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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-22-2011 Steering Committee Agenda Packet Wednesday, June 22, 2011 Orange County Sanitation District ,/ 5:00 P.M. Regular Meeting of the �� r y Administration Building Steering Committee ;� Conference Rooms A & B 10844 Ellis Avenue Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (714) 593-7130 AGENDA DECLARATION OF QUORUM: PUBLIC COMMENTS: If you wish to speak,please complete a Speaker's Form and give it to the Clerk of the Board. Speakers are requested to limit comments to three minutes. REPORTS: The Committee Chair and the General Manager may present verbal reports on miscellaneous matters of general interest to the Directors. These reports are for information only and require no action by the Directors. CONSENT CALENDAR: 1. Approve minutes of the May 25, 2011 Steering Committee meeting. ACTION ITEMS: 2. Authorize one year renewals to the following agreements for state and federal advocacy: A. Approve Amendment No. 3 to P.O. 103000 issued to Townsend Public Affairs for State Lobbying Services, Specification No. CS-2007-351 BD, in an amount not to exceed $7,500 per month, from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, and one one-year renewal option remaining; and, B. Approve Amendment No. 3 to P.O. 103001 issued to ENS Resources for Federal Lobbying Services, Specification No. CS-2007-35213D, in an amount not to exceed $7,500 per month, from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, and one one-year renewal option remaining. INFORMATION ITEMS: 3. Full Cost Recovery for Urban Runoff Flows 4. Public Affairs Report 06/22/11 Steering Committee Agenda Page 1 of 3 CLOSED SESSION: During the course of conducting the business set forth on this agenda as a regular meeting of the Board, the Chair may convene the Board in closed session to consider matters of pending real estate negotiations,pending or potential litigation, or personnel matters,pursuant to Government Code Sections 54956.8, 54956.9, 54957 or 54957.6, as noted. Reports relating to(a)purchase and sale of real property;(b)matters of pending or potential litigation;(c) employment actions or negotiations with employee representatives; or which are exempt from public disclosure under the California Public Records Act, may be reviewed by the Board during a permitted closed session and are not available for public inspection. At such time as the Board takes final action on any of these subjects, the minutes will reflect all required disclosures of information. Convene in closed session. (1) CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL RE. ANTICIPATED LITIGATION (Government Code Section 54956.9(b)) Significant Exposure to Litigation Number of Potential Cases: 2 A) Newport Trunk Sewer Project 5-58 Claims B) Project P1-102 Claims (2) CONFER WITH DISTRICT NEGOTIATORS (Government Code Section 54954.5(f)) ( Agency Designated Representatives: James D. Ruth, General Manager; Robert Ghirelli, Assistant General Manager; Jim Herberg, Assistant General Manager, Jeff Reed, Director of Human Resources; and, Richard Spencer, Human Resources Supervisor. ( Employee Organizations: International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501 and Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) (3) CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS (Government Code Section 54956.8) 046-400-016 320 acres 046-400-017 320 acres 046-400-018 240 acres 046-430-005 80 acres 046-430-006 80 acres 046-430-008 40 acres 046-430-015 80 acres 046-430-019 20 acres 046-430-038 308.15 acres 046-430-039 320 acres Negotiator(s): James D. Ruth, James Herberg, Lorenzo Tyner, Jim Colston Negotiating Parties: Francisco Rodriguez Under Negotiation: price and terms of payment Reconvene in regular session. 06/22/11 Steering Committee Agenda Page 2 of 3 Consideration of action, if any, on matters considered in closed session. OTHER BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATIONS OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA ITEMS, IF ANY: ADJOURNMENT: The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. Accommodations for the Disabled: Meeting Rooms are wheelchair accessible. If you require any special disability related accommodations, please contact the Orange County Sanitation District Clerk of the Board's office at(714)593- 7130 at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. Requests must specify the nature of the disability and the type of accommodation requested. Agenda Posting: In accordance with the requirements of California Government Code Section 54954.2,this agenda has been posted outside the main gate of the Sanitation District's Administration Building located at 10844 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley,California,not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting date and time above. All public