The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District will recirculate a revised version of its 2013 Chloride Compliance Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as the next step in complying with a strict State-mandated limit on the amount of chloride allowed in treated wastewater discharged to the Santa Clara River.

The 2013 EIR evaluated the impacts of two actions: a Chloride Compliance Project to meet a State-mandated limit on the level of chloride (salt) in our treated water; and a Recycled Water Project to enable the community to reuse more treated water that would otherwise be discharged to the river. In early 2016, the Sanitation District modified the Chloride Compliance Project by certifying a Supplemental EIR for Brine Concentration and Limited Trucking for brine management.

The 2013 EIR was challenged in court and the Chloride Compliance and Recycled Water Projects have been delayed until additional study of endangered unarmored threespine stickleback fish is completed. Potential stickleback impacts are associated with the Recycled Water Project. Work to complete the additional stickleback study will take longer than anticipated due to the extensive regulatory consultation necessary.

The Sanitation District is still mandated by state and federal law to implement a chloride compliance project. To move forward with the Chloride Compliance Project and minimize fines to ratepayers, the Sanitation District is recirculating a revised version of the 2013 EIR. The recirculated EIR will allow the public to: (1) review the potential environmental impacts of pursuing the Recycled Water Project separately from the Chloride Compliance Project; and (2) review any modifications to the previously reported impacts of the Chloride Compliance Project.

The Sanitation District strongly supports the use of recycled water and will continue the stickleback study in support of the Recycled Water Project, but will do so as a separate project with its own timeline.

The recirculated EIR will not change the Chloride Compliance Project previously presented to the community and is expected to contain few changes to the environmental analysis previously released for public review. Nonetheless, the recirculated EIR will follow the normal EIR process with a Notice of Preparation and a period for comments on the scope of the document, public review of the draft document, preparation of a final document, and a hearing before the Sanitation District Board to consider certification of the recirculated EIR, all in accordance with state requirements.

A Notice of Preparation will be released on February 17, 2017 and available at www.lacsd.org. Informational meetings will be held at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on March 7, 2017 at the Santa Clarita Activities Center located at 20880 Centre Point Parkway, Santa Clarita. Public comments regarding the scope of environmental analysis to be performed are due by March 20, 2017.
For more information, please contact Ms. Jodie Lanza at (562) 908-4288, extension 2707 or jlanza@lacsd.org .