Assembly Bill Would End O.C. Sewage Waiver

A bill that would block the Orange County Sanitation District from dumping partially treated waste into the ocean cleared the state Assembly on Thursday but faces a showdown in the Senate that will likely center on the issue of local control.

Assemblyman Ken Maddox’s (R-Garden Grove) AB 1969 would require that all waste water discharged by the sanitation district into the ocean receive at least secondary treatment as required by federal law.

The bill is aimed at ending a situation in which the Orange County district is allowed to dump some sewage into the ocean that is treated at a less thorough level than what is required by most other waste water agencies. The federal waiver that allows it expires next year.

The sanitation district hasn’t decided whether to seek an extension for the waiver. But seven cities have come out against an extension, fearing the sewage is polluting the ocean.

Republican Sen. Bruce McPherson (R-Santa Cruz), who is on the state senate’s committee for environmental quality, said he is inclined to support the bill. “It’s an identifiable problem that needs to be corrected,” McPherson said.

But Brian Brady, president of the Irvine Ranch Water District board and a member of the sanitation district, fears the legislation would usurp the authority of Orange County officials.

“I don’t like [the bill] at all,” said Brady, who opposes the waiver extension. “Good government should be local control; otherwise, why not have the state do everything for us?”

The sanitation district said that it would have to build a $435-million facility to handle the additional waste water treatment if the waiver is not renewed. Those costs could add anywhere from $17 to $50 per year to a household’s sewage bill, Brady said.

The district’s board is also considering a nonbinding ballot measure in November that would ask voters whether the agency should seek an extension. Maddox said he believes the bill will sail through the Senate’s environmental quality committee and has a good chance of passing the full Senate.

Orange County environmental activist Jan Vandersloot called the bill’s passage in the Assembly on a 61-8 vote a “major victory.”

“It means the state is recognizing our plight and that the sewage off our coast needs to be treated to full secondary treatment,” she said.