Supervisors approve revenue agreement with Gregory Canyon

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a revenue agreement with Gregory Canyon, Ltd., to monitor and enforce the conditions and requirements of its solid waste facility permit.

The 5-0 vote March 23 authorizes the director of the county’s Department of Environmental Health to enter into a revenue agreement with Gregory Canyon, Ltd., to fund the costs to the county of monitoring and enforcing implementation of and compliance with all conditions and requirements of the landfill’s solid waste facility permit, including mitigation measures adopted for the project. The revenue contract will expire 50 years after the effective date or 30 years after the completion of the regulatory process to close the landfill, whichever is later. The director of the Department of Environmental Health was also given the authority to execute amendments or revisions to the agreement, including extensions, which do not materially impact or alter the program or funding level. The supervisors’ approval also authorized the director of the county’s Department of Purchasing and Contracting to issue a request for proposals for consulting services on the Gregory Canyon Landfill Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program; upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price the director of the Department of Purchasing and Contracting is authorized to award a contract as needed to reflect changes in services and funding, although those changes will be subject to the approval of the director of the Department of Environmental Health.

The Department of Environmental Health has been designated as the solid waste local enforcement agency, which makes DEH responsible for regulatory oversight of all landfills in all areas of the county except for the City of San Diego. On December 15 the California Integrated Waste Management Board approved a Solid Waste Facility Permit for the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill, and on December 17 a solid waste facility permit was issued by DEH. The DEH permit does not in itself entitle Gregory Canyon, Ltd., to begin construction of the landfill, as permits will still be required from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use, the county’s Department of Public Works, and other Federal and state agencies. The DEH permit, however, gives DEH the responsibility for ensuring that Gregory Canyon, Ltd., complies with the permit, and the permit includes the state minimum standards for landfills, the joint technical document, and the Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program.

To pay for local enforcement agency standard regulatory costs, the landfill operator pays a permit fee. The permit fee for Gregory Canyon, which is classified as a municipal solid waste landfill permitted to receive no more than 5,000 tons per day, is $44,265 per year. In addition to performing standard regulatory duties, the lead enforcement agency is also the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act, and to ensure that more than 200 mitigation measures contained in the Environmental Impact Report will be enforced DEH has included them in the permit.

The permit requirements included that Gregory Canyon, Ltd, will be responsible for funding the costs and expenses of county staff and one or more contractors in excess of the costs normally incurred by a lead enforcement agency to regulate a solid waste landfill. The revenue agreement ensures that Gregory Canyon, Ltd., will fund the county’s costs. The full cost recovery agreement also covers contracting services charges from the Department of Purchasing and Contracting, County Counsel charges over and above normal overhead rates, and staff time from other county departments if required.

The revenue agreement also requires Gregory Canyon, Ltd., to defend and indemnify the county against claims associated with the county’s performance of activities related to the agreement and to provide security to support that indemnification.

The landfill permit length itself is for 30 years, which is the expected lifespan of the landfill, but post-closure activities such as site maintenance and landfill gas control can take more than 30 years to complete.

The contractor who will monitor the implementation and compliance of the permit, including the adopted mitigation measures, will be required to possess the technical expertise to review the biological, noise, and other reports required in the Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program. Gregory Canyon, Ltd., will be provided the opportunity to comment on proposed qualification and competition factors along with the proposed scope of services and estimated budget.

The revenue agreement also requires that if the landfill is sold or if title is transferred, the revenue agreement with Gregory Canyon, Ltd., must either be replaced with a new agreement to ensure that the new owner continues to make the required payments or be replaced with up-front funding. If acceptable agreements for the transfer of the agreement are not reached, the county can require Gregory Canyon, Ltd., to pre-pay all of the county’s estimated costs into a trust account before the landfill can be sold.

The monitoring and enforcement process will likely involve the addition of a new DEH staff member in the future, and the addition of a county staff member in subsequent fiscal years will be requested through the budget process.