HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.30.22 Board Correspondence - FW_ Monthly Sewer Update Memo - February 2022
From:Paulsen, Shaina
To:BOS
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: Monthly Sewer Update Memo - February 2022
Date:Wednesday, March 30, 2022 1:54:34 PM
Attachments:202203 Butte County Monthly Status Report March 2022.pdf
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Please see Board Correspondence.
Shaina Paulsen
Associate Clerk of The Board
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
T: 530.552.3304 | F: 530.538.7120
From: Mattox, Marc <mmattox@townofparadise.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2022 1:44 PM
To: Costa, Shannon <SCosta@buttecounty.net>; Clerk of the Board
<clerkoftheboard@buttecounty.net>
Cc: Buttz, John <John.Buttz@hdrinc.com>; 'Erik Gustafson' <erik.gustafson@Chicoca.gov>; Edwards,
Dawn <Dawn.Edwards@hdrinc.com>; Phillips, Kevin <KPhillips@townofparadise.com>; Hatcher,
Casey <CHatcher@buttecounty.net>; Stanley, Ashley <astanley@townofparadise.com>; Snyder,
Clint@Waterboards <clint.snyder@waterboards.ca.gov>; Lucas, Steve <SLucas@buttecounty.net>
Subject: RE: Monthly Sewer Update Memo - February 2022
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Good afternoon Butte County and LAFCo!
Please find attached our eleventh regular monthly update for the purpose of keeping the Butte
County Board of Supervisors and LAFCo Board apprised of progress in the Sewer Project. We are
asking for special attention in this update towards recent progress in the Principles of Agreement
developed by the SRPAC, associated public comment period and valuable updates to our Draft EIR
alternatives.
We will continue to send these on a regular basis and welcome any opportunities to address the
Board(s) as requested.
Sincerely,
Marc Mattox
Public Works Director & Town Engineer
Town of Paradise | (530) 872-6291 x 125
Website | Contact Us | Facebook
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Town of Paradise
5555 Skyway
Paradise, CA 95969
(530) 872-6291
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: March 25, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: 530-872-6291 x112
PRESS RELEASE
Sewer Regionalization Project Advisory Committee Completes
First Draft of Principles of Agreement between Chico and
Paradise
On Monday, March 21, the Sewer Regionalization Project Advisory Committee (SRPAC) approved the
first draft of the Principles of Agreement, which could guide a future agreement between the City of
Chico and Town of Paradise for wastewater treatment services.
Prior to the Camp Fire, the Town of Paradise was one of the largest communities without a formal
wastewater treatment system, meaning each parcel is required to maintain onsite septic tanks and
leach fields. While studied since before the Town incorporated in 1979, the need for a sewer system in
Paradise has never been greater in response to the Camp Fire. If constructed, a collection system and
export pipeline to the existing Water Pollution Control Plant owned and maintained by the City of Chico,
the Paradise Sewer Project would improve groundwater quality and enable increased development of
affordable housing within the Town of Paradise while supporting the regional recovery.
The SRPAC, comprised of Mayor Coolidge and Vice Mayor Reynolds of the City of Chico and Mayor
Crowder and Councilmember Jones of the Town of Paradise, serves to:
Report (EIR), and efforts being d
(2) Develop the Principles of Agreement for an inter-municipal agreement between the Town and City,
and make a recommendation on those Principles to the two Councils if applicable, and
(3) Guide public participation in the EIR process, which will happen separately, but in parallel with the
The first draft of the Principles of Agreement created by the Committee are prepared and attached to
this press release. Most notably, the Principles of Agreement (Principles) outline key parameters of a
potential agreement such as ensuring that ratepayers for Chico are not financially responsible for any
, in addition to a potential connection payment from the Town of
Working together to rebuild a thriving community.
Town of Paradise
5555 Skyway
Paradise, CA 95969
(530) 872-6291
Paradise to the City of Chico, currently estimated at $14.9 million, to support the existing plant and
capacity related needs.
The Principles also set forth a requirement that the Paradise Sewer Project only serves properties
within the Town of Paradise Town Limits.
