Benicia City Council will hear public comment Tuesday on an amendment to the city’s storm water management and discharge control ordinance that was drafted so the city can comply with recent changes in state and federal law.

The Federal Clean Water Act and the California State Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act both require the protection and enhancement of water quality in watercourses, Public Works Director Graham Wadsworth wrote in a report to City Manager Brad Kilger.

Benicia is designated as a “Small MS4 permittee” under California’s Phase II Stormwater permit. That designation requires the city to enact necessary regulations that control pollution in its water discharge, according to the report.

Benicia’s storm water ordinance is expected to comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II Stormwater Permit provisions, Wadsworth wrote.

Under the permit, such contaminants as oil, grease, pesticides, sediment and refuse may be removed or filtered from water through the use of storm water control measures.

In Benicia, storm water runoff eventually flows into the Carquinez Strait, part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. Those rivers, in turn, drain into the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

“The Carquinez Strait is recognized as an important migratory path for fish and fowl; therefore, protection of water quality is an important component of habitat protection for these species,” Wadsworth wrote.

Efforts by the Bay Area Stormwater Manaagement Agencies Association (BASMAA), in collaboration with San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), are leading to local implementation of the NPDES Phase II requirements, Wadsworth wrote. Incorporating the new standards into the city’s ordinance will bring Benicia into compliance with those changes.

To help permit applicants show that projects comply with the new standards, BASMAA has written a post-construction manual that is available through the city’s website, www.ci.benicia.ca.us/.

Wadsworth wrote that city employees wrote two area builder exchanges in hopes of organizing an informational workshop, but neither responded.

Among the required changes are that projects requiring a grading permit must have erosion and sediment control plans.

New projects must comply with post-construction best-management practices to control the volume, rate and possible pollutant load of storm water runoff, and new or redevelopment projects affecting 2,500 square feet of impervious area must submit and follow a storm water control plan.

Among the proposed ordinance amendment’s provisions would be to give the city authority to minimize discharges other than storm runoff to drains or water courses; to prohibit non-storm water discharges; to prohibit dumping or disposal of materials other than storm water in storm drains or watercourses; and to require best-management practices and erosion and sediment control plans of project applicants.

In other matters Tuesday, the Council will consider approving a resolution accepting $945,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the construction of a bus and park-and-ride hub at the intersection of Park Road and Industrial Way.

The panel also will decide whether to approve a labor agreement between the city and its part-time employees in the Benicia Public Service Employees’ Association and a $5,000 amendment to its contract with Management Partners, a firm that provides consulting services to the Community Development Department.

The Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.

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