City of los angeles general plan

_________________________________________________________________

CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-48

land forms and scenic features and in making scenic features accessible

to the public.

Continuing issues:

N

 Loss of natural features of the terrain, especially in mountain and

hillside areas.

N

 Loss of scenic features.

N

 Loss of visual or physical accessibility to view corridors, scenic

features and areas.

Land form and scenic vistas objective, policy and programs:

Objective: protect and reinforce natural and scenic vistas as

irreplaceable resources and for the aesthetic enjoyment of present and

future generations.

Policy: continue to encourage and/or require property owners to develop

their properties in a manner that will, to the greatest extent

practical, retain significant existing land forms (e.g., ridge lines,

bluffs, unique geologic features) and unique scenic features (historic,

ocean, mountains, unique natural features) and/or make possible public

view or other access to unique features or scenic views.

Program 1: permit processing, enforcement and periodic revision,

especially environmental review, grading, large lot zoning,

clustering of structures, building height limits and other project

design and construction methods for protecting natural terrain and

features and protecting public view access.

Responsibility: departments of *Building and Safety, *City

Planning and *Public Works and other agencies involved in

city development permit review and/or processing.

Program 2: planning and construction of roads, utilities and other

public projects, especially projects that are within or impact

natural terrain and/or scenic areas.

Responsibility: *Bureau of Engineering and/or the *agency

that owns or manages the land and/or is responsible for

project implementation.

For related information see:

---

_________________________________________________________________

CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-49

N

 "Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources Element," Los Angeles

City General Plan (to be prepared) and

N

 "Transportation Element" (scenic highway provisions), Los Angeles

City General Plan, Los Angeles Department of City Planning, 1999.

SECTION 16: OCEAN

The Pacific Ocean bounds portions of the city to the west (Santa Monica

Bay) and South (San Pedro Bay). The San Pedro Bay contains the Long

Beach and Los Angeles harbors. The bays are rich in plant and animal

life. They and their associated beaches are among the most important

recreational and tourist resources in the region. Commercial and

recreational fishing also occur in the bays, especially in the Santa

Monica Bay. Damage to the ecology of the bays has a direct effect on

the environment and the economy of the city and region. Many factors

affect the local marine ecology including natural storm runoff, waste

discharge and construction of harbor, flood control and other

structures.

Ocean protection. The state has jurisdiction over waters, tidelands and

off-shore lands to a point three miles from shore. The federal

government has jurisdiction over lands and waters that lie beyond the

three-mile limit. The city has land management jurisdiction on shore

and is responsible for managing discharges into the ocean from land

based sources and systems.

Clean Water Act/NPDES permits. The primary legislation affecting water

quality, including the quality of ocean waters, is the federal Clean

Water Act. It was amended in 1972 to establish regulations and

requirements for implementation by state and local governments "to

restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity

of the nation's water" (Pollution Control Act, Section 101). The

amendments made it unlawful to discharge waterborne pollutants into any

navigable waters of the United States from any point source, except as

allowed by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

permit. A "point source" is any identifiable source of discharge, such

as a sewage discharge or a leaking pipe or storage container.

"Navigable waters" relative to the city means the Pacific Ocean and the

Los Angeles River. A "non-point" source is water runoff that contains

pollutants from a source that is not readily identifiable, e.g.,

pollutants that accumulate on streets.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues interpretive

guidelines for implementation of the Clean Water Act. The regulatory

mechanism for compliance with the guidelines are the NPDES permits

which must be filed by local jurisdictions. The state Water Resources

---

_________________________________________________________________

CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-50

Control Board administers the Clean Water Act in California. It

delegates authority to regional water quality control boards. The Los

Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) administers the

Los Angeles county NPDES permits.

The Clean Water Act was amended (1987) to require reduction in the

discharge of pollutants into the stormwater system. However, the EPA,

recognizing the difficulty in assessing non-point source pollution and

the need for further study, postponed compliance by Los Angeles county

with stormwater runoff requirements.

Point pollution sources. The major city controlled point source was

identified as wastewater and sludge (waste solids) discharge. The

primary source of sludge dumping in the Santa Monica Bay was the city's

Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

The Hyperion plant serves an area of 514 square miles, including 83

square miles of contractual area outside of the city's boundaries. It

is the largest wastewater treatment facility in the city. The plant

processes sludge from the Hyperion, Donald C. Tillman and Los Angeles-

Glendale wastewater treatment plants. The sludge is used to create

methane gas or is reduced to powder, both of which are used to create

electrical energy. It also is used for fertilizer for non-food crops,

landfill cover and other purposes. The ash produced during sludge

reprocessing is reused in copper smelting in Arizona. An outfall pipe

discharges treated wastewater five miles off shore.

In compliance with a federal ninth circuit court consent decree,

Hyperion stopped dumping sludge into the bay in 1987. By that time,

sludge from the plant had spread over an estimated two square mile area

of the ocean floor from several decades of dumping. Five years after

the dumping ceased, marine life was regenerating and pollution of

beaches had declined to almost no posting of health hazard warnings.

Full operation of the Hyperion energy recovery system sludge processing

facilities began in 1989. Interim effluent limits were instituted to

coincide with phased improvements at the plant. Full secondary

treatment was achieved by December 31, 1998, enabling the city to meet

the federal Clean Water Act standards. The plant can provide secondary

treatment for 450 million gallons of wastewater per day and its new

equipment has reduced the plant's air polluting emissions by 80

percent. Facilities are being constructed to expand plant capacity to

meet the city's projected wastewater treatment needs to the year 2010.

The first Los Angeles County municipal NPDES permit was approved by the

RWQCB in 1990. It was a five-year permit requiring specific compliance

with point source pollution measures. The Hyperion, Donald C. Tillman

and Los Angeles-Glendale wastewater treatment plants were major point

---