records relating to each agenda item,including any public records distributed less than 72 hours prior to the meeting to all,or a majority of the Board of Directors, are available for public inspection in the office of the Clerk of the Board. NOTICE TO DIRECTORS: To place items on the agenda for the Committee Meeting, items must be submitted to the Clerk of the Board 14 days before the meeting. Maria E.Ayala Clerk of the Board (714)593-7130 mayala(@ocsd.com 06/22/11 Steering Committee Agenda Page 3 of 3 STEERING COMMITTEE Meeting Date To Bd. of Dir. 06/22/11 AGENDA REPORT Item Number Item Number 2 Orange County Sanitation District FROM: James D. Ruth, General Manager Originator: Michael Gold, Public Affairs SUBJECT: Renewal of Legislative Advocates' Contracts for 2011-12 GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION Authorize one year renewals to the following agreements for state and federal advocacy: A) Approve Amendment No. 3 to P.O. 103000 issued to Townsend Public Affairs for State Lobbying Services, Specification No. CS-2007-351 BD, in an amount not to exceed $7,500 per month, from July 1 , 2011 through June 30, 2012, and one one- year renewal option remaining; and, B) Approve Amendment No. 3 to P.O. 103001 issued to ENS Resources for Federal Lobbying Services, Specification No. CS-2007-352BD, in an amount not to exceed $7,500 per month, from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, and one one-year renewal option remaining SUMMARY Staff recommends that the Steering Committee approve the agreements with Townsend Public Affairs and ENS Resources for one year (from July 1 , 2011 to June 30, 2012) because both firms have performed satisfactorily during the last contract period. PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS June 23, 2010 — Steering Committee approved Amendment No. 2 to the agreements for Townsend Public Affairs and ENS Resources extended their agreements through June 30, 2011. May 20, 2009 — Steering Committee approved Amendment No. 1 to the agreements for Townsend Public Affairs and ENS Resources extended their agreements through June 30, 2010. October 24, 2007 — Board of Directors approved five-year agreements with state and federal legislative advocates and approved four one-year renewals at the discretion of the Steering Committee. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION In 2007, the Steering Committee directed staff to issue RFPs for legislative advocacy services at both the state and federal levels and align the lobbyist contracts with the fiscal year. In October 2007, the Steering Committee and Board of Directors approved five-year agreements with Townsend Public Affairs and ENS Resources and stipulated that the agreements would be annual, granting discretion to the Steering Committee for renewal. The original agreements started on January 1 , 2008 and ran through June 30, 2009. The current agreements expire on June 30, 2011. Accomplishments over the past year Since these contracts were originally approved in 2007, there have been some significant accomplishments with the legislative program. In addition to the greater level of communication between District directors, staff and legislative advocates, there has been a more clearly defined set of goals, increased focus on key matters and stronger relationships with legislators and their staff. Other accomplishments over the past year include: ( Regular meetings and phone calls with advocates; ( Advocacy work on behalf of OCSD in Sacramento on the State Budget; ( District meetings with all Sacramento legislative staff on property tax impacts to OCSD; ( Meetings in Sacramento with Legislators and staff; ( Defeat of key bills in Sacramento in 2010 and 2011, including work on some priority bills, such as AB 457 and SB 900; Up-to-date information on the State Budget in Sacramento; ( Successful advocacy trips to Washington, D.C.; Closeout of the EPA grant that brought $2 million to OCSD for secondary treatment upgrades; ( Assistance with the Proposition 84 grant through SAWPA that netted $1 million for OCSD secondary treatment upgrades; and ( Clarification of the SARI authorization with the Army Corps of Engineers. Since the first agreements began in 2008, OCSD has spent a total of $670,000 on legislative advocacy services and we have received $1 .3 million in State and Federal Grants. STEERING COMMITTEE Meeting Date To Bd. of Dir. 06/22/11 AGENDA REPORT Item Number Item Number 3 Orange County Sanitation District FROM: James D. Ruth, General Manager Originator: Jim Herberg, Assistant General Manager SUBJECT: FULL COST RECOVERY FOR URBAN RUNOFF FLOWS GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION Information Only Item SUMMARY In September 2000, the Orange County Sanitation District (Sanitation District) Board of Directors adopted a dry weather urban runoff policy to assist in remediation of the public health and