HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.a.5) Handout-Add'l Written Announcementss a as)
Board Meeting of October 7, 2010
Additional Written Announcements
District Kudos
f) Sewer Overflows Decline
The number of sewer overflows in the District Collection System has been
declining over the past 7 years due to increased efforts in management,
inspection, cleaning, repair and renovation. The District tracks overflows on a
calendar year -to -date basis and a moving 12 -month basis. For the 2010 calendar
year through September 30, 2010, the number of overflows is 30. For
comparison, at this same time in 2008 and 2009, the year -to -date number of
overflows were 59 and 54 respectively.
As of September 30, 2010, the number of sewer overflows has declined to 39
overflows per year on a moving 12 -month basis. A year ago, the number of
overflows per year was 68. Another common metric for comparing the
effectiveness of sewer system management is the number of overflows per 100
miles of sewer. On this basis, the District overflow rate is 2.6 overflows per year
per 100 miles of sewer. The District participated in a statewide sewer
management benchmarking study during 2009. The results of this study were
that top - performing sewer agencies have sewer overflow rates of 3 overflows per
year per 100 miles of sewer or less.
for Information
g) Requests for Information from Department of Justice and
Contra Costa Grand Jury
The District has received two requests for information. The first, from the State
of California Department of Justice, asks for the name, position, base salary and
total compensation amount of any employee that exceeds $200,000. A copy of
the response to this request is at your place.
The second request is from the Contra Costa Grand Jury for information about
our unrestricted general reserves. Staff is responding to this request and will
provide a copy to the Board when completed.
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Legislative Updates
h) Update on Legislative Vetoes
On Thursday, September 30, 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed both
Assembly Bill 1987 and Senate Bill 1425, both identified as "Anti- Spiking"
legislation. In explaining his veto of AB 1987, the Governor cited the need for a
consistent standard that is transparent, understandable, and implementable
throughout the state. He stated that the bill would still allow pension spiking in
some instances which would not provide a consistent treatment of all employees.
His reasoning for vetoing SB 1425 is that it did not provide real pension reform.
In both cases, the Governor closed his explanation of the vetoes with the
statement that he is still hopeful that the Legislature will pass an acceptable bill
that really addresses California's pension problem.
The Governor also vetoed AB 194, a pension cap measure associated with the
City of Bell scandal. AB 194 would have capped compensation in calculating a
public employee's pension at 125% of the Governor's current salary, which is
$173,987. This bill was part of a package of six bills tied to the City of Bell that
would have limited salary increases, and require internet posting of local and
state elected and appointed officials salaries. The Governor rejected the package
declaring it was piecemeal and did not go far enough.
i) Incinerator Regulations Update
At the June 3, 2010 Board Meeting, staff reported that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) was in the process of evaluating whether to designate
sewage sludge that is incinerated a solid waste and was concurrently developing
emissions limits for the incinerators. The EPA has designated sewage sludge a
solid waste, which means that the District's incinerators will be regulated under
Section 129 of the Clean Air Act. On October 1, 2010, the EPA provided the
National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) with the pre - publication
version of the proposed rule for new regulations for incinerators. Stringent
standards were proposed and a preliminary evaluation indicates that the District
can meet the limits for 8 of the 10 compounds without major furnace
modifications. However, the District's hydrogen chloride (HCI) content is 20%
higher than the proposed standard and the Mercury (Hg) content is almost 3
times the proposed standard. If these limits are promulgated in early January
2011 as anticipated, the District could incur significant additional capital and
operational costs to meet the new standards. The anticipated compliance date is
late 2015.
Once the rule is released, the EPA will receive numerous comments and
depending upon how they respond, potentially numerous lawsuits.