The SRPAC has requested a formal 30-day public comment period of the draft Principles before further
revisions are considered and ultimately used to create a contract between the communities if the project
th
were to move forward. This 30-day review period will begin on Friday March 25 and conclude on
th
Monday April 25. During this time, the draft will be available on
the project specific website at www.paradisesewer.com. Physical copies of the Principles of Agreement
Principles of Agreement are encouraged to be submitted through the project website at
https://paradisesewer.com/contact/ using the online form. Comments may also be submitted via email
to sewercommittee@townofparadise.com.
Working together to rebuild a thriving community.
TOWN OF PARADISE
SEWER PROJECT
MARCH 2022
FACT SHEET
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Since its incorporation in 1979, the Town of Paradise has sought a wastewater treatment solution, with a focus
primarily on commercial and densely-populated residential areas — the portions of Paradise most vulnerable to
groundwater degradation and economic stagnation due to sewer limitations.
project options. The assessment compared two alternatives for local wastewater treatment and discharge with a
regional alternative involving piping wastewater to the Chico Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). The regional
alternative was recommended because it had the lowest cost, community impacts, probable environmental
impacts as well as the simplest operations and most support from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality
Control Board. The Town is now moving forward with preparation of a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
to provide further information on sewer project alternatives.
The proposed project is currently
estimated to cost approximately
$184 million.
$2M
EIR
$30M
Design and Right-of-Way
$152M
Construction
PROJECT SCHEDULE
AlternativesEIR
Environmental Studies,PermittingFinal DesignConstruction
DevelopmentScoping
Draft & Final EIR& Approvals& and ROW
20202021-20222022-20242024-2026
Ongoing Public Outreach
STAY UPDATED!
PARADISESEWER.COM
INFO@PARADISESEWER.COM530-872-6291
EXT. 112
REBUILDING PARADISE
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
OF THE PARADISE SEWER PROJECT
PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED HOUSING
Sewer infrastructure
Workforce
supports quick rebuild
housing needs
95% of residents 10% of the region’s Increases Greater
work for local construction economic return
employersworkforce was housingfor developers
housed in Paradise
INCREASE PROPERTY VALUES & BUSINESS PROFITABILITY
Sewer infrastructure
Septic systems
COSTVALUE
VALUECOST
supports growth
decrease value
Smaller, older residential lots on Businesses on septic Raises the Provides reliable Lowers the start-up costs
septic systems have a lower value, systems have higher value of land wastewater for high-water-usage
lack development potentialoperational costsin the SSA disposalbusinesses like restaurants
IMPROVE HEALTH & THE ENVIRONMENT
Sewer Infrastructure
Regulations
protects resources
mitigate risk
Strict regulations govern the discharge of treated wastewater, Provides cleaner Improves Decreases health
especially in communities impacted by failing septic systems disposal of groundwater impact on
development potentialwastewater qualitycommunities
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Less strain on Chico’s housing Regional partnerships
market, Greenline, transportation and opportunities for
infrastructure, and other systemsadditional funding
PARADISESEWER.COMINFO@PARADISESEWER.COM530-872-6291 EXT. 112
st
1DRAFTPrinciples of Agreement
(version 7, 21-March-2022)
Introduction and Background
Through its work on the Paradise Sewer Project (Project), the Town of Paradise (Town) has identified
a connection to the Chico Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) as its preferred alternative for
wastewater treatment and disposal, and has approached the City of Chico (City) to explore the
feasibility of such a connection. The Councils of the Town of Paradise and City of Chico have formed
a Sewer Regionalization Project Advisory Committee (Committee) as a mechanism for exploring this
proposal. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) has agreed to
facilitate the activities of the Committee.
Membership on the Committee is limited to elected officials from the Town and City, as those two
parties are signatories to the Cooperative Funding Agreement (CFA) and will be signatories to a future
inter-municipal agreement (IMA). The Town and City have both designated their Mayors and Vice
Mayors as their Committee members.