environmental problems associated with urban runoff. The original resolution and its subsequent amendment, (Resolution No. 01-07), initially waived all fees and charges associated with the urban runoff discharges for flows below 4 MGD. The resolution also established a maximum aggregate urban runoff flow volume of 10 MGD. Once the monthly average flow reached the 4 MGD threshold, the permittees were to begin paying for the entire flow volume. To date, the aggregate flow volume has not reached this level, with monthly averages ranging between 500,000 and 2.5 MGD. In the November 2010 Strategic Plan, the Sanitation District established a goal to conduct a comprehensive review of our urban runoff diversion program and ensure a fair share recovery of costs for services. The cost of urban runoff treatment is currently serviced from the Sanitation District funds which originate primarily through the sanitary sewer service charges collected on a homeowner's property tax bill. The annual share of urban runoff treatment costs per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) for 2010-11 is $0.59 based on 924,628 units. Planned rate increases raise this share to $0.78 per EDU by 2012-13. Staff has reviewed the program and developed alternative mechanisms for fair and equitable cost recovery. Staff is proposing that the Board of Directors consider this issue as part of the Strategic Plan update workshop to be held later this year. PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS November 2010 - Adopted the updated Strategic Plan which included a new goal, the full-cost recovery for the urban runoff flows (Appendix A). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION During the past 11 years, the Sanitation District has treated a total of 5.8 trillion gallons of urban runoff from the City of Huntington Beach, Orange County Public Works, City of Page 1 of 2 Newport Beach, Irvine Ranch Water District, and The Irvine Company. The accumulative treatment cost has exceeded $4 million during this period. At present, there are 19 diversion systems discharging dry weather urban runoff into the Sanitation District's sewerage system. The Sanitation District will continue to receive between 500 and 700 million gallons per year if current discharge trends remain unchanged and no new diversion systems are added. The Sanitation District's urban runoff treatment cost for 2009-2010 was $544,000 based upon a reported discharge flow of 456 million gallons. These treatment costs are projected to increase steadily to $722,000 for 2012- 2013 if present diversion flows remain level. Staff has considered three options for funding urban runoff collection and treatment: 1. Maintain Status Quo: The Sanitation District will continue to absorb the cost to collect, treat, and properly dispose of urban runoff until the 4 MGD threshold is exceeded. 2. Charge All Permittees: Commencing in 2013, the Sanitation District will charge existing and new permittees for the treatment and disposal of urban runoff. 3. Charge the County of Orange on Behalf of All Permit Holders: The Sanitation District would begin to charge the County of Orange for the treatment and disposal of the entire urban runoff flow commencing with the 2013 fiscal year. As the lead agency/permittee of the Municipal Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) NPDES Permit, the County of Orange could assume the entire cost burden for all of the urban runoff flows on behalf of the member cities. It is expected that the County of Orange could set up a mechanism to recover costs from each of its designated co-permittees (all cities within Orange County) in an equitable manner. Proceeding with this initiative will require: ( Revising the Sanitation District's current Urban Runoff Policy (Resolution No. 01-07) to include provisions for levying the permit fee and various charges. ( Revising four agreements with the authorized dischargers of urban runoff (Orange County Flood Control District, City of Huntington Beach, Irvine Ranch Water District, and The Irvine Company) to reference the Sanitation District's revised Urban Runoff Policy. ( Amending the Sanitation District's Fee Ordinance to reflect the Urban Runoff User Charges. ( Communication with all Orange County stakeholders including County of Orange, Orange County Public Works, Orange County Flood Control District, City of Huntington Beach, City of Newport Beach, Irvine Ranch Water District, The Irvine Company, the County of Orange Stormwater Technical Advisory Committee, Orange County Health Care Agency, Regional Water Quality Control Board, and environmental groups (CoastKeepers and SurfRider Foundation). Page 2 of 2 CEQA N/A BUDGET/DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY COMPLIANCE N/A JDH:gc Page 3 of 2 STEERING COMMITTEE Meeting Date To Bd.of Dir. 06/22/2011 AGENDA REPORT Item Number Item Number 4 Orange County Sanitation District FROM: James D. Ruth, General Manager Originator: Michael Gold, Public Affairs Manager SUBJECT: Public Affairs update GENERAL MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION Information Only SUMMARY This report is the monthly Public Affairs Division update that includes legislative and political information from Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, lobbyists' activities, and outreach education and communication programs to member cities, employees and the public. