REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Discussion and Possible Action Regarding the City's Long Term Trash Reduction Plan and Determination that Project is Exempt from CEQA
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
Trash in local waterways and in the marine environment degrades water quality, is harmful to wildlife, and is a growing concern for cities and among environmental groups and regulators. There are numerous paths by which litter can make its way to local waterways, out to the San Francisco Bay, and to the Pacific Ocean. The most common ways discarded items can reach waterways is by being directly deposited, blown by wind, or carried by rain water off streets and through the storm sewer system. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board through the City's Municipal Regional Stormwater National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (Order R2 2009 0074) (Stormwater Permit) has set aggressive goals for local communities to significantly reduce the impact of litter in the environment. The Stormwater Permit specifies actions necessary to reduce the discharge of pollutants, including trash, into the municipal storm sewer system to protect local creeks and the Bay, and establishes targets for all permittees to reduce trash loading from the storm sewer system by 40 percent by 2014, 70 percent by 2017, and "100" percent or virtually eliminate the impact of litter by 2022. Specifically, the Stormwater Permit requires the City to submit, by February 1, 2014, a Long-Term Trash Load Reduction Plan (Long Term Plan) documenting how the City intends to meet the 2017 and 2022 trash reduction goals. This report provides an overview of the requirements, assessment of city-wide trash generating patterns, review of potential trash reduction actions, proposed methods for assessing the effectiveness of reduction actions, and the draft Long Term Trash Reduction Plan for the City Council's discussion and consideration.
BACKGROUND
Sunnyvale strives to be a clean and...
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