The Committee will develop an agreed-upon list of basic principles for an IMA, which will be captured
in this document, the Principles of Agreement (POA). It is anticipated that a draft POA will be
developed by the Committee, which will then be brought to the Town Council and City Council for
review and approval. The final POA would then be turned over to legal counsel from the Town and
City to draft into an IMA for consideration by the Town Council and City Council.
City of Chico Municipal Code
The City of Chico has a provision in its municipal code Section 15.40.285—Regulation of Waste
Received from Other Jurisdictions that specifically addresses handling wastewater from outside the
city’s sanitary sewer system. That code section is presented in its entirety at the end of this document.
Principles of Agreement
The Principles of Agreement are divided into 17 subject areas, as listed below. (Other subject areas
may be added over time.) The first eight items reflect the eight items specified in Section 15.40.285.
Over the course of its work, the Committee will develop specific agreed-upon statements (principles of
agreement) for each of these items.
1. Sewer Use Ordinance: The Town will need to adopt a sewer use ordinance that parallels
the City’s sewer use ordinance. The POA could contain a commitment from the Town to
have an ordinance completed by a certain milestone.
o DRAFT: The Town will adopt a sewer use ordinance that parallels the City’s
ordinance. The Town’s ordinance shall be adopted and in place 30 days prior to
the commencement of discharge into the Project.
2. User Inventory: The Town will need to submit an annual inventory of entities discharging
into the sewer system. The POA could contain a statement to that effect.
o DRAFT: The Town will submit a quarterly inventory of entities discharging into its
sewer system, classified by residential and commercial dischargers. This
quarterly report will also contain an estimate of new connections estimated to
occur over the upcoming 12 months, broken down by the same classifications.
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This inventory will reflect datafrom July 1 through June 30of each year, and will
be submitted by August 1 of each year.
o DRAFT: The Town will develop and administer a Sewer Application process,
with two parts—a Town-reviewed portion for the collection system and a City-
reviewed portion for treatment. The treatment portion will follow the existing City
sewer application. If the proposed discharge exceeds the thresholds established
in the pretreatment program (see below), it will have to treat its discharge to a
sufficient degree to meet the City’s pretreatment program requirements.
Businesses would face the same pretreatment requirements, whether they are in
Paradise or Chico.
o DRAFT: The Town and the City agree to prohibit future connections to the
export pipeline in the portion of the pipeline that sits outside of the Town limits or
City limits.
3. Pretreatment: The City has an existing pretreatment program to monitor industrial/
commercial dischargers, which Town dischargers will need to meet. (The City has two
employees conducting annual inspections of commercial/industrial dischargers.) The POA
could contain a statement to that effect. In addition, the Town will need to decide whether to
create and administer its own pretreatment program, or simply comply with the City’s
pretreatment program. Ultimately, the Town and City will need to determine who implements
the various pretreatment activities for Paradise dischargers. The POA could contain the
basic definition of these divisions of responsibility.
o DRAFT: The Town will follow the City’s pretreatment program, including future
changes; the Town will not develop a pretreatment program of its own. This
includes the City’s Fats, Oils & Grease (FOG) program. Dischargers would follow
the City’s pretreatment program application process, which includes setting
monthly fees. Pretreatment program fees will be collected by the Town and
conveyed to the City, similar to the process outlined in Item 10.
4. Pretreatment Data Access: The Town will need to provide the City with all information it
obtains related to the pretreatment activities. The POA could contain a statement to that
effect.
o DRAFT: The Town will provide the City with all information it obtains relative to
meeting the City’s pretreatment program requirements.
o DRAFT: Paradise will contract with the City or hire and use qualified
professionals (Industrial Waste Inspectors, testing, labs, etc.) to conduct its
pretreatment activities. \[Staff Input: This statement may no longer apply, given
the decision made on Item 3—Pretreatment. Delete.\]
5. Wastewater Limits: The agreement will need to define limits on the volume and quality of
Paradise wastewater discharged to the Chico Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). This
will likely be addressed by the City’s CFA efforts; the Committee would then review those
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results and draft POA language.Town and City staff are currently awaiting results from the
City’s engineering consultant in order to draft suggested language for this item.
