structure for solid waste services was established on the basis of curbside
collection and does not include any cost recovery for the collection, transport or disposal of
‘fugitive’ solid waste originating from the use of developed property. However, as mandated
by the Clean Water Act, the City is now required to exercise its authority to prevent the
discharge of such ‘fugitive’ solid waste from entering the storm water drainage system and to
the maximum extent practicable collect, transport and dispose of those solid wastes that enter
into the storm drainage system via storm water runoff or other property drainage.
Note: For the purposes of this study, ‘fugitive’ solid waste is solid waste generated by the use
or users of developed property, which leaves developed property by the action of wind, water,
mechanical or human means, and which is not otherwise carried away by curbside solid waste
collection services or deposited in a legal dumpsite. Fugitive solid waste includes, but is not
limited to, liquid, semisolid and solid wastes including pesticides, herbicides, oil, soapy water,
leaf litter, lawn clippings, foodstuff, pet waste, brake dust, tire rubber, paint chips, dust, hair,
glass, metal, paper, plastic and dirt
All of the storm water pollution prevention activities listed in Table 1 of this report can in
whole or in part be reasonably charged to solid waste service users except for costs related to
the preparation, review, inspection or implementation of Storm Water Pollution Prevention
Plans (SWPPP’s). The costs for SWPPP review and inspection for developmentkonstruction
projects and business-related commercial or industrial activities will be addressed separately
in later sections of this report. The costs for SWPPP preparation and implementation for City
owned public facilities will be borne by the City’s General Fund or other operating fhds as
determined by City Council and are not addressed in this report.
8 I5
Solid Waste Service Fee Rate Increase Computation
Legal mandates -
As noted in the preceding section with the exception of the preparation, review, inspection
and implementation of SWPPP’s, all the other activities listed in Table 1 are solid waste
services. However, not all the costs for these solid waste collection activities can reasonably
be charged to existing solid waste service users within the City via a service fee rate increase.
Some portion of the costs could be considered property related and as such their imposition
may require a vote of the electorate or property owners in compliance with Articles XI11 D of
the State Constitution. Other costs are not attributable to the solid waste service users in the
City and could not be reasonably charged such users.
The imposition of new or increased service fees must:
1) Be based upon the actual costs of providing the service for which the fee is being
charged. Said another way, the fee or charge shall not exceed the funds required to
provide the service.
Be reasonably related to the service being provided
Have a ‘nexus’ or rough proportionality to use or size of the
propert y/development .
2)
3)
Consistent with the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, (Public Resources
Code section 40000 et seq.), the city “may determine aspects of solid waste handling which
are of local concern, including, but not limited to, frequency of collection, means of collection
and transportation, level of services, charges and fees, and nature, location, and extent of
providing solid waste handling services.” (Public Resources Code section 40059). In
addition, Public Resources Code section 41901 requires the city to comply with Government
Code section 66016 when setting and collecting local solid waste fees.
Pursuant to Section 6601 6 of the California Government Code, prior to levying a new service
fee or increasing an existing service fee, a local agency must hold at least one open and public
hearing at which oral and written presentations can be made. The meeting must be noticed a
minimum of 14 days in advance and the action creating the fee or fee increase must be taken
by ordinance or resolution. Since the City Council has previously adopted a solid waste
service fee ordinance, a fee increase may be established by resolution pursuant to City Code
Section 6.08.180.
Existing Solid Waste Fee Structure -
While relatively simple for residential service, the fee structure for commercial service is
much more complex involving multiple potential bin sizes, pick-ups per week and recycle
needs. Table 3 on the following pages detail the City’s current fee structure for solid waste
services:
9
Table 3
Existing Solid Waste Fee Structure
Number
of Bins
(3Yd)
1
2
3
Residential Service (Per month):
Residential Curbside Service: $14.52
Residential Backyard Service: $19.70
Number of Pick-ups per Week
1 2 3 4 5
$74.92 $137.19 $199.46 $261.73 $324.00
$149.84 $274.38 $398.92 $523.46 $648.00
$224.76 $41 1.57 $598.38 $785.19 $972.0
Commercial Service (per month):
Size of Bin 2Yd 3Yd
cost $26.00 $35.00
4Yd 5Yd 6Yd
$42.00 $49.00 $56.00
Commercial Can Service:
Curbside service: $25.10 lx per week
(Up to four (4) 32 gallon cans) $50.20 2x per week
$75.30 3x per week
Backyard Service:
(Up to four (4) 32 gallon cans) $35.70 lx per week
$71.40 2x per week
Recycling:
Non-Residential Commercial Accounts: $1 1.65/month/per container per
pick-up
96 Gallon Waste Wheels for Non-residential commercial accounts lx per
week service Glass or commingled commodities only. (No limit)
Multi-family Waste Wheelers provided at No-Charge (No limit)
10
t7
Number of 3yd Bins
1
2
3
~~~~~
Mixed Paper & Cardboard Recycling 3-yard Bin Service:
lx per Week 2x per Week
$73.73 $130.57
$146.86 $261.14
$220.29 $391.71
No. Bins
1
2
It should be noted that the above tables do not include the solid waste charges for temporary
bins for special hauls or construction waste. Such charges are generally for one time short
duration uses and therefore are not considered in any potential rate increases. Also not
included in any potential rate increase are costs for miscellaneous services or drop off
recycling. Only those costs for regular services provided to users at their place of residential
or commercial use were considered for the proposed rate increases.
