Following the recent sewage discharges in Bay Area waters the California legislature is going to necessary and overdue actions to address the problem. The Clean Water Act of 2008 (Assembly Bill 2986) was introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and coauthored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Francisco), and is sponsored by Baykeeper and Friends of the Earth, will require the state to issue every sewage treatment plant in California a report card that shines a light on waste water collection systems that are polluting our waters.

Here's Assemblyman Leno's statement:

"If the residents of Southern Marin County knew the high probability that their sanitary sewer systems would release untreated waste into the Bay, they would have demanded system repairs. AB 2986 will tell us how our sewers compare to others and will shine a bright light on failing systems. If we don't address the problems in our sewage collection and treatment facilities, we will continue to see spills like the ones in January that polluted Richardson Bay with millions of gallons of untreated waste. We simply must do better."

Many of California's sanitary sewer systems were built in the early part of the 20th Century and are in poor condition with failing pipes. Leaky sewer pipes often cause wastewater discharge violations. During every large storm, rainwater seeps into our crumbling sewer systems and can overwhelm the capacity of wastewater treatment plants. AB 2986 requires the installation of flow meters to determine the source of leaks in the systems with serious violations so that we can proactively put an end to sewage spills.

The Leno bill would require the state to issue letter grades of A, B, C, D, or F for every sewer collection system and sewage treatment plant in California based on several factors, including the number of overflows for each 100 miles of sewer line, violations of permit conditions, and the frequency with which the treatment plant discharges sewage that has not received full treatment. Additionally, to identify problem sewers contributing to spills, the bill requires failing systems to install "flow meters" measuring peak wet weather flows.

While it's unfortunate that it took a disaster like the Marin County sewage spills to spur this legislative fix there are many examples of spills across the country, some larger than the Richardson Bay spill, that receive little response from elected leadership. We hope that Californians will support passage of this bill and that it will lead to a more transparent sewage treatment process so that we can put an end to massive sewage spills.