o DRAFT: Associated with the treatment connection payment (described below),
the Town of Paradise wastewater flow to the Chico WPCP will be limited to 0.464
million gallons per day (mgd) average dry weather flow (ADWF). ADWF will be
calculated using criteria specified by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality
Control Board in the Chico permit. It is anticipated that a majority of the
wastewater discharges into the Paradise collection system will be of typical
residential and commercial quality. However, all potential Town discharges will
be subject to the Pretreatment requirements of this agreement, as specified in
Section 3.
6. Wastewater Monitoring: The agreement will need to define how the volume and quality of
Paradise wastewater will be monitored.
o DRAFT: The Termination Structure, to be constructed as part of the Paradise
Sewer Project, will contain wastewater monitoring equipment (e.g., flow meter,
composite sampler). Because the City has staff familiar with this type of
equipment, and because it has its own wastewater laboratory for testing
wastewater samples, the flow metering and monitoring equipment will be
operated and maintained by City staff, and samples will be processed in the City
lab. Consideration will also be given to having some level of monitoring
equipment at the upper end of the export pipeline. A payment will be negotiated
at the start of the contract and paid annually by the Town to the City to cover the
costs associated with these efforts.
7. Access to Facilities: The City will need to be granted access to the Town’s wastewater
facilities, including those within the Town’s boundaries. The POA could contain a statement
to that effect.
o DRAFT: The Town will grant the City access to the Town’s wastewater facilities,
including those within the Town’s boundaries for purposes of inspection,
sampling, and other duties deemed necessary by the City. The City will give the
Town sufficient notice to allow the Town to arrange safe access to the facilities.
The Town and City will look for efficient ways to jointly conduct inspections to
minimize impacts to both entities’ staff.
8. Remedies for Breach of Agreement: Like all legal agreements, the IMA will need to
address how the parties would handle any breach of the agreement. This item might need
input from Town and City attorneys, in order to draft appropriate POA language. These
remedies will vary by the various required items in this POA.
o DRAFT: If disagreements exist between the Town and City attorneys regarding
agreement language, those disagreements will be brought back to the
Committee to attempt to resolve.
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9. Treatment Connection Payment. A number of items need to be addressed related to the
treatment connection payment to be paid by the Town for connecting to the Chico WPCP.
These will likely be addressed by the City’s CFA efforts; the Committee would then review
those results and draft POA language.Items include:
o How much should the initial connection payment be (e.g., for the initial Paradise
flow or the ultimate flow)?
o If ongoing connection fees are to be collected for future connections, how much
should they be (e.g., linked to the City of Chico’s current connection fee
schedule)?
o How should they be collected and paid to the City of Chico (e.g., collected by the
Town of Paradise on an ongoing basis and paid to the City of Chico quarterly)?
o DRAFT: The goal is to obtain funding for the treatment connection payment in a
similar manner to the remainder of the Paradise Sewer Project. The payment is
currently estimated at $14.9 million (estimated as December 2026 dollars; as
documented in “Regionalization Planning Report for the Paradise Sewer Project,”
Carollo Engineers, March 2022), which the Town of Paradise would pay to the
City of Chico to cover treatment capital costs associated with a wastewater flow
from the Town of 0.464 mgd ADWF (see ADWF definition above). From six to 12
months before the date of connection, the estimated treatment connection
payment will be recalculated using the methodology established in the Carollo
study. This payment is assumed to be made at the time that initial Paradise flows
are sent to the Chico WPCP, currently estimated to start on or about December
2026.
10. Monthly User Fees. A number of items need to be addressed related to the monthly fees to
be paid by the Town for discharging to the Chico WPCP. (Note: The City does not currently
break its monthly fees into treatment and collection system components.) Items include:
o How much should the monthly user fees charged to the Town be (e.g., linked to
the treatment portion of the City of Chico’s current monthly user fees)?