Number of Pick-ups per Week
1 2 3 4 5
$5 1 .OO $86.00 $121.00 $156.00 $186.00
$102.00 $172.00 $242.00 $312.00 $372.00
Solid Waste Fee Revenues and Expenditures -
As stated in the above sections, the City collects solid waste service fees from residential
service users within the northern 80% of the City. By agreement, the remaining fees are
collected by the City’s solid waste hauler, Coast Waste Management. The bulk of the
revenues generated from solid waste service fees go directly to Coast Waste Management to
operate the curbside collection of commercial and residential refbse and recyclable wastes.
The remaining revenue (9.5% of the total revenue collected) goes to the City as a franchise
fee (7.5%) and AB 939 fees (2%). The AB 939 fees are additional charges added to the solid
waste service fee to pay for recycling and waste reduction programs mandated by California
Assembly Bill No. 939.
The total amount of solid waste revenues generated during Fiscal Year 2002-03 was
$1 1,668,003. The City’s share of the revenues (franchise fee plus AB 939 fee) is $1,108,460.
The City budget for Solid Waste Services for FY 2002-03 was $234,410. The current fiscal
year budget is $276,761. The total average number of residential solid waste service
customers within Carlsbad for FY 2002-03 time period was 25,110.
11
The following table shows the distribution of solid waste service fee revenues collected by
both the City and Coast Waste Management for FY 2002-03:
Service User City Coast Waste Total
Residential
Rolloffr
$2,9 8 3,894 $1,55 1,209 $4,535,103
$0 $2,395,126 $2,395,126
I I I I I * Rolloff Service Users are those requesting large sized waste bins on a one-time basis to
remove remodel, construction and other special waste removal needs.
Commercial
Totals
Cost Apportionment -
The remainder of this section provides the justifications for apportioning the costs of the
City’s storm water pollution protection activities to the City’s solid waste service fee in
accordance with all legal mandates for imposition of new or increased service fees as
discussed above.
$0 $4,737,774 $4,737,774
$2,98 3,894 $8,684,109 $1 1,668,003
Street Sweeping -
The City’s street sweeping program is divided into two categories - sweeping of public roads
and sweeping of parking lots. The cost of sweeping public parking lots is a direct result of the
public use of the property and therefore should not be added to the solid waste fee.
The majority of the costs for sweeping public roads can and should be apportioned to solid
waste service users. The City’s entire local road network and a certain percentage of its
arterial network were constructed for the sole purpose of serving developed properties that
front upon or otherwise access the network. Virtually all of the solid waste materials swept
from City streets originate from the use of developed properties. A certain percentage of the
wastes may originate from airborne pollutants generated from outside the City, from travelers
passing through the City or from undeveloped properties.
In determining the proper allocation of costs to the various generators of the solid waste swept
from City streets, several reasonable assumptions must be made. First, it is assumed that the
volume of waste generated from airborne pollutants originating outside the City’s developed
land base is negligible in comparison to the waste generated from local developed properties
and does not add significant costs to the collection, transport or disposal of the solid waste
collected through sweeping of City streets. Therefore, no cost allocation will be attributed to
this source. The second assumption is that the general purpose of City roads is to serve the
needs of developed property both within and outside the City, therefore, the removal of solid
waste accumulations generated from undeveloped properties should be borne by the users of
12
developed property and not the owners of undeveloped property. In other words, without
developed property there is no need for paved roads and without paved roads there is no need
to remove the sediments and vegetative matter typically generated from undeveloped land.
The third assumption, or perhaps more accurately set of assumptions, establishes the
framework for allocating costs between City roadway travelers originating from (or destined
for) developed property within the City and those travelers passing directly through the City.
The first assumption is that those passing through the City by and large are using one of five
regional arterial roads within the City, Carlsbad Boulevard, El Camino Real, La Costa
Avenue, Palomar Airport Road or Rancho Santa Fe Road. The next assumption is that, absent
regional traffic, users of local developed property would still require the use of at least two
lanes of the aforementioned regional roadways to serve their local needs. The last assumption
is that solid wastes accumulate more or less uniformly across the road network.
Using these assumptions, it can be found that the percentage of street sweeping costs
attributable to City solid waste service users is roughly proportional to the percentage of street
lane miles that directly serve the needs of local developed properties. Given that the total
number of street lane miles within Carlsbad is 664 miles (excluding alleyways, freeways and
private streets not included within the City’s street sweeping program) and that he total
number of lane miles needed to primarily service regional through traffic is 52 lane miles.
Then, the total number of road lane miles required to service the needs of local land
development uses is 612 miles (664 miles - 52 miles). The percentage of street sweeping
costs attributable to solid waste service users located within Carlsbad is, therefore, 92%
(6 12/664).
Given that the yearly cost to sweep the entire road network is currently $149,069 and
applying the percentage described above then, the fair share allocation of annual street
sweeping costs attributable to solid waste service users within Carlsbad is $137,143.
