|
Agenda Item
ASR
Control 16-001164 |
||
|
MEETING DATE: |
11/08/16 |
|
|
legal entity taking action: |
Board of Supervisors and Orange County Flood Control
District |
|
|
board of supervisors
district(s): |
All Districts |
|
|
SUBMITTING
Agency/Department: |
OC Public Works
(Approved) |
|
|
Department contact
person(s): |
Shane Silsby (714) 667-9700 |
|
|
|
Nardy Khan (714) 647-3906 |
|
Subject: Amendment to Agreement with
the United States Army Corps of Engineers
|
ceo CONCUR |
|
Clerk of the Board |
||||||||
|
Concur |
Approved Agreement to Form |
Discussion |
||||||||
|
|
|
3 Votes Board Majority |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Budgeted: Yes |
Current Year Cost:
$51,764 |
Annual Cost:
See Financial Impact Section |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Staffing Impact: |
No |
# of Positions:
|
Sole Source:
No |
|||||||
|
Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A
|
||||||||||
|
Prior Board Action: 1/29/2013
#32 |
||||||||||
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Approve Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Agreement between the Orange County Flood Control District, County of Orange and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increasing the monetary limit of the Agreement by $600,000, for a revised not-to-exceed amount of $1,000,000, commencing upon Board of Supervisors approval through September 30, 2022.
SUMMARY:
Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to streamline and accelerate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory permitting process and provide a more predictable time-line for obtaining permit authorizations in order to meet public needs through the delivery of priority flood, road, and maintenance projects.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On January 29, 2013, the Board of Supervisors (Board) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The MOA has allowed the Orange County Flood Control District (District) and the County of Orange (County) to provide funding to the Corps for the expedited regulatory review of the District's and the County's projects.
The regulatory requirements of the Clean Water Act Section 404 (Section 404) and Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10 (Section 10) govern many of the capital and maintenance projects implemented by OC Public Works, including flood control, road and bridge projects. Section 404 and Section 10 permits are administered by the Corps and are frequently the key approvals that determine the overall project schedule.
Due to an on-going deficiency in staffing levels at the Corps and a significant increase in regulatory analysis required by federal policy, the length of time needed to obtain federal approvals has been increasing. The large number of projects, combined with the Corps’ increased concern over water quality, endangered species, wetlands and new mitigation regulations have increased the Corps’ permit processing time. The result is a backlog of capital and maintenance projects awaiting regulatory permits.
Section 214 of the Federal Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000) authorized the Secretary of the Army to accept and expend funds contributed by a Non-Federal public entity for the expedited evaluation of permits related to a project or activity for a public purpose under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army. The current MOA, included as Attachment B, is set to expire on December 31, 2016, and sets forth the terms and conditions for the Corps to expedite the evaluation of regulatory permit applications and issuance of permits.
Pursuant to the MOA, funds provided by the District and the County are expended by the Corps to provide staffing resources, exclusively dedicated to expediting permit application processing services for designated District and County priority projects. The Corps has established a separate, internal financial account to track receipt and expenditure of funds associated with its review of the permit applications. Additionally, the Corps has provided a brief quarterly summary report of progress made and costs incurred under this MOA.
An amendment to the MOA is required to replenish funding and to extend the expiration date from December 31, 2016, to September 30, 2022. The original MOA, authorized funding in a not-to-exceed amount of $400,000. Payment to the Corps has been made in two payments of $200,000 each based on invoices from the Corps. Amendment No. 1 will increase the contribution of funds to the Corps from $400,000 to $1,000,000, increasing the MOA by $600,000. All other terms and conditions of the MOA remain the same. Each year this MOA remains in effect, the Corps has and will provide the District and the County with an anticipated cost invoice that provides an updated budget estimate of costs for the next Federal fiscal year. The District and the County will make annual lump sum payments to the Corps of the total amount specified in the anticipated cost invoice prior to the Corps incurring any expenditure to expedite permit evaluation-related activities. The Corps will carry-over any unobligated funds from year to year or will refund unobligated funds if the MOA is terminated or expires. Any party may terminate the MOA with 30 days' written notice.
Participation in the WRDA 2000, Section 214 Program has noticeably streamlined the permit process, accelerated resolution of endangered species issues and provided a more predictable timeline for obtaining permit authorizations. The benefit to the District and the County has been a decrease of backlogged projects and permit coordination. Turnaround times have been reduced by approximately 25% for complex projects and approximately 40% for basic projects.
Several of the recent projects that have benefited from the program include La Pata Avenue Gap Closure, Fullerton Creek (Beach to Dale), Newland Channel, Rossmoor Channel, Villa Park Dam Subdrain Modification, San Joaquin Channel and Edinger Bridge Replacement over Bolsa Chica Channel. Up-coming priority projects that would benefit from participation in this program are Lane Channel, Barranca Channel, Santa Ana-Delhi Channel, San Diego Creek Reach 1, East Garden Grove Wintersburg Channel (Warner to Goldenwest), multiple projects on Carbon Creek Channel and bridge repairs throughout the County.
Compliance with CEQA: This action is not a project within the meaning of CEQA Guideline, Section 15378 and is therefore not subject to CEQA, since it does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. The approval of this agenda item does not commit the County to a definite course of action in regard to a project since the amendment proposed herein is intended to expedite resource agency review and conditioning of future projects. The proposed activity is therefore not subject to CEQA. Any future action connected to this approval that constitutes a project will be reviewed for compliance with CEQA.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Appropriations and revenue for this MOA are included in the FY 2016-17 Approved Budget and will be included in the budgeting process for future years. The estimated funding source is anticipated to be Flood Fund: 90% and Road Fund 115: 10%. This funding source estimate is based on current programmed projects during the extension period.
Anticipated Annual Costs:
FY 2016-17 $51,764
FY 2017-18 $104,385
FY 2018-19 $104,385
FY 2019-20 $104,385
FY 2020-21 $104,385
FY 2021-22 $104,385
FY 2022-23 $26,311
The proposed MOA includes a provision stating the MOA is subject to, and contingent upon, applicable budgetary appropriations being approved by the Board for each fiscal year during the term of this MOA. If such appropriations are not approved, this MOA may be immediately terminated without penalty to the County.
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment A - Amendment No. 1 to Agreement No. D12-051
with the U.S. Army Corps
Attachment B - Agreement No. D12-051 with the U.S. Army Corps
Attachment C - Redline of Agreement No. D12-051
Attachment D - Contract Summary Form