United States District Court, E.D. California
CALIFORNIA SPORTFISHING PROTECTION ALLIANCE, a non-profit corporation, Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF COLUSA, Defendant.
ANDREW
L. PACKARD (State Bar No. 168690) WILLIAM N. CARLON (State
Bar No. 305739) Law Offices of Andrew L. Packard Attorneys
for Plaintiff CALIFORNIA SPORTFISHING PROTECTION ALLIANCE
CONSENT DECREE (FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT,
33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 TO 1387)
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
I.
STIPULATIONS
WHEREAS,
Plaintiff California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
(hereinafter “CSPA”) is a non-profit public
benefit corporation dedicated to the preservation,
protection, and defense of the environment, wildlife, and
natural resources of California's waters;
WHEREAS,
Defendant City of Colusa (hereinafter the “City”
or “Defendant”) owns and operates the City of
Colusa Wastewater Treatment Plant (the
“Facility”), located at 2820 Will S. Green Road,
Colusa, California;
WHEREAS,
CSPA and Defendant collectively shall be referred to as the
“Parties;”
WHEREAS,
the Facility provides sewer treatment services to a
population of approximately 6, 000 and discharges treated
effluent at Discharge Point 001 into an unnamed tributary to
Powell Slough, which is a water of the United States and a
tributary to the Colusa Basin Drain;
WHEREAS,
effluent discharges from the Facility into surface water are
regulated pursuant to the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit No.
CA0078999, State Water Resources Control Board (“State
Board”) Waste Discharge Requirements for the City
of Colusa Wastewater Treatment Plant Colusa County,
Order No. R5-2016-0062-01, as amended by Order No.
R5-2018-0018 (“Amended 2016 NPDES Permit”), which
amended Order No. R5-2016-0062, which rescinded the prior
operative permit, Order No. R5-2008-0184 (collectively the
“NPDES Permits”);
WHEREAS,
on or about April 26, 2019, Plaintiff provided notice of
Defendant's violations of the Act, and of its intention
to file suit against Defendant to the Administrator of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency
(“EPA”); the Administrator of EPA Region IX; the
U.S. Attorney General; the Executive Director of the State
Board; the Executive Officer of the Regional Water Quality
Control Board, Central Valley Region (“Regional
Board”); and to Defendant, as required by the Act, 33
U.S.C. § 1365(b)(1)(A) (a true and correct copy of
CSPA's Notice Letter is attached hereto as
Exhibit A and incorporated herein by
reference);
WHEREAS,
Defendant denies the occurrence of the violations alleged in
the Notice Letter and maintains that the City has complied at
all times with the provisions of its NPDES Permits and the
Clean Water Act or, alternatively, that there are no
“ongoing and continuous” violations of the NPDES
Permits or the Act;
WHEREAS,
the Parties agree that it is in their mutual interest to
resolve this matter as to all entities and persons named in
the Notice Letter without further litigation and enter into
this Consent Decree;
WHEREAS,
on or about July 5, 2019, CSPA filed a complaint against the
City in the United States District Court, Eastern District of
California (this matter is hereinafter referred to as
“the Action”);
WHEREAS,
for purposes of this Consent Decree only, the Parties
stipulate that venue is proper in this Court, and that
Defendant does not contest the exercise of jurisdiction by
this Court to dismiss this matter with prejudice under the
terms of this Consent Decree;
WHEREAS,
within five (5) calendar days of the Parties' mutual
execution, this Consent Decree shall be submitted to the
United States Department of Justice for the 45-day statutory
review period, pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1365(c);
WHEREAS,
at the time the Consent Decree is submitted to the United
States Department of Justice for the 45-day statutory review
period, the Parties shall file with the Court a Joint Motion
for Entry of Consent Decree;
THEREFORE,
CSPA and the City stipulate to entry of this Consent Decree
without trial regarding CSPA's claims or allegations set
forth in its complaint and Notice Letter.
II.
ORDER AND DECREE
THIS
MATTER came before the Court upon the Parties' Joint
Motion for Entry of Consent Decree and the foregoing
Stipulations of the parties. Having considered the
Stipulations and the promises set forth ...