Congressman Peters’ bipartisan Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II is headed to the House floor. San Diego’s Pure Water project will supply half of our region’s water supply by 2035 and his bill ensures its success and protects our ocean.
Read more about it in this September 20th piece from the Times of San Diego, posted below:
Peters’ Bill to Streamline Permit Renewal for Wastewater Plant Passes in Committee
By Jennifer Vigil
September 20, 2024
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted 57-7 on Wednesday to advance Rep. Scott Peters’ bipartisan Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II.
The legislation would simplify the city of San Diego’s permitting process to operate the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will allow the city to move forward with its water-recycling project, Pure Water.
The program will supply half of San Diego’s drinking water by 2035 and help solidify the region’s water security amidst worsening conditions on the Colorado River.
San Diego’s Congressional delegation, Sara Jacobs, Mike Levin and Juan Vargas, all, like Peters, D-San Diego, along with Darrell Issa, R-Escondido, are original co-sponsors of the bill.
“Water recycling is an integral part of San Diego’s solution to water shortages and continued prosperity,” Peters said. “My bill gives certainty to the future of the Pure Water project, removes needless red tape, saves taxpayer money, and reduces discharge from the Point Loma plant. ”
The bill is now eligible to be considered by the entire House of Representatives.
Wastewater treatment facilities must renew their permits with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) every five years. These permits and their secondary treatment standards limit the substances released into the ocean.
Yet to meet these secondary treatment standards, the city would waste billions of taxpayer dollars to upgrade the Point Loma facility, which, according to scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, already does not harm the ocean environment.
The Clean Water Act allows some wastewater treatment facilities to apply for permit modifications that offer alternatives to the secondary standards. This alternative permit process is lengthy, complicated, and costly and Peters bill would replace the permit application the plant undergoes every renewal cycle with another process if the city meets certain stringent water recycling milestones.
Under the bill, the city of San Diego must demonstrate that its Pure Water Program can produce 83 million gallons of water a day by 2036, an estimated one-third of the city’s water supply.
The resulting reduction in outflow and waste would be continuously monitored and subjected to ongoing research by academic, city, state and national entities.
Peters has twice re-introduced the bill, in 2021 and 2023.