Assuming that the amount of solid waste swept from City streets is generated in rough
proportionality to the amount of solid waste removed from developed properties using
curbside solid waste collection services then, the fair share cost of the City street sweeping
activities can be allocated amongst residential and commercial solid waste service users based
upon their respective ratios of annual revenues to the total annual solid waste curbside
collection revenues (excluding rolloffs). The City’s current yearly gross revenues for
residential and commercial solid waste collection service is $4,535,103 and $4,737,774
respectively. The percentage of the total solid waste curbside collection revenues derived
from residential uses is 49% and the percentage for commercial uses is 5 1%. Using these
percentages to allocate the fair share costs for street sweeping results in an allocation of
$67,200 to residential service users and $69,943 to commercial service users.
13 20
The following table depicts the proposed distribution of the annual costs for the City’s street
sweeping activities:
Street Sweeping
Activity
Public Roads*
Total
Parking lots
I Table 5
Projected
Yearly
Expenditure
Residential Commercial
Solid Waste Solid Waste
Service Users Service Users
$149,069 $67,200 $69,943
$11,931 $0 $0
$161,000 $67,200 $69,943
Activity
Litter
Removal
General Fund
or Other
Fund Source
Projected Residential Commercial
Yearly Solid Waste Solid Waste
Expenditure Service Users Service Users
$75,621 $34,090 $35,481
Litter Removal -
A large percentage of the litter removed from City rights-of-way and other public places
originates from users of developed property within the City or from travelers visiting, serving
or being served by developed properties. Again a simplifying assumption will be made that
the percentage of costs that can be apportioned to solid waste service users is roughly
proportional to the percentage of street lane miles used for local development needs to the
number of total lane miles in the City or 92%. Given that the City’s yearly expenditure for
litter removal is $75,621. the total litter removal cost that can be allocated to users of solid
waste services is $69,571.
The allocation of the $69,571 in fair share litter removal costs between residential and solid
waste service users can be made at the same ratio use to allocate the street sweeping costs.
The table below shows the yearly litter removal costs and amounts allocated to the City’s
solid waste service users and other funding sources.
General Fund
or Other Fund
Source
$6,050
14
Storm Drainage Facility Cleaning and Light Maintenance -
The cleaning and light maintenance of storm drainage facilities (inlets, pipes, channels and
basins) is essentially a solid waste collection, removal and disposal activity. Heavy
maintenance activities which include structural repairs and replacement of storm drainage
facilities is not a function of solid waste servicing and therefore not included within the scope
of this study. The primary constituents removed from the City’s inlets, pipes, channels and
basins during light cleaning and maintenance are sediments, vegetative matter, trash and other
refuse and a host of lesser minor pollutants. Such solid wastes primarily originate from
developed and undeveloped properties within the City. As with solid waste swept from public
streets, a small fraction of the solid waste removed from storm drainage facilities originates
from air borne pollutants distributed over the City landscape; however, as discussed in the
street sweeping section, the volume of air borne materials compared to the volume generated
from properties within the City is negligible and does not materially add to the cost of the
storm drainage facility cleaning activities. Therefore, the costs of removing transporting and
disposal of solid waste removed from drainage facilities will be spread fully to residential and
commercial solid waste service users. Heavy maintenance activities, which include structural
repairs and replacement of storm drainage facilities by the City, is not a function of solid
waste servicing and therefore not included within the scope of this study.
Future Developable
Permanent Open Space
The following table depicts the distribution of current aggregate land use amongst developed
and undeveloped lands within the City. Undeveloped lands are further broken down among
potentially developable and permanent Open Space.
6898
5725
Table 7
Unlike streets, storm drainage facilities serve the needs of both developed and developed
properties. Although storm drainage facilities are needed to primarily protect developed
properties, they are sized to handle flows from all properties and carry storm water runoff
from future developable properties. Sediments and vegetative matter generated from future
developable property contribute to the solid waste loading of storm drainage facilities in
rough proportionality to the percentage of acreage upstream of City drainage facilities.
For the most part, lands within permanent open space either encompass the City’s waterways
or drain directly into the City’s waterway and thus, do not add to the solid waste load
deposited within the City’s storm drainage system. Therefore, the costs to remove solid waste
from City storm drainage facilities should not be allocated to permanent Open Space
properties. The allocation of costs should be based solely upon the ratio of currently
developed and future developable land to the total amount of developable land within the
City. By using this cost allocation methodology, the percentage of storm drainage facility
cleaning costs attributable to developed properties is found to be 64% (12,457/19,355) and the
15
22
percentage of costs attributable to undeveloped property is 36% (6,898/19,355). Given that
the total annual storm drainage facility cleaning and maintenance cost is $173,354, the
amount allocated to solid waste service users is $1 10,946 ($173,354 x 64%). The remaining
amount attributable to undeveloped properties that will be allocated to the General Fund until
such time as the properties develop is $62,407.
Activity
Inlet Cleaning and
Maintenance
Basin Cleaning and
Maintenance*
Channel Cleaning
and Maintenance
Pipes and Gutters
Cleaning and
Maintenance
Totals
The ratio of developed and future developable property within the City will be reviewed on an
annual basis through the City’s Geographic Information System (GIs), and by confirming the
number of building permits issued during the previous year. After this review is completed,
City staff will re-allocate solid waste service user fees to reflect any changes in the ratio
between developed and future developable properties in the City.
