AgdaPkt 2017-05-22 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager May 22, 2017 SUBJECT Approval of the Green Infrastructure Workplan to develop a Green Infrastructure Plan in Accordance with Provision C.3.j of the Municipal Regional Permit. RECOMMENDATION Adopt a Resolution approving the Green Infrastructure Workplan to develop a Green Infrastructure Plan in Accordance with Provision C.3.j of the Municipal Regional Permit BACKGROUND In November, 2015 the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) issued the second version of the Municipal Regional Stormwater National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which sets the requirements of stormwater discharges into receiving waters (such as creeks and the San Francisco Bay). As a co-permittee, the City is obligated to follow the guidelines of the NPDES permit to control stormwater discharge within City limits. Past iterations of the NPDES permit set standards for larger private developments to capture and treat stormwater runoff from new and replaced roofs, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces. This is done primarily through Low Impact Development (LID) design that emphasizes conservation and use of on-site natural features to protect water quality and promote ground water infiltration, although the NPDES permit does allow for mechanical treatment in areas that are high density and transit adjacent (like Downtown Redwood City). Many development projects have had to meet these requirements, and because of the guidelines of the permit the City has become obligated to certain reporting and inspection requirements to ensure the long-term maintenance of these site features. In this latest version of the permit, a new section was added for “Green Infrastructure” (GI). This new section requires that all permittees develop a GI Plan to meet the following goal: “Over the long term, the Plan is intended to describe how the Permittees will shift their impervious surfaces and storm drain infrastructure from gray, or traditional storm drain infrastructure where runoff flows directly into the storm drain and then the receiving water, to green—that is, to a more-resilient, sustainable system that slows runoff by dispersing it to vegetated areas, harvests and uses runoff, 6.3.D. - Page 1