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Pleasant Hill votes to join regional stormwater compliance JPA to meet green‑infrastructure quotas
Summary
The council unanimously approved joining the Contra Costa Regional Alternative Compliance (RAC) Joint Powers Authority to buy or sell green‑infrastructure compliance credits under state permits; staff warned of limited local space and possible future permit targets that could increase obligations.
Pleasant Hill’s City Council voted unanimously June 1 to authorize the city’s participation in the Contra Costa County Regional Alternative Compliance System Joint Powers Authority (RAC JPA), a regional mechanism that allows local governments to buy or sell green‑infrastructure compliance credits required by the Municipal Regional Permit.
Senior engineer Leticia Porta told the council the city must meet a current MRP quota of 2.09 acres of treated surface runoff and that Pleasant Hill faces constraints — it is largely built out, is not designated a disadvantaged community (which limits grant eligibility), and has roughly $40 million in unfunded storm‑drain repairs. “For Pleasant Hill, it’s 2.09 acres, and we have to take this amount of surface runoff and bring it into a treatment system,” Porta said, describing bioretention and other retrofit work the permit requires.
Porta described how the RAC JPA would let cities that generate excess treated area sell credits to cities that cannot meet their quotas. She said the one‑time joining cost would likely range from about $2,900 to $4,000 per unit depending on membership, and that purchasers could pay ongoing maintenance either as a lump sum covering 30 years or year‑by‑year. Porta also highlighted a concept called the Linda Ditch retrofit — a larger, 8‑acre project that could generate significant credits if the city secures private easements.
Council members pressed staff on membership, market dynamics, and whether neighboring jurisdictions had committed; Porta said roughly eight commitments had been tracked by the Clean Water Program and that some cities not currently in the county program were investigating participation. She cautioned the council that future permit cycles (MRP 4) could increase compliance targets and that credits cannot be rolled over between permit terms.
Vice Mayor Obolinski moved the resolution to join the RAC JPA; Council member Law seconded the motion. The council adopted the resolution by roll‑call vote.
The action directs staff to proceed with formal participation in the JPA and preserves options to purchase credits if the city cannot meet future permit targets with retrofit projects alone.