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Public Affairs Update Responding the Grand Jury On Friday, June 10, the Orange County Grand Jury released a report discussing compensation for water and sanitation districts. The main findings of the report focused on providing timely and accessible information to the public. Immediately, staff posted a response on our website and via Facebook and Twitter: "The Orange County Sanitation agrees whole heartily with the Grand Jury that transparency is crucial. That is why we made a commitment over 10 years ago to redesign our Website and make information readily available and easy to find for the public, regulators, and businesses. Since then we have two additional Website redesigns and will be launching a new site in the next few months that will incorporate social media tools to further broaden our reach. For the past decade, you could find reports, studies, laboratory data, salaries, all agendas and minutes, annual reports and many other documents. In addition, we have contact information and emails for staff to answer additional questions or provide assistance. An "e-notify" system is also available. By signing up, the public can be notified by email when new agendas, minutes, or other reports are posted. Over the past year, we extended our outreach with the use of Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Our community outreach program includes tours for the public. Over 2,000 people have toured out plant this year alone, close to 14,000 during the past 10 years (during 2 of Page 1 of 6 those years we gave limited tours due to construction.) We encourage you to visit us on our Website, like us on Facebook, follow our Tweets, watch our videos on YouTube and especially visit us on a tour." On Monday June 13, staff posted information showing how easy it is to access agendas and other important documents and we highlighted how our Board of Directors is the lowest paid among special districts in Orange County. A record year for tours With the school year over, the bulk of our tours are past and while we still have plenty of tours scheduled this year, 2010-11 was a record year in terms of the number of people visiting OCSD to tour our facilities. Over 2100 people and 130 groups toured Plant 1 . The majority of people coming are students. New email newsletter launched In June, the Public Affairs team launched a new electronic newsletter that will be sent monthly to a broad group of people, including legislators, environmental and community groups and others. All Board Members should have received copies, too. We have a list of about 730 people that received the newsletter. Please feel free to forward this to friends and colleagues using the "forward" feature at the bottom of the newsletter. The first issue focused on how OCSD is spending tax payer dollars wisely and all the changes we have made in the past five years to operate more efficiently. OCSD photo featured in Fountain Valley Life The latest issue of Fountain Valley Life featured a sunset shot of digesters at Plant 1. The featured photo was taken by an OCSD employee and the magazine liked it so much they used it on one of their spreads. Federal Legislative Update Legislative Advocate: Eric Sapirstein, ENS Resources Congress returned to work following a Memorial Day recess with an aim to address the debt ceiling increase. The Senate was forced to vote on the House-passed "Ryan budget resolution" but they failed to get sixty votes. The failure of the House budget resolution imposed a reality on both the House and Senate leadership that the only way to conclude the debate on the fiscal year 2012 spending levels is through an agreement between the Administration, House and Senate leadership in discussions being moderated by the Vice President. Any resolution would probably incorporate a debt ceiling increase along with budget cuts outlined for the next ten years and must be reached by mid-July to meet the August 2 deadline of defaulting on current debt. The contention in Congress continues to feed speculation that they will be unable to reach agreement on a budget (by October 1), so the most likely outcome will probably be another continuing resolution for the short-term. Page 2 of 6 OCSD heads to Washington June 15-16 the Chair and Vice-chair travelled to Washington to meet with members of Congress and the Department of Energy. We were very fortunate