Get Tougher, Water Quality Board Is Urged

The state’s water-pollution watchdog for south Orange County must get tougher with companies and government agencies that discharge waste into the region’s waterways, according to an audit released Wednesday on the performance of the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The report, by the state auditor general, said the San Diego-based board’s self-described “cooperative approach” has stymied effective monitoring and enforcement of state and federal clean-water laws.

But the report also notes that the board, which is responsible for state waterways from Laguna Beach south to the Mexican border, has recently improved its performance by hiring more staff members and implementing a computerized system for tracking compliance with regulations under its control.

And the board’s top staff member said in an interview that the body, one of nine regional boards throughout the state whose members are appointed by the governor, has stepped up inspections and enforcement since the audit was completed.

The auditor general, Thomas W. Hayes, said: “They have made a lot of improvement, but they have got a ways to go. They’ve got to get a better handle on things.”

While the audit did not link the various paper work deficiencies it cited to any actual water quality problems in the field, Hayes said the pattern of lax enforcement places the region’s water quality “at risk.”

“All those rules and regulations and laws are put in place to provide the degree of protection that elected officials have said needs to be provided,” said Hayes, who works for the state Legislature. “If you don’t follow those things, you’re taking a risk that the water quality in the region will deteriorate.”

Auditors’ Findings

Auditors reviewed the board’s regulation of 99 of 425 companies and government agencies with permits to discharge waste in the region. They found that:

- During the 1985-86 fiscal year, the regional board failed to perform 25 of 160 inspections required on dischargers that posed the highest threat to water quality. Nine dischargers that posed less of a threat to water quality were not inspected at all during the period.

- As of Dec. 31, the regional board had gone five years without reviewing or revising requirements for 37 of 54 dischargers that have state permits in the region. Those plans are supposed to be updated every five years, the audit said.

- Of 80 dischargers that should have submitted reports on their own monitoring of the quality of water they send into the region’s waterways, 33 did not submit all of the reports required of them during 1985 and 1986. Of those 33, 16 did not submit any reports during that period.

- The regional board took no enforcement action against six of 13 dischargers that repeatedly violated the requirements.

In general, the report criticized the board’s so-called “cooperative approach” to regulation, through which polluters were urged to comply with water-quality standards rather than slapped with stiff fines for their malfeasance.

The report did not name the 99 dischargers chosen at random from the board’s permits. But Kurt R. Sjoberg, chief deputy auditor general, said they included sewage treatment agencies, landfills and industries, and both large and small polluters.

Computer Monitors Reports

Ladin Delaney, the San Diego water quality board’s executive officer, said the board began to “turn the corner” even before state auditors began their work and is now moving toward more aggressive enforcement.

Delaney said the board now uses a computer to monitor the receipt of reports, and the computer automatically sends letters to dischargers that fail to comply. Those letters are followed by notices of violation and, if necessary, civil fines.

As a result, Delaney said, 90% of dischargers now are submitting their monitoring reports on time, contrasted with 50% less than a year ago.

“We’ve taken a stringent enforcement standpoint on this, and they’ve turned around completely,” he said.

But Delaney said the board has neither the staff nor the budget to find and penalize everyone who violates a permit. He compared the board to the California Highway Patrol, which, he noted, does not catch every speeder.

“Even of those they catch, they don’t issue citations to them all,” he said. “We’re the same way. We don’t catch all the violators, and even of those we catch, we don’t have the resources to go after each and every one of them. We look at the list of violators and decide which ones we should pursue for formal enforcement actions.”

Assemblyman’s View

But Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego), who requested the audit, said the board should be seeking more funds from the Legislature if it can’t afford to enforce laws that elected officials have enacted.

“Never have I been lobbied by any of the board members on the budget,” Stirling said. “Not one of them has ever written and said, ‘Our budget is coming up, and we need an additional 30% to carry out the state mandates.’ That has simply never been done.”

Like tax laws, Stirling said, water quality statutes depend in large part on self-enforcement. Without regular sanctions against violators, the system will break down because others will see that they can escape punishment if they too fail to comply, he said.

“It’s a grievous disappointment the way it has been handled,” Stirling said. “I can only hope that the chastening of the auditor general’s findings will wake up board members who have previously relied on their professional staff to encourage, cajole and otherwise demand an improvement in their performance.”