Storm Water Cleanup Falls Short : Pollution: Environmental groups say local authorities aren’t closely monitoring storm drain runoff that flows into Santa Monica Bay.

Two environmental groups issued a stinging “report card” this week that says area coastal cities are not meeting federal requirements for monitoring storm drain runoff into Santa Monica Bay.

State officials charged with monitoring the program plan to extend the July 1 deadline for compliance, but they say they are displeased with the delay and could levy $25,000-a-day fines on cities that continue to drag their feet next year.

Heal the Bay and the National Resources Defense Council gave Santa Monica and the city of Los Angeles grades of B for their work, but South Bay cities received C’s and below for not fully complying with provisions in the federal Clean Water Act.

Hermosa Beach, the lowest-ranked city in the county, got an F in the environmentalists’ report for not meeting any of the 10 provisions required in the first year of the federally mandated storm-water cleanup program.

Rolling Hills received a D-minus for failing to complete any of the work, but got some credit for reporting to the county that it was unable to gather the information. Palos Verdes Estates and El Segundo each received a D for completing only three of the required tasks.

“The cities look at this as, ‘Oh God, another regulation,’ ” said Heal the Bay scientist Mark Gold. “Every city council member and every city engineer should know that storm drain pollution is the biggest source of pollution in the Santa Monica Bay. The paperwork has a purpose.”

The area’s extensive underground storm drain network dumps 25 million gallons of urban runoff into the ocean on dry days, environmentalists say. That mixture of motor oil, grease, animal waste, pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants swells to 15 billion gallons when it rains.

Under the federal program, Los Angeles County and 16 cities were required to get a storm water discharge permit last summer. Under its provisions, they were mandated to begin cleaning up the pollution flowing through their storm drains in the next five years.

The South Bay cities covered under the permit are El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills and Torrance. Palos Verdes Estates joined the group in March.

In the first year of the program, cities were required to meet 10 provisions, which included gathering detailed information on local storm drain runoff and developing a runoff monitoring plan.

The permit eventually could force cities to improve street-cleaning methods, develop ways to filter runoff from parking lots and provide public education programs about how to prevent toxics from entering drains.

Over the past year, cities were required to compile data on their storm drain flow and water quality, make calculations based on the pollution content of the storm water and prepare information on potential storm water problems in the city.

The cities also were required to document procedures to detect illegal discharges; document existing practices to control pollutant discharges; develop a plan to prevent pollutant discharges; develop a monitoring plan, and come up with a plan to prosecute entities that discharge illegally.

None of the cities met all 10 provisions, according to the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board, the state agency that is supervising the program locally. Some municipalities reported to the county that they were unable to gather all the required data, but others just ignored certain provisions.

Several city officials said they thought they were complying with the requirements.

Hermosa Beach City Manager Kevin Northcraft, who is leaving Oct. 7 to become city manager of Upland, said he understood that the city had been gathering the information. He said he will investigate why the data never got to the county.

Richard Burke, Torrance’s city engineer, said he thought the city was meeting the requirements. “I’m not aware that we’re not in compliance,” he said.

Torrance, which received a C from the environmental groups, completed three of the 10 requirements and reported that it could not gather the information for four others, according to county records.

In Inglewood, Public Services Director Ken Duke said the city considers the program serious and is striving to comply. The city has met two requirements and reported that is has no data for five others.

Santa Monica and Los Angeles, which earned the highest rankings of any cities, were praised by the environmental groups for having storm water discharge programs, although Los Angeles completed four of the requirements and Santa Monica six.

Cities are supposed to submit their reports to the county, which then compiles the data into a report for state and federal officials. The county received a B-minus in the environmental groups’ report for completing seven of the 10 requirements.

A county Department of Public Works spokesman said compliance was lagging in the first year because the program is new and may have put a strain on some understaffed or financially strapped cities.

“I think the first year went fairly well,” said Dave Yamahara, assistant deputy director of the county Waste Management Division. “I believe the permit regulations were not fully understood by the cities.”

But a state official said he was disappointed with the cities’ response in the first year.

“All they had to do in the first year was compile information,” said Xavier Swamikannu, an engineer with the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board. “Those are not strenuous requirements.”

Swamikannu said an extension requested by the county for the preparation of monitoring plans probably will be granted. Fines would be used as a last resort, he said.

“If three months from now a city is recalcitrant, we would be forced to act,” Swamikannu said. “We would not like to go that way, but the cities should be aware that that is an option.”

Grading Local Government Grades for compliance with federal storm water runoff program, issued by Heal the Bay and National Resources Defense Council:

Los Angeles County: B-minus

El Segundo: D

Hermosa Beach: F

Inglewood: C-minus

Los Angeles: B

Manhattan Beach: C-minus

Palos Verdes Estates: D

Rancho Palos Verdes: C

Redondo Beach: C

Rolling Hills: D-minus

Rolling Hills Estates: C-minus

Torrance: C