to have lunch with Senator Feinstein and meet directly with Congressman Miller and Representative Sanchez. We used the opportunity to discuss the status of a few high profile projects, including the SARI relocation and invite Members to the Hydrogen Fuel Cell opening August. We also talked about the income rule and the changes OCSD and CASA are pushing to modify how California interprets this rule, making it easier for people to serve on Regional Water Quality Control Boards. Current rules are very restrictive and make it difficult to find qualified candidates. In total, we had 12 meetings over the one and one-half days. Chemical security and vulnerability assessments Efforts to renew the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program formally moved to the House floor when the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up an extension of the program (H.R. 908). This markup was punctuated by a series of amendments to impose new federal mandates on POTWs. The amendments that would have required POTWs to comply with Department of Homeland Security rules governing vulnerability assessments and security upgrades were defeated to allow USEPA to govern compliance, ensuring that the priority to provide water quality services is maintained. Additionally, the efforts to impose Inherently Safer Technologies or IST were also rejected as an unreasonable mandate that could conflict with existing regulations to protect water quality. OCSD's position on these issues is consistent with the actions taken by Congress. Conflict of interest and appointments to water boards OCSD and CASA continue to gain traction over how California interprets Federal rules on who can serve on Regional Water Boards. A joint letter signed by CASA, ACWA, NACWA and others called on Congress to reexamine these rules. The key point is that candidates in California (and three other states) cannot serve on a Regional Water Board if they receive more than 10 percent of their income from an NPDES permit holder. A coalition of groups is proposing that rather than use income, Board Members simply disclose conflicts and not vote in those instances. OCSD took the lead on this issue in March and as a result of our meetings and discussions (using our local example), we are gaining momentum. Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) According to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure staff and members of the committee, prospects for a WRDA bill continue but Congress may not act until late summer. The recent flooding in the South and Midwest called attention to the need for adequate infrastructure but the biggest challenge will be funding. Page 3 of 6 In the Senate, the Committee on Environment and Public Works continues to consider a rewrite of WRDA, but the actual language has not been made available. Staff maintains that a rewrite is a priority but will occur after they complete a highway bill. Waters of the U.S. definition USEPA is accepting public comments on its policy guidance governing the interpretation of the Clean Water Act's regulation of waters. As a result of OCSD and others' comments, the guidance maintains the critical waste treatment system exemption ensuring any manmade treatment facility that is integral to a treatment works is not required to secure additional permits. We anticipate that USEPA will finalize the guidance document later this summer. State Legislative Report Legislative Advocates: Christopher Townsend, Heather Dion and Casey Elliott, Townsend Public Affairs State Political Highlights The Legislature is supposed to pass a balanced budget by June 15 but progress has been slow and it is unlikely they will accomplish anything by that time. The Governor has indicated that he is very close to a deal with several Republican members, saying they are in agreement over pension and regulatory reforms that would be placed on the ballot. However, there is disagreement over "linking" of the reform measures with the tax extensions. Democrats want all the measures linked so they want all or nothing at all, while Republicans want separate ballot measures. It does not appear that the Governor has the two Republican votes in each House for the tax extensions. Brown's proposal calls for extending the tax until the people vote in September but Republicans continue to press for further budget reductions. Here are some things to watch: ( If the budget is not approved by June 15, the Controller has stated he would withhold salaries for legislators pursuant to Proposition 25 (2010). While some have argued the budget measures already approved by the Legislature fulfill their obligation under the law to receive compensation, the Controller has said he is not satisfied with the actions to date. Withholding of legislators' pay could provide needed incentive for action. ( On Friday, June 10, the Citizens Redistricting Commission released