City Gives UCLA Break on Conservation Fines : * Water: Penalties of more than $300,000 will be waived because the school has substantially complied--it just didn’t turn in paperwork.

Los Angeles officials have agreed to waive more than $300,000 in penalties assessed against UCLA for failing to document campus water conservation measures.

The Los Angeles City Council voted to exempt the university from the penalties, accumulated over 2 1/2 years, because UCLA has substantially complied with a city law that requires retrofitting toilets and showers with low-flow water devices and other water conservation measures.

UCLA had been found in violation of a 1988 law designed to reduce sewer flows, but only because it failed to file reports documenting its conservation efforts.

“In fact, they had done all the required work,” Deputy City Atty. Claudia Culling said. “They just had not submitted the paperwork. We decided that was not an important issue, as long as they had done the work.”

University officials have long argued that as a state agency, the school is not subject to many local laws. UCLA and other University of California campuses do not, for example, accede to local zoning laws.

UCLA officials said, however, that they agreed with the spirit of the city sewage reduction ordinance and would voluntarily comply, as long as they did not have to submit documentation acknowledging that they had accepted regulation by the city.

“We are a separate creation of the state,” said Joseph D. Mandel, UCLA’s vice chancellor for legal affairs. “As a city can’t regulate the state . . . we take the position that the city cannot impose ordinances on the state (that require) capital improvements and capital projects.”

A review by the city showed that campus facilities had been properly retrofitted to save water. Culling said because of that, Los Angeles officials decided it was not worth testing the legal issues as long as the university had met the spirit of the law.

The campus uses more than 1.1 billion gallons of water a year, making it one of the top 10 water consumers in Los Angeles.

But since enforcement of water conservation goals began in March, UCLA has used an average of 30% less water per month than its target usage, according to city Department of Water and Power figures. The city law currently requires a 15% reduction from 1986 water consumption levels.