Draft: Assuming that the City establishes a treatment portion of its
monthly user fee, the Town users will pay that treatment monthly user fee
to the City. Town users will also pay a collection system monthly user fee
to the Town associated with the Town’s collection system and export
pipeline O&M costs.
o How should they be collected and paid to the City of Chico?
Draft: The Town will collect the treatment monthly user fee from its
users. The Town will submit the total treatment monthly user fee amount
to the City on a \[monthly/quarterly\] basis. The Town will be responsible
for collecting unpaid treatment monthly user fees from its users.
Page 4 of 8
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o How should future rate updates be handled?
Draft: As discussed above, the Town users will pay the treatment
monthly user fee established in the City’s fee schedule, including any
future increases made to those fees. The assumption is that the City and
Town users will pay the same monthly treatment fee based on the
established fee schedule. Future increases will follow the Prop 218
process, including public noticing.
o \[There is potential for power generation as the wastewater moves from Paradise
down off the Ridge to Chico. Need to address potential for sharing any electrical
generation revenue.\]
DRAFT: It is generally not practical to generate electricity from raw
wastewater flows, especially intermittent flows that we will see in the
export pipeline. Therefore, this item will not be addressed in the POA.
\[leave this item in the POA, to allow others to see the
discussion/conclusion\]
o \[There is potential for Chico to treat its wastewater for recycling. Need to
address the potential for revenue sharing.\]
DRAFT: Because the City’s wastewater system operates as an
“enterprise” fund, any income or cost resulting from water recycling will be
incorporated into the City’s connection fees and monthly user fees. This
item can be stated in the POA as an item not included. \[leave this item in
the POA, to allow others to see the discussion/conclusion\]
o \[Include a requirement for producing an annual financial report.\]
Draft: In general, wastewater costs and revenues will be captured in the
annual budgets of both the Town and City. Also, the City will be provided
the ability to audit the Town’s financial records related to the collection of
monthly treatment fees. Therefore, no separate annual financial report is
needed.
11. O&M of Facilities. The Town will construct the export pipeline and a termination structure at
or near the Chico WPCP. The Town would own the export pipeline. The POA would need to
address who is responsible for O&M and future repairs/replacements of the export pipeline
and termination structure at the Chico WPCP.
o DRAFT: It is anticipated that the Town will own the entire export pipeline and will
provide all operation and maintenance associated with it, with the exception of
wastewater monitoring efforts, which are described in item 6 above.
o \[It may work best to develop a separate “O&M Agreement” to cover all of the
various items related to operating costs.\]
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Draft: The City and Town intend to develop an inter-municipal agreement
based on these Principals of Agreement. In the future, if O&M items arise
and warrant it, the two parties may wish to develop an O&M Agreement.
For example, one item that might arise is that the Town might wish to
contract with the City to provide some O&M services on the export
pipeline, given that the City has on-staff expertise in this area.
12. Term and Termination of the Agreement. \[Need to develop the term and termination of
the agreement. The term of the agreement should match any financing requirements and/or
the lifespan of the infrastructure. Also need to address how to handle disaster scenarios.
This item might need input from Town and City attorneys, in order to draft appropriate POA
language.\]
13. “Revisit” Clause. \[Need to develop a statement that allows for an evolution of the roles
and responsibilities established in this document. For example, in the future, if the Town
grows to a size that it makes sense for it to create and run its own pretreatment program, the
document should allow for that to happen. This item will need input from Town and City
attorneys.\]
\[ADDITIONAL ITEMS 14, 15, and 16 came from “Crafting Interlocal Water and Wastewater
Agreements,” UNC Environmental Finance Center, 2019. Text in quotes is taken from that
document\]
14. Service Area Boundary. “When two or more service providers agree to buy or sell water
services to one another, it is extremely important to remove as much ambiguity as possible
about current and future service areas.” Identify the service area boundary as the Town of
Paradise town limits. The Sphere of Influence and Town/City limits may change…
o Draft: This item relates to the potential for the two entities to have adjacent or
overlapping service area boundaries. The Town of Paradise and the City of
Chico will not overlap with respect to providing wastewater services. In the future,
spheres of influence could overlap (although this is extremely unlikely). If that
situation arises, it should be addressed at that time. \[Ask the attorneys for their
input, including if language should be included on this subject in the inter-
municipal agreement.\]
15. Notice Requirements for Fee Changes. “The contract should also include language to
cover notice requirements or any other processes related to when and how rates will be
changed. If there will be a process for modifying rates in the future, the parties should
contemplate what shall constitute reasons to justify modification.”