Yearly Solid Waste Solid Waste or Other
Expenditure Service Users Service Users Fund Source
$38,837 $40,422 $44,583 $123,842
$0 $0 $0 $0
$2 1,779 $6,830 $7,109 $7,840
$27,773 $8,697 $9,052 $9,984
$1 73,354 $54,364 $56,583 $62,407
The following table presents the allocation of storm drainage facility cleaning and
maintenance costs to the various proposed funding categories:
Table 8
Storm Drainage Facility Cleaning and Maintenance Cost Allocation I Projected I Residential I Commercial I General Fund
Storm Event Activities -
Storm event activities include activities to prepare for and react to storm events such as filling
and stockpiling of sandbags, patrolling of streets and drainage facilities during and after storm
events and cleaning deposited mud, debris and other solid wastes from streets and storm
drainage facilities. The same methodology used to allocate costs for cleaning and light
maintenance of storm drainage facilities is used to allocate storm event activity costs to solid
waste service users. This methodology provides rough proportionality in distributing costs in
relation to the needs created by the users of such services.
The following table presents the allocation of costs for storm event activities within the
various proposed funding categories:
16 23
Projected Residential
Activity Yearly Solid Waste
Expenditure Service Users I $26,713 1 $8,377 I $8,719 1 $9,617 Storm I Events
Commercial General Fund
Solid Waste or Other Fund
Service Users Source
Illicit Connection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program -
The purpose of this program is to monitor for, detect and eliminate illegal and illicit solid
waste discharges originating from developed properties within the City. Activities associated
with the Illicit Connection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program include monitoring
and testing of storm drainage outlets for the presence of solid waste pollutant discharges,
investigation of citizen complaints regarding potential discharge of solid waste pollutants into
City storm drainage facilities, monitoring of coastal lagoon outfall, conducting investigations
to determine the source of illegal and/or illicit solid waste discharges and enforcement actions
to abate illegal connections or illegal discharges to the City’s storm drainage system.
Since the primary purpose of the Illicit Detection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program
is to find and eliminate solid wastes originating from developed properties, 100% of the costs
for the testing, monitoring and complaint response work should be allocated to solid waste
users. The fair share allocation of such costs between residential and commercial users will be
made using the same ratios determined for the preceding discussion on storm water activities.
Such distribution is roughly proportional to needs created by the solid waste service users
within Carlsbad.
Once an illicit connection or illegal discharge has been discovered, then, the cost for the
subsequent investigation and enforcement activity should be paid in whole by the illegalhllicit
discharger. As stated earlier in this report, the City will initially conduct enforcement actions
on a cooperative basis so imposition of new fines and levies to recoup these costs are not part
of this study. Until such time that additional fines and levies are established to recoup these
costs, the cost of the City’s investigation and enforcement activities for the Illicit Detection
and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program shall be borne 100% by the City’s General Fund.
Some cost recovery may be possible if the City elects to process an enforcement action using
existing code enforcement regulations.
17 29
The following table presents the proposed allocation of costs for the activities of the Illicit
Detection and Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program to the various solid waste service
users:
$1,300
145,400
$35,200
$23 1,900
Illicit Detectior
$0 $0 $1,300
$7 1,246 $74,154 $0
$17,248 $17,952 $0
$1 12,994 $1 17,606 $1,300
Activity
Storm Drain Outfall
Monitoring and
Testin . Enforcement 1 Administration
Citizen Comdaints I Totals
Table 10
md Illegal Discharge Enforcement Program Cost Allocation
Projected I Residential I Commercial I General Fund
Yearly Solid Waste Solid Waste or Other
$24,500 $25,500
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (S WPPP’s) -
There are essentially three separate program activities related to the preparation, processing
and enforcement of SWPPP’s. These include plan review and inspection of construction
related SWPPP’s, review and inspection of business related (commercialhndustrial) SWPPP’s
and implementation and monitoring of municipal facility SWPPP’s. Plan review and
inspection of construction related SWPPP’s will be discussed separately later in this report
under the section dealing with new development processing fees. The cost to implement and
monitor municipal facility SWPPP’s are a fiction of the use of the City’s public facilities and
no portion of such costs can be allocated to the solid waste users; therefore, 100% of such
costs will be funded through the General Fund or other appropriate funding source.
The fill cost to review and inspect business related SWPPP’s can be allocated to commercial
solid waste service users. Each commercial user within the City must be reviewed
periodically to determine their potential solid waste and other potential pollutant handling and
processing requirements. From these periodic reviews, the commercial businesses are
categorized into high, medium and low priority facilities. The categorization for industrial
sites is made based upon several factors including the type of business activity, materials
used, wastes generated, pollutants discharge potential, non-storm water discharges, size of
facility, proximity to receiving waters, sensitivity of receiving waters and other relevant
factors. For non-industrial commercial sites, the Order contains a detailed list of high priority
sites that must be inventoried and inspected on a regular basis.
