2014-069 - Final Environmental Impact Report No. 2014-01

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HARBOR BLVD. MIXED USE TRANSIT CORRIDOR PLAN FINAL FIR CITY OF SANTA ANA 5. Environmental Analysis HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY works (POTWs), discharges from industrial facilities, and discharges associated with urban runoff While the NPDES program addresses certain specific types of agricultural activities, the majority of agricultural facilities are defined as nonpoint sources and are exempt from NPDES regulation. Pollutant contributors come from direct and indirect sources. Direct sources discharge directly to receiving waters, whereas indirect sources discharge to POTWs, which in turn discharge to receiving waters. Under the national program, NPDES permits are issued only to direct point source discharges. The National Pretreatment Program addresses industrial and commercial indirect dischargers. Municipal sources are POTWs that receive primarily domestic sewage from residential and commercial customers. Specific NPDES program areas applicable to municipal sources are the National Pretreatment Program, the Municipal Sewage Sludge Program, Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), and the Municipal Storm Water Program. Nonmunicipal sources include industrial and commercial facilities. Specific NPDES program areas applicable to these industrial /commercial sources are: Process Wastewater Discharges, Non - Process Wastewater Discharges, and the Industrial Storm Water Program. NPDES issues two basic permit types: individual and general. Also, the EPA has recently focused on integrating the NPDES program further into watershed planning and permitting (USEPA 2004). The NPDES has a variety of measures designed to minimize and reduce pollutant discharges. All counties with storm drain systems that serve a population of 50,000 or more, as well construction sites one acre or more in size, must file for and obtain an NPDES permit. Another measure for minimizing and reducing pollutant discharges to a publicly owned conveyance or system of conveyances (including roadways, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man -made channels and storm drains, designed or used for collecting and conveying stormwater) is the EPAs Storm Water Phase II Final Rule. The Phase II Final Rule requires an operator (such as a city) of a regulated small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) to develop, implement, and enforce a program (e.g., best management practices [BMPs], ordinances, or other regulatory mechanisms) to reduce pollutants in post construction runoff to the City's storm drain system from new development and redevelopment projects that result in the land disturbance of greater than or equal to one acre. The City of Santa Ana Public Works Agency is the local enforcing agency of the MS4 NPDES permit. National Flood Insurance Program The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 mandate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to evaluate flood hazards. FEMA provides Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMS) for local and regional planners to promote sound land use and floodplam development, identifying potential flood areas based on the current conditions. To delineate a FIRM, FEMA conducts engineering studies referred to as Flood Insurance Studies (FISs). The most recent FIS and FIRM was completed and published for Santa Ana on December 3, 2009. Using information gathered in these studies, FEMA engineers and cartographers delineate Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) on FIRMS. The Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA) requires owners of all structures in identified SFHAs to purchase and maintain flood insurance as a condition of receiving federal or federally related financial assistance, such as mortgage loans from federally insured lending institutions. Community members within designated areas are able to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) afforded by FEMA. The NEW is required to offer federally subsidized flood insurance to property owners in those communities that adopt and enforce floodplam management ordinances that meet minimum criteria established by FEMA. The Page 5.7 -2 PlaceWorkr