Nevada will create new division, pay millions for storm-water runoff prevention

CARSON CITY — The cost of complying with an Environmental Protection Agency audit that found failures by the state Transportation Department in addressing storm water runoff issues is coming due at $10 million for 42 new agency positions, equipment and travel.

Another $3 million will be spent on storm water upgrades at 15 highway maintenance facilities and more training for agency staff to comply with provisions of the federal Clean Water Act.

In all, 68 positions will be established to deal with the storm water issue, state lawmakers were told in a budget hearing last week.

A new Environmental Division at the agency was proposed to the Legislature by Gov. Brian Sandoval in April after negotiations with the EPA and a consent decree allowing the state to avoid potential multimillion-dollar fines resulting from the audit findings. The agreement has not been finalized; the decree remains confidential.

Sandoval, who also leads the state Transportation Board, criticized the state agency in December for failing to adequately address the storm water issue.

Sandoval told Director Rudy Malfabon the agency failed to make the findings of the 2011 audit a priority despite knowing what needed to be done. The problems go back nearly a decade, he said.

“I am really frustrated with this situation,” he said. “I was under the impression that this was under control, and it wasn’t. We had a clear opportunity to make it right.

“This is no small thing,” Sandoval said. “This is tens of millions of dollars that we could be looking at in terms of enforcement. These are things we should have done a long time ago. I don’t know why there isn’t a sense of urgency on this EPA situation.”

In a site inspection of two facilities in Sparks and Lake Tahoe in November, EPA officials identified continuing problems, including the potential of dirty water runoff at the agency’s maintenance facility at Spooner Summit at Lake Tahoe that could have made its way into the Carson City Clear Creek watershed. A similar concern was identified at a parking lot at the Sparks facility that could affect the Truckee River.

A joint Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Subcommittee approved the new division last week. It still must win approval from both budget committees and the Legislature as a whole as part of Sandoval’s 2015-17 budget.

Rather than funding all 59 new positions as requested, the subcommittee signed off on 42 positions and directed the agency to reassign 17 vacant positions to the new division. Nine positions created by the department earlier to address storm water issues will bring the total to 68 in the new division.

Transportation Department Deputy Director Bill Hoffman said the new division is intended to help finalize the EPA consent decree. The Department of Motor Vehicles has projected $14.5 million more in gas taxes over the biennium than previously projected, which could help fund the new division, he said.

Hoffman said the EPA rules will require the agency to take a whole new approach to storm water runoff on state highways.

“When all is said and done, we will have to go out and GPS every single pipe, culvert, anything, maybe 50,000 statewide, and put them into a database,” he said.

Each feature will be assessed to ensure pollutants don’t make their way into waterways.

The EPA required the agency to obtain a permit for storm water management more than a decade ago, Hoffman said. The permit expires in July, and the state is seeking its renewal.

“We thought we were doing pretty good, lagging in some areas, maybe a little bit ahead in others,” he said.

But the EPA did not audit the agency’s program until 2011. The audit was provided to the agency in 2012, and it wasn’t clear that there would be an enforcement action until November 2014, Hoffman said.

“We do have a consent decree, but there are a lot of blanks that aren’t filled in,” he said. “So they are waiting to see what moves we make, and this is a huge one.”

Hoffman said he is concerned that not approving all 59 positions may not be well-received by the EPA, but Leo Drozdoff, administrator of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, told lawmakers their action on the position request should not impede a resolution with the federal agency.

“We think it should be fine,” he said.

Besides the new division, Senate Bill 324 would authorize the agency to impose civil penalties against polluters, including private parties.

Hoffman said the effort to comply with the act is huge. There will be public outreach and public education to ensure people properly dispose of pollutants.

The new division will ensure that the agency continues to focus on water quality issues and does not face further concerns from the EPA, Hoffman said.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.