Although wastes generated is but one of the many factors used to determine priority ranking
for the purpose of conducting business related SWPPP reviews and inspections this factor can
be used, for the sake of administrative simplicity, to determine a rough proportionality
between needs created by the business activity and the SWPPP plan review and inspection
services provided by the City. For this reason, costs associated with the review and inspection
of business related SWPPP’s are allocated within this study report to commercial solid waste
18
service users based upon a uniform increase in service fees to commercial solid waste service
users. By using this allocation, commercial businesses that generate more solid waste pay a
proportionally higher solid waste collection fee that in turn pays for the proportionally higher
costs to review and inspect their business premises to ensure compliance with their SWPPP
pursuant to the Order.
Activity
Construction
As additional support for this allocation methodology, it should be noted that one of the main
activities performed by City staff during SWPPP compliance inspections is to ensure that the
solid waste collection enclosures are clean, orderly and protected against storm water runoff
and unintentional spills. The following table presents the proposed allocation of SWPPP
review and inspection costs to the various solid waste service users:
Projected Residential Commercial General Fund
Yearly Solid Waste Solid Waste or Other
Expenditure Service Users Service Users Fund Source
Table 11
Inspection
Municipal Facility
SWPPP Monitoring
and Implementation
Business Related
SWPPP Review
and Inspection
Totals *
N/A** $0 $0 N/A* *
$106,050 $0 $106,050 $0
$3 1 1,005 $0 $106,050 $204,955
I $204,955* I $0 I $0 1 $204,955* Related SWPPP
Review and
** Not available at this time. Program is still within implementation stage.
Miscellaneous Storm Water Activities -
There are several miscellaneous storm water activities required to properly administer the
City’s storm water pollution prevention program in compliance with the Order. These
activities include preparation of the annual JURMP report, maintenance of geographical
information system (GIS) and other records, payment of the annual NPDES permit fee,
participation in the required wet weather testing program, general administration of the
program and, participation and maintenance of a public education and public outreach
program. Since all of these activities are required solely due to use of developed property and
because virtually all of the costs for the above mention miscellaneous activities arise from and
benefit the users of the solid waste services provided by the City, then 100% of the costs for
these activities should be allocated to the solid waste users.
19 26
Again, for the sake of administrative simplicity, the costs for the miscellaneous storm water
activities will be allocated among commercial and residential users based upon their
respective current ratios to the total current cost for curbside services. Such allocation
provides a rough proportionality between the needs created by the users and the costs to
perform the miscellaneous activities. The following table presents the proposed allocation of
miscellaneous storm water activity costs to the various solid waste service users:
Projected Residential
Activity Yearly Solid Waste
Exuenditure Service Users
Commercial
Solid Waste
Service Users
Annual Reporting
GIS and Records
Maintenance
I
$20,500 $10,045 $10,455
$4,900 $5,100 $ o,ooo
$205,000
$3 07,964
$10,000
Wet Weather
Testing Program
General Program
Administration
NPDES Permit
Fee Pavment
General Fund
or Other
Fund Source
$100,450 $104,550
$150,902 $157,062
$4,900 $5,100
$0
Public Education
and Outreach
Totals
$0
$78,470 $38,450 $40,020
$63 1,934 $309,648 $322,286
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
20 27
Rate Computation -
The computation of the proposed rate increases for the solid waste services requires a
summation of the total costs for the storm water pollution prevention activities and a
determination of the methodology required to equitably spread costs to the existing solid
waste fee structure. Table 13 on the following page provides a summary of the activity costs
as they were spread to residential and commercial solid waste service users in the preceding
sections of this summary. The total cost to be spread to residential solid waste service users is
$586,673 and the total cost to be spread to commercial service users is $716,668. The
methodology used to spread these costs to residential and commercial ratepayers is discussed
in the following two sections.
Residential Service Rate Increase -
The proposed rate increase for residential solid waste service users is calculated by dividing
the total fair share allocation of costs to residential users by the yearly average number of
residential users. Currently there are two basic collection rates for residential users, one for
curbside service and the other for backyard service. Since the differential in costs has more to
do with the location of the collection and not with the use of the property, the proposed fee
increase will be added as a surcharge to the customer account rather than charging a
percentage increase to the existing collection billing. The total proposed surcharge for each
residential customer is $23.36 ($586,673/25,110 users) annually or $1.95 monthly. For
residential solid waste service users the proposed increase represents a percentage increase of
approximately 13 NO over the current monthly billing for residential curbside collection
service.
21 28
Commercial Service Rate Increase -
The proposed rate increase for commercial solid waste service users is determined by first
calculating the percentage revenue increase required to generated the fair share amount
allocable to commercial service users and then spreading the increase uniformly across the
commercial service rates. In this manner, those businesses requiring the greatest amount of
service will pay a proportionately higher rate commensurate with the amount of waste
generated.
The proposed rate increase for commercial service users is 15.1 %, calculated by dividing the
fair share allocation of storm water protection costs ($716,668) by the total revenues for
commercial curbside service users ($4,737,774).