o Draft: In California, formal notification to citizens regarding fee increases is
covered by Prop 218. If the City is considering a fee update, City staff will inform
the Town Council of an upcoming fee adjustment process.
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16. Excessive Inflow and Infiltration. “Inflow and infiltration (I&I) can be a big problem for
wastewater interlocal agreements. If possible, partners should consider how to contract in
language that will address how I&I should be handled.”
o Draft: Because the Town’s collection system and export pipeline will be entirely
new, the initial amount of I&I should be very low. Over time, it is possible I&I will
increase. The Town of Paradise will monitor its wet weather flows each year and
assess the level of I&I it is experiencing. If excessive I&I is seen, the Town will
complete such corrective measures to eliminate excessive I&I as are reasonably
demonstrated to be cost effective by studies conducted and funded by the Town.
\[Perhaps move this item up to Section 11--O&M of Facilities\]
17. Resolving Conflicts or Disagreements. \[“Regardless of how carefully an interlocal
agreement may be contracted, there can still be conflict or disagreement, particularly when
unanticipated needs or challenges arise. Parties to an agreement should anticipate the need
to potentially negotiate at some point during the life of the agreement, and should build in
language that lays out what process should be used.” This item will need input from Town
and City attorneys.\]
o \[Note from Staff: The City of Folsom/SRCSD contract has extensive sample
language for this item, which the attorneys can use if they wish to.\]
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City of Chico, Code Section 15.40.285
The City of Chico has a provision in its municipal code, Section 15.40.285—Regulation of Waste
Received from Other Jurisdictions, that specifically addresses handling wastewater from outside the
city’s sanitary sewer system. Here is the code section in its entirety:
15.40.285 Regulation of Waste Received from Other Jurisdictions
If another municipality or user located within another municipality contributes wastewater to the city’s
sanitary sewer system, the director shall enter into an inter-municipal agreement with the contributing
municipality. Prior to entering into an agreement, the director shall request the following information
from the contributing municipality:
1. A description of the quality and volume of wastewater discharged to the city’s sanitary sewer
system by the contributing municipality;
2. An inventory of all users located within the contributing municipality that are discharging to the
city’s sanitary sewer system; and
3. Such other information as the director may deem necessary.
An inter-municipal agreement shall contain the following conditions:
1. A requirement for the contributing municipality to adopt a sewer use ordinance which is at least
as stringent as this ordinance and local limits, including required baseline monitoring reports which are
at least as stringent as those set out in section 15.40.024. The requirement shall specify that such
ordinance and limits must be revised as necessary to reflect changes made to the city’s ordinance or
local limits;
2. A requirement for the contributing municipality to submit a revised user inventory on at least an
annual basis;
3. A provision specifying which pretreatment implementation activities, including wastewater
discharge permit issuance, inspection and sampling, enforcement, will be conducted by the
contributing municipality; which of these activities will be conducted by the director; and which of these
activities will be conducted jointly by the contributing municipality and the director;
4. A requirement for the contributing municipality to provide the director with access to all
information that the contributing municipality obtains as part of its pretreatment activities;
5. Limits on the nature, quality, and volume of the contributing municipality’s wastewater at the
point where it discharges to the city’s sanitary sewer system;
6. Requirements for monitoring the contributing municipality’s discharge;
7. A provision ensuring the director access to the facilities of the users located within the
contributing municipality’s jurisdictional boundaries for the purpose of inspection, sampling, and other
duties deemed necessary by the director; and
8. A provision specifying the remedies available for breach of the terms of the inter-municipal
agreement.
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