Runoff Rules Not So Costly, Some Say

With stringent water runoff rules proposed for Orange County, environmentalists say local officials are misleading state water regulators about the cost of complying--a charge local representatives deny.

County and city officials say they will spend nearly $59 million to comply with existing storm-water regulations this year, and that the new regulations would cost an additional $29 million annually. The Natural Resources Defense Council says those costs include programs created before existing runoff rules, and that future costs are unsubstantiated.

The environmental group’s analysis of county and city documents comes as two key votes are scheduled on the rules--one today for South County and a second next week for northern and central Orange County.

The proposed rules, intended to reduce the amount of polluted runoff tainting waterways and the ocean, are provisions of five-year storm-water runoff permits mandated by the federal Clean Water Act.

Runoff--the car oil, pet waste and other contaminants washed off streets and lawns into storm drains, creeks and eventually the ocean--is the No. 1 cause of coastal pollution, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

New requirements will include strict inspections of construction sites, carwashes, restaurants and other businesses that produce runoff. Discharges from storm drains cannot result in violations of state water-quality limits.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests, the environmental group said it learned that 86% of existing compliance costs are for preexisting local programs.

“Our concern is that [local officials] are misleading board members about the cost of complying with storm-water permits,” said David Beckman, an attorney in the environmental group’s Los Angeles office. “Given that the primary objection that the cities are making about storm-water-permit compliance is cost, I think this raises very disturbing and serious questions about the accuracy of their testimony.”

County Environmental Manager Chris Crompton said that while programs such as street sweeping have been included in the compliance costs, they do stop pollutants from entering waterways and therefore help meet the permits’ objectives.

“We’ve always been doing things to protect water quality,” he said. “We’re proactive in a number of areas and have been for a long period of time.”

Crompton also said the costs are estimates.