Table 14 on the following pages show the new proposed fee structure for residential and
commercial service users:
Rate tables Placeholder Table 14
22
29
STORM WATER PROTECTION PROGRAM
RECOMMENDED FEE INCREASES / ADDITIONS
Solid Waste Service Fees
Residential Service Rates:
Monthly Curbside Service:
Monthly Backyard Service:
Commercial Service Rates:
Current Proposed
$14.52 $1 6.47
$1 9.70 $21.65
Current Proposed
Curbside service 1 X per week: $25.10 $28.89
Curbside service 2 X per week: $50.20 $57.78
Curbside service 3 X per week: $75.30 $86.67
Commercial Can Service: (Up to (4) 32 gallon cans)
Backyard service 1 X per week:
Backyard service 2 X per week:
$35.70 $41.09
$7 1.40 $82,18
Recycling: Non-residential Commercial Accounts $1 1.65 $13.41
(per month per container)
23
30
Yard Waste Recycling: I Numberof I I Ixper I 2x per I
3yd Bins
1
Week Week
Current $73.73 $130.57
New Storm Water Protection Program Plancheck and Inspection fees:
: I Developmenl
Plan review Inspection
Initial I Subsequent Initial I Subsequent
Family
Lot/Unit
$210
$210
Multi-family
Attached &
Mobile
Homes
Lot/Unit Lot/Unit Lot Unit
$70 $230 $120
$35 $230 $70
Proposed Fee 1
Commercial/
Industri a1 '1 $280 I $280 1 $400 I $400 I
23 31
Construction Related SWPPP Plan Review and Inspection Fees
The review and inspection of construction related SWPPP’s is not an activity related to the
provision of solid waste services; therefore, the City costs to provide these services will not be
incorporated into the proposed solid waste services rate increase. Construction related
SWPPP’s are required to help prevent to release of potential pollutants generated from land
development and other construction activities. The costs to the City to provide the required
SWPPP review and inspection services consistent with the Order should be borne entirely by
those property owners and developers who develop or otherwise perform construction
activities to or upon their property.
To recoup the costs to review and inspect construction related SWPPP’s, this report proposes
the establishment of new processing fees to be charged to anyone required to prepare and
implement a construction related SWPPP. As required by State law, the proposed new
processing fees are based upon actual costs to provide the service, are reasonably related to
the service being provided and are roughly proportional to size of the development or
construction activity. (See Government Code Section 66016 et seq.)
Flowcharts 1 and 2 in Appendix A provide a general overview of the existing process’ used
by City staff to review and inspect construction related SWPPP’s. The boxes within each
chart list specific activities performed by staff along the various stages of the review and
inspection process and list the specific job classification(s) required to perform the specified
activity.
For the purpose of establishing fees, SWPPP review and inspection activities were segregated
into three project categories; single family detached, multi-family attached and mobile home
and, cornmercialhndustrial projects. These three groupings were chosen to ensure that the
proposed fees maintained a rough proportionality to the size and nature of the development
activity. Tables A-1 through A-3 in Appendix A detail the average amount of time required
by each job classification to complete the various activities depicted in Flowcharts 1 and 2 for
each of the three project categories.
For each project category, a separate fee is proposed for SWPPP review and inspection
services. It is proposed that the SWPPP review fee be charged concurrent with the submittal
of the SWPPP to the City for review. The SWPPP inspection fee will be charged prior to
issuance of the associated grading, right-of-way or building permit being issued for the
covered development and/or construction activity. This fee splitting methodology is consistent
with the City method of collecting existing plan review and inspection fees for grading and
street improvement projects. In many instances there are significant time delays between the
review and approval of a plan and the issuance of the respective construction permit. In other
cases, projects are abandoned by the property owner and/or developer and never make it to
construction. Splitting the fees into the two activities (review and inspection) reduces the
financial burden to developers, reduces the need to refund unused fees for projects that don’t
go to construction and provides for increased revenues because inspection fees may be raised
25 32
during the annual fee review process before the developer applies for their construction
permits.
Development Category
Single Familv Detached
The following table presents a summary of the proposed new fees for construction related
SWPPP review and inspection services.
Initial Subsequent Initial Subsequent
LotNnit LotNnit LotNnit Lot Unit
$210 $70 $230 $120
Table 15
" , Multi-family Attached and
Mobile Homes
Commercialhdustrial
ProDosed Fee
$210 $35 $230 $70
$280 $280 $400 $400
I Plan review I Insnection I
Note that for residential projects there is a base fee for the first unit or lot and a reduced fee
for each subsequent unit or lot. The reduction accounts for certain processing activities that
occur whether one or multiple lots/units are processed. It is also a reflection of the fact that
the average residential project includes fiom 20 to 50 units. The fee for commercialhdustrial
lots is fixed at the same value for each lot. The reason for the fixed fee is that average lot sizes
for commercial and industrial projects are larger and the average number of lots per project
are smaller. Due to the method employed to determine staff time spent reviewing an average
commercial and industrial lot, the incremental reduction in costs to review subsequent lots
was considered marginal and therefore one set rate is proposed for all commercialhndustrial
lots.
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GLOSSARY
JURMP (Jurisdictional Urban Runoff Management Program also know as Jurisdictional
Urban Runoff Management Plan) - A program required of each owner of a municipal storm
drainage system to demonstrate compliance with the federal clean water regulations for
discharge of urban storm water runoff into the waters of the United States. Each municipal
agency JURMP must include components that address storm water pollution reduction
through land use planning, construction permitting, existing development maintenance and
operations, public education and illicit discharge detection and elimination. Each program
must also include a financial plan to guarantee funding for the program and, a mechanism to
assess the effectiveness of the program.