their draft maps of legislative districts based on the 2010 Census. The uncertainty regarding some of the districts, and the impacts of the newly-drawn districts, may have the effect of changing some legislators' position on taxes and spending. ( A measure by Senator Steinberg to allow local governments to put tax measures before the voters has been placed into a budget trailer bill and Steinberg says he will drop the bill if they reach a budget deal. Business groups and Republicans take this bill as a threat and are watching carefully. Page 4 of 6 Redevelopment agencies Assembly Member Luis Alejo amended his Assembly Bill 1250 with the compromise language from Senator Rod Wright's bill that was held in committee last month. His bill included some revisions to address constitutionality issues. Alejo's bill includes a number of Democratic coauthors in an effort to gain the support of the Speaker to move the bill along. The author continues to solicit coauthors for the bill. There is a "two-bill" elimination proposal that has recently come up in the Legislature but some Democrats oppose the approach: ( Bill 1 would eliminate redevelopment agencies as of a specific date, most likely prior to the end of 2011. This bill is no different from the Governor's elimination proposal. ( Bill 2 would exempt any redevelopment agency from elimination if they make specified payments to schools. Redevelopment agencies that make payments will pay a large amount the first year and an ongoing amount every year thereafter. The first year amount would likely equal the $1.7 billion that has been "scored" in the budget as coming from redevelopment. Perhaps feeling confident there are the necessary votes for elimination, or maybe bolstered by the legislative efforts with the "two-bill" proposal, the Governor's Office has drawn a much firmer line on the redevelopment issue than in the past. Another rumor that is floating around on this subject is that the Governor may drop the redevelopment proposal altogether from the budget, take the $1.7 billion in cuts from other programs, and pledge to take the proposal back up immediately after the budget is signed. This strategy would incite the constituencies of the programs that have to absorb the additional cuts and cause political backlash for Democrats. State Legislative outreach ( Staff and TPA continue to meet with legislators and their staff discussing key bills and the impact of a property tax shift. To date, we have met with: o Senator Correa o Senator Harman o Senator Huff o Assemblyman Mansoor o Assemblyman Miller o Assemblyman Norby o Assemblyman Silva o Assemblyman Wagner PRIOR COMMITTEE/BOARD ACTIONS N/A ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Attachments: OCSD Bill Matrix SB 293 Opposition Letter Page 5 of 6 CEQA N/A BUDGET / DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY COMPLIANCE N/A Page 6 of 6 OCSD Legislative Bill Tracking-2011 Bill Number Author Summary OCSD Position Notes Status AB 213 Silva Requires State Agencies to notice"interested Support Suspense file parties"of proposed actions on rules and regulations. AB 262 Harkey Revises the boundaries of the Santa Ana Watch Two-year bill Regional Water Quality Control Board to include south Orange County. AB 457 Wagner Allows bidders of public contract work to Oppose Offering amendments for Two-year bill recover full attorney's costs for challenging reciprocity an award if their bid is determined to be invalid due to errors or omissions of the agency. AB 512 Gordon This bill would expand the definition of an Support Passed Assembly in Senate Energy eligible renewable generating facility to Committee include facilities that have a generating capacity of no more than 5 megawatts to allow bill credits for generating renewable energy. AB 646 Atkins Changes exsiting law so that during labor Oppose Passed Assembly in Senate Public negotations,agencies are no longer allowed Employment and Retirement to declare an impasse and impose a contract. Instead,the agency must appoint a mediator to recommend a settlement. AB 741 Huffman Allows the creation of voluntary assessment Support This bill is sponsored by IRWD In Senate Governance and districts to finance the cost of converting Finance septic to sewer,connecting to a community system and replacing damaged sewer laterals. AB 1178 Ma This bill seeks to clarify existing law to Support In Senate Environmental Quality prohibit discriminatory restrictions on the disposal of solid waste based on its place of origin. AB 1354 Huber Eliminates the 5%retention requirements for Oppose Two-year bill public work contracts and prohibits any contract retention amount. MD Legislative Bill Tracking-2011 Bill Number Author Summary OCSD Position Notes Status SB 482 Kehoe Shifts the responsbility of beach testing from Oppose Passed Senate held at Assembly th Department of Public Health to the State Desk(pending