Title
Staff Report for Resolution Authorizing and Directing the City Manager to sign and file, for and on Behalf of the City of San Leandro, a California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) Grant Application to Implement Electronic Reporting using the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS), and Authorizing and Directing the City Manager to enter into and sign, for and on Behalf of the City of San Leandro, an Agreement with Cal/EPA Agreeing to Implement Electronic Reporting with CERS
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council approve a resolution to authorize the City Manager to sign and file a grant application with the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) for assistance in implementing electronic reporting requirements. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies for certain costs mandated by the state. Accepting the grant funds will allow the City to purchase new equipment, new software, and to implement training to fully implement CERS electronic reporting. The grant funds will also allow staff adequate time to effectively address long term local funding. The proposed resolution would also authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Cal/EPA regarding the use and accounting of the grant funds for implementation of CERS electronic reporting.
BACKGROUND
Assembly Bill (AB) 2286 (Feuer, PDF) was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, chaptered on September 29, 2008, and went into effect January 1, 2009. The law requires all regulated businesses and all regulated local government agencies, called Unified Program Agencies (UPA), to use the Internet to submit required Unified Program information to the State. This information is currently submitted by paper forms. The reportable information includes facility data regarding hazardous material regulatory activities, chemical inventories, underground and aboveground storage tanks, and hazardous waste generation. It also includes UPA data such as inspections and enforcement actions. All regulated businesses and UPAs in the State of California must use the Internet to file by January 1, 2013. The legal requirements for reporting derive from state law and regulations. (See Health & Safety Code, Ch. 6.11, section 25404(e)(1) & (2) and California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 27, Division 1, Subdivision 4, Chapter 1, section 15185(a), requiring the collection and submittal of data defined in the CCR Title 27 Data Dictionary.)
The earliest electronic filers were able to start using the statewide internet-based system, called the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS), in September of 2009. Based on when a business' UPA is able to receive the data from the state system, the UPA will determine when electronic reporting is mandatory locally and paper-filing is no longer an option. After CERS is available and their UPA is fully electronic, businesses will use CERS to enter and store their filing information and will no longer have to print Unified Program information paper forms for filing with their UPAs.
To fund the costs of implementing electronic reporting statewide, the legislature temporarily increased the state surcharge fee by $25 per year for three years; the annual state surcharge thus increased from $24 per year to $49 per year for the past three years of state surcharge fees collections.
Cal/EPA is redistributing 80% of the collected surcharge fees back to local UPAs via the CERS Grant to enable the UPAs to purchase new equipment and software for CERS system development, outreach and training, and technical support for UPAs to be able to accept the information electronically. The grant is a reimbursement grant. UPAs will be reimbursed for approved expenses incurred during the period of performance of the grant once the grant application is approved. Up to 25% of the UPA's authorized grant amount may be provided in advance once the UPA's grant application and Transition Plan have been accepted. The City of San Leandro has been allocated $45,810 with $11,452.50 available in advance.
Current Agency Policies
Current policy to maintain control of regulatory programs at the local level in lieu of those programs being implemented by a county, state or federal agency allows for better strategic planning and integration of the programs into the overall plan and development of the City. It promotes stability, consistency and provides a local single point of contact within the community.
Previous Actions
· The City Council previously authorized the implementation of CUPA (Certified Unified Program Agency) program and the formation of the Environmental Services Section ("ESS") to combine CUPA, Fire Code Hazardous Materials, Pretreatment, Stormwater Commercial Inspection and illegal discharge, Pollution Prevention and Contaminated Site Cleanup programs.
· The City Council also authorized the execution of the APSA grant agreement to implement the delegated CA Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act as part of the CUPA program as mandated by state law.
Applicable General Plan Policies
No direct impact but the information and technical resources maintained by having these programs within a City department allows for direct communication and technical exchange that would be more difficult if dealing with outside agencies.
Summary of Public Outreach Efforts
Cal/EPA has provided seven bulletins on their CERS website with information for both affected regulated businesses and UPAs. The ESS has sent several CERS notification mailings to affected regulated businesses within San Leandro including a mailing explaining the original $25 increase in the state surcharge fee and how it relates to CERS. The ESS continues to discuss upcoming CERS requirements during all inspections with business managers and continues to send post-inspection CERS resources outreach. A CERS web page, containing information about CERS and how to begin the process of online reporting, has been added to the City web site. The ESS is also planning on future mailings for scheduled county wide business training, as well as additional notifications as the deadline for electronic reporting nears.
Fiscal Impacts
The Cal/EPA CERS grant will provide initial startup funding in the amount of $45,810.00 with $11,452.50 (25% of grant allocation) available in advance, for unfunded mandate reimbursement, to implement an electronic data management system and UPA electronic reporting. In future annual regulated business billings, starting in January 2013, the additional $25 state surcharge fee will no longer be collected. Future funding for maintenance and operation of the system, would be developed by staff as a component of the single fee CUPA invoicing with City Council approval of component fees. The future funding is anticipated to commence in FY 2012-13. This allows staff adequate analysis time to integrate program costs into the overall CUPA single fee collection process.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
PREPARED BY: John Camp, Environmental Services Supervisor, Public Works Department