NPDES Permit (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit) - A permit issued
to the owner(s) of municipal storm drainage systems by the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board to ensure compliance with Federal Clean Water Act regulations. The
purpose of such permits is to reduce pollutant loadings to waters of the United States from
non-point (storm water) sources. The City of Carlsbad together with all other incorporated
cities within the County of San Diego, the County of San Diego and the San Diego Unified
Port District are each copermittees under the same NPDES permit identified as Order No.
2001-01 NPDES NO. CAS0108758.
Solid Waste “Solid waste” means putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid and liquid
wastes, generated in or upon residential or commercial premises, including garbage, trash,
refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, construction and demolition wastes,
abandoned vehicles and parts thereof, discarded home and industrial appliances, dewatered,
treated, or chemically fixed sewage sludge which is not hazardous waste, manure, vegetable
or animal solid and semisolid wastes, and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes.
(Carlsbad Municipal Code section 6.08.010(A)(22), and Public Resources Code section
40191)
(Add definition from CMC and state its consistency with PR Code)
SUSUMP (Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan) - A plan prepared by an agency or
group of agencies for the purpose of reducing pollutants and runoff flows from all new
development and significant redevelopment projects. The SUSUMP includes a
comprehensive presentation of specific mitigation standards and specifications that can be
employed to reduce pollutants and runoff for construction projects.
SWPPP (Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan) - A plan prepared by a developer, and
submitted to the City for review and approval, that described a developer’s detailed plan for
preventing the escape of pollutants of concern from a construction site to the maximum extent
practicable. City staff inspect the effectiveness of SWPPPs by site visits to monitor the
developer’s compliance with the SWPPP.
WURMP (Watershed Urban Runoff Management Program) - A program developed
collectively by those agencies whose jurisdictions contribute drainage to one or a common
27
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grouping of watersheds designed to identify and mitigate the highest priority water quality
issues/pollutants that affect the watershed(s). The requirement for a WURMP provides
recognition that watershed boundaries transcend individual agency boundaries. The WURMP
also provides a programmatic approach to identify which pollutants presented the greatest
threat to the common watershed(s) and recommends measures to mitigate the threat.
28
35
APPENDIX A
SWPP Review and Inspection Fee
Process Flowcharts
And
Processing Fee Computation Spreadsheets
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36
- Clerical File Preparation
and meeting scheduling . I Pre-Construction Meeting I - Inspector Coordination I . SWPPP Inspection
-Construction Inspector
-Clerical support
Construction Completion - Construction Inspector
Project Closeout - Clerical
June 27,2003
37
(Re)Submittal
Technician
C hec k-in
Application Review
-Associate Engineer
Application Routing
Clerical logging
Comment Coordination
and Application Response
Associate Engineer
Return of Application Submittal
Clerical Logging
Technician Transmittal .
mittal Approve Clerical Log, File and
June 27,2003
38
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. m
STORM WATER PROTECTION PROGRAM
RECOMMENDED FEE INCREASES / ADDITIONS
Solid Waste Service Fees
Residential Service Rates:
Monthly Curbside Service:
Monthly Backyard Service:
Commercial Service Rates:
Current Proposed
$14.52 $1 6.47
$1 9.70 $21.65
I Added Cost Der Bin DumD I
Current Proposed
Curbside service 1 X per week: $25.10 $28.89
Curbside service 2 X per week: $50.20 $57.78
Curbside service 3 X per week: $75.30 $86.67
Commercial Can Service: (Up to (4) 32 gallon cans)
Backyard service 1 X per week:
Backyard service 2 X per week:
$35.70 $41.09
$71.40 $82.18
Recycling: Non-residential Commercial Accounts $11.65 $13.41
(per month per container)
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Yard Waste Recycling:
Development
Category
Family
Detached
Multi-family
Attached &
Mobile
Homes
Commercial/
Industrial
Mixed Paper & Cardboard Recycling 3-yard Bin Service:
Initial Subsequent Initial Subsequeni
LotAJnit Lot/Unit Lot/Unit Lot Unit
$2 10 $70 $230 $120
$210 $35 $230 $70
$280 $280 $400 $400
New Storm Water Protection Program Plancheck and Inspection fees:
I ProDosed Fee I I Plan review I Inspection I
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9-3
Storm Water Pollution Protection ProgramFinancing ProposalOctober 2003
Tonight’s Actions!Staff Presentation of Storm Water Fee Study Report!Council Questions!Council Motion to Accept Fee Study Report and Set Public Hearing Date for Approval of the Proposed Fee Increases and Adoption of New Fees
Background!1972 - Federal Clean Water Act (CWA)!Prohibited “Point” Source Discharges (Treatment Plan Outfalls)!1987 - Water Quality Act!Amended the CWA!Prohibited “Non-Point” Source Discharges (Storm Water Outfalls)!1990 – Carlsbad Issued “Early” Storm Water Permit !Co-permittee with County, Port District and other Cities in County!Required Best Management Practices