assignment) Water Resources Control Board and allows the Board to levy fees on wastewater treatment agencies to pay for administration of the program. SB 293 Padilla Changes the withholding provisions in public Oppose In Assembly Business and works contracts,lowering the threshold from Professioans 10%to 5% SB 771 Kehoe This bill expands the energy sources that are Support Passed Senate held at Assembly eligible to receive funds through the Desk(pending assignment) Renewable Resources Trust Fund to include digester gas and waste gas to fuel cell power generation.This bill changes the current definition of eligible renewable energy to include digester or other gasses from wastewater treatment. SB 900 Steinberg Support Consistent with our efforts at the Passed Senate held at Assembly Provides that a person would not be federal level to change the 10 Desk(pending assignment) disqualified from being a member of a percent income rule. RWQCB if they receive,or a significant portiontheir income from a person subject to waste discharge requirements,or an applicant for waste discharge requirements, that govern discharges not within the jurisdiction of that RWQCB. MD Legislative Bill Tracking-2011 Bill Number Author Summary OCSD Position Notes Status Bell-related Bills AB 162 Smyth Requires that if an independent audit reveals irregularities,the findings are sent to the State Controller. AB 187 Lara Authorizes the Controller to establish a high- risk audit program to identify agencies the State Auditor views as being at risk of waste, fraud or abuse. AB 229 Lara Requires the Controller to receive all audits within 9 months of preparation and directs the Controller to develop a plan to review all local agency audits. AB 253 Smyth Requires the Controller to develop guidelines for local government audits based on input from a specified group of city officials AB 1287 Buchanan Requires all agencies to comply with GAO standards for audits and requires auditors to complete a GAO quality control review. AB 1344 Feuer Prohbits employment contracts from having automatic renewal clauses or automatic Watch increases in excess of cost-of-living adjustments.Also,this bill requires all meetings be noticed on an agency's website (if they have one). SB 46 Correa Requires all public officials to file statements of economic interest and these statements to be filed on the public agency's website. SB 186 Kehoe Give the State Controller discretion to audit or investigate any local agency to ensure compliance with laws,ordinances and grant agreements and allows the Controller to charge the agency for the cost of the investigation. OCSD Legislative Bill Tracking-2011 Bill Number Author Summary MD Position Notes Status SB 449 Pavley Authorizes the Controller to conduct reviews of local agencies finances to determine if there may be problems and develop a committee of officials to assist agencies with finanical problems(upon request). O�J�tr SANIT ORANGE COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT V N� ? We protect public health and the environment by providing effective wastewater collection,treatment,and recycling. h FCl/N6 THE EN�`Po� June 8, 2011 Senator Alex Padilla California State Senate State Capitol, Room 4038 Sacramento, CA 95814 Serving RE: SB 293 (Padilla): Notice of Opposition Anaheim Dear Senator Padilla: Brea Buena Park On behalf of the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD), I would like to express Cypress our opposition to Senate Bill 293 (Padilla). Fountain Valley After reviewing the amended text of SB 293, we must oppose lowering the retention Fullerton proceeds for contracted work because it has negative consequences for public Gordan Grove agencies like ours. Huntington Beach OCSD currently uses the retention proceeds to expedite contract work by including Irvine an incentive lowering the retention from 10 percent to 5 percent when more than half the work is done. This bill eliminates the incentive. Moreover, when the work of La Habra a contractor or subcontractor results in liquidated damages the retention can be La Palma used to cover those costs, ensuring public dollars are being spent wisely. Los Alamitos I urge you to retain current contracting law to provide necessary checks and Newport Beach incentives for public works projects. Once again, Orange County Sanitation District Orange respectfully opposes this legislation. If you have any questions, or need additional information please contact Michael Gold, Public Affairs Manager at (714) 593-7529 Placentia or mgold(&-ocsd.com. Santa Ana Seal Beach Sincerely, Stanton Tustin �4j-eld Villa Park Yorba Linda Larry R. andall Costs Mesa Chair, Board of Directors Sanitary District Midway City Cc: James D. Ruth, General Manager Sanitary District Townsend Public Affairs Irvine Ranch Water District County of Orange 10844 Ellis Avenue • Fountain Valley,CA 92708-7018 (714)962-2411 www.ocsd.com