COURT ENFORCES WATER RULES.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

BURBANK- The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that municipal sewage-treatment plants must comply with federal clean-water regulations no matter what the cost - a move environmentalists said will protect local rivers and coastal waters.

The decision came seven years after the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board set strict pollution limits on three wastewater- treatment plants in the San Fernando Valley and Burbank. The cities of Los Angeles and Burbank filed a joint lawsuit challenging the board's action.

The plants treat wastewater from toilets, sinks and showers, then release it to the Los Angeles River, which flows to the ocean.

``What they (Los Angeles and Burbank) wanted is to be able to get these permits relaxed. Specifically, they wanted to discharge more pollution that creates toxicity in the Los Angeles River and would kill fish and wildlife,'' said David Beckman, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, who argued the case before the Supreme Court.

``But the court said that no other factors can be considered to justify relaxing standards.

``What it means most of all to people in California is they will continue to get the protection of the federal Clean Water Act. It means cleaner water for California, which is good for public health and the state economy.''

Michael Lauffer, the attorney for the Los Angeles water board, said the decision was a victory and validated the agency's efforts to keep water safe and clean for swimming and fishing.

``The cities of Los Angeles and Burbank really sought to roll back, and to an extent, gut a central and important piece of the Clean Water Act,'' Lauffer said.

If cities discharge more pollution than the limits, they either get fined or are obligated to figure out a way to reduce the pollution.

The suit, filed in 1999 against the Los Angeles water board, challenged the new limits, which allowed half the levels of copper, cyanide and other pollutants to enter the channel. The cities argued that it would cost $800 million to install the advanced systems needed to clean up the water to the new standards.

While the cities argued that it would cost millions to comply with the standards, Lauffer said Los Angeles met the guidelines the past six years without ``lifting a finger.''

Had they not filed the lawsuit, they would only have faced about $18,000 in fines over the past seven years for exceeding pollution limits, Lauffer said.

The cities won at the trial court level, the water board appealed the decision and a judge ruled in its favor, then the cities appealed it to the California Supreme Court.

But the court also decided Monday that the trial court will review whether the permit restriction is more strict than the Clean Water Act requirements. If so, the water board would be required to examine and take into consideration the costs of treating the pollution.

That leaves the door open for discussions about cost, said Carolyn Barnes, assistant city attorney for the city of Burbank.

``We certainly would have liked to have the Supreme Court reverse the court of appeals decision, but I think this decision leaves open the chance to dialogue with the regional water board about some of the limits,'' Barnes said. ``We certainly have the opportunity to get the board to consider economics.''

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office declined to comment.

But Lauffer said the records will ultimately show that the standards are not more stringent than federal law.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com