Background (cont.)!2001 – RWQCB Issues “Final” Order to Co-permittees!Requires Jurisdictional Urban Runoff Management Plan (JURMP)!Defines Specific Storm Water Program Requirements and Timelines!Requires Financial Guarantee for Storm Water Program!2001 - City Team Formed to Develop Finance Plan
Additional RequiredJURMP ActivitiesCreate AnUnfunded Federal Mandate
!Litter Removal/Street Sweeping!Storm Drain/Inlet Cleaning !Illicit Connection/Illegal Discharge Enforcement!Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)!Review & Inspection !Public Education/Outreach!Program AdministrationCarlsbad’s JURMP Program Activities
Storm Water Protection ProgramActivity Costs = $1.6MAdministration21%Litter Removal &Street Sweeping16%Storm Drain Cleaning 11%Illicit Connection/Illegal Discharge28%SWPPP Review/Inspection19%Public Education& Outreach5%
Potential Funding Sources!Utility Fee Increases"Solid Waste, Sewer, Water!Permit Processing Fee"SWPPP Review and Inspection!Fines/Levies"Storm Water Code Violators!Storm Water Utility!Pollution Prevention and Flood Control
Finance Team Proposal!Implement Now:!Trash (Solid Waste Service) Fee Increase!Storm Drainage Solid Waste Cleanup Costs!Business Related SWPPP Inspections!Processing Fee for Construction-Related SWPPP’s!Future Consideration:!Fines and Levies!Storm Water Utility
Proposed Solid Waste Service Fee Increase
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseProvides Funding for: !Litter Removal/Street Sweeping!Storm Drain/Inlet Cleaning!Illicit Detection/Illegal Connection!Excluding enforcement activities!Commercial Business SWPPP Inspections!Charged to commercial service users only!Public Education/Outreach!Program Administration
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseJustification !Nearly all the constituents that make up the pollutants discharged into the City’s storm drainage system qualify as solid waste under the definition established in State and local codes
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseDefinition!Solid Waste is defined as:“…solid, semisolid and liquid wastes, generated in or upon residential or commercial premises, including garbage, trash, …construction and demolition wastes, …dewatered, treated, or chemically fixed sewage sludge …and other discarded solid and semisolid wastes.”
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseCalculation Methodology!Identify Eligible Program Activities!Allocate Costs to Solid Waste Service Users and Non-Users!Allocate Costs to Commercial and Residential Solid Waste Service Users!Calculate Service Fee Increase
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseCost Allocation to Service Users!Litter Removal/Street Sweeping!92% to Service Users !8% to Non-Users!Storm Drain/Inlet Cleaning!64% to Service Users !36% to Non-Users!Business Related SWPPP’s/ Illicit Connections & Illegal Discharges/Public Education/ Program Administration!100% to Service Users
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseSolid Waste Service Fee IncreaseCost Allocation Among Service UsersCost Allocation Among Service Users!Litter Removal, Street Sweeping, Storm Drain, Inlet Cleaning, Storm Event Preparation, Illicit Connection & Illegal Discharge, Public Education, Program Administration!49% to Residential Service Users !51% to Commercial Service Users!Business Related SWPPP Inspections!100% to Commercial Service Users
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseProposed Fee Increase!Residential = $1.95/Month (13.4%)!Commercial = 15.1%
Solid Waste Service Fee IncreaseSolid Waste Service Fee IncreaseProjected RevenuesProjected Revenues= $1.31M= $1.31M!Residential $587,000!Commercial $717,000
Proposed Construction Related SWPPP Processing Fee
Construction Related SWPPP Processing FeeDefinition:Construction-Related SWPPP(Construction-Related Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan)-is a plan prepared by a Developer to help control and/or eliminate construction related pollutants from leaving the development construction site and entering sensitive waterways.
Construction Related SWPPP Processing FeeSWPPP Process!Plan Review!Review of SWPPP’s submitted by developers prior to construction permit issuance!Inspection!Field Inspection of construction sites to ensure compliance with approved SWPPP’s
Construction Related SWPPP Processing FeeFee Establishment Methodology!Identify processing steps !Determine average times and costs required for each step of the process!Set fee for cost recovery only
Construction Related SWPPP Processing FeeProposed Review/Inspection Fee$400$280Commercial/Industrial$230/$70$210/$35Multi-Family$230/$120$210/$70Single FamilyInspection(1stLot/Subsequent Lots)Plan Review(1stLot/Subsequent Lots)
Construction Related SWPPP Processing FeeProjected Revenues= $186,000!SWPPP Review Fee = $72,000!SWPPP Inspection Fee = $114,000
Funding Summary!Expenditures: $1,612,000!Funding Sources:"Solid Waste Residential 587,000"Solid Waste Commercial 717,000"SWPP Plan Check 72,000"SWPP Inspections 114,000"General Fund 122,000
Implementation ScheduleOctober 7Present Fee Study at Council meetingOctober 21Public Hearing and adoption of feesDecember 21SWPPP processing fees effective November 21Solid Waste fee increases effectiveNovemberPublic outreach to customers on fees
Tonight’s Council Action!Accept the Storm Water Fee Study Report!Set a Public Hearing on October 21, 2003 to consider approval of a solid waste fee increase and adoption of new processing fees for the review and inspection of SWPPP’s