Check back regularly for program updates.

The California Green Trade Corridor & Marine Highway Project gets initial $30 million in funding from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). This project is a partnership between the ports in West Sacramento, Oakland and Stockton to develop and use a marine highway system as an alternative to existing truck and rail infrastructure.

The funding came as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s $1.5 billion Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. The ports expect the service to be used primarily for consumer goods and agricultural products grown in Central California and Northern California and hopes to have service underway by the end of 2010.

Read more on this project at the Recovery.org website.

Download the Sponsor Package here (.pdf)

For more information or to become a sponsor, please contact Kathy Thibodeaux at (408) 482-3910 or contact us online.

*Deadline for inclusion in the conference program is Wednesday, March 17.

The mission of the Bay Planning Coalition (BPC) is to ensure that commerce, recreation and the natural environment thrive in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region.

To this aim , the BPC endeavors to:

1. Ensure fair, reasonable and balanced planning and permitting which minimizes delay, costs and uncertainty;
2. Assure that regulatory agencies act within their enabling legislation;
3. Educate the general public, regulatory agencies and permit applicants in the principles of prudent planning and regulation;
4. Collaborate with regulatory agencies and other organizations to foster understanding, communication, interaction and common solutions.

Founded in 1983, the BPC is a non-profit, membership-based organization representing a broad spectrum of Bay public and private sector entities including the maritime industry and related shoreline business, ports and local governments, landowners, residential and commercial builders, recreational users, environmental and business organizations, labor unions and professional service firms in engineering, construction, law, planning, and environmental sciences.

Ellen Joslin Johnck, Executive Director

BCDC Proposed Bay Plan Amendment

BCDC has developed draft findings and policies on climate change and a background report on climate change and the potential impacts of a rise in sea level on the Bay Area region. The background report, Living With A Rising Bay: Vulnerability And Adaptation In San Francisco Bay And On the Shoreline. April 7, 2009, describes BCDC’s perspective on vulnerabilities in the Bay Area’s economic and environmental systems, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on public health and safety.

BCDC held three public hearings and workshops on the proposed amendments (see October 5 version www.bcdc.ca.gov).  BCDC closed the hearing on November 5, 2009 and directed the staff  to bring back a revised staff report sometime in the  spring of 2010.  BCDC directed its staff to work with the task force formed by BPC, BAC, the Home Builders Association, and the Bay Area Flood Agencies Association on recommended revisions.  Reference the following letters comprising a brief analysis of the issues raised by the proposed Bay Plan amendments:  BPC and Home Builders Association letter – July 14,  2009;  BPC and BAC  letter – November 5th, 2009.

RBOC Updated Overview for Yacht Clubs

October 23, 2009

The California State Water Resources Control Board [SWRCB] is moving forward with a proposed requirement that marinas and clubs with 10 or more slips and moorings obtain a state permit [Coastal Permit] and comply with a number of requirements.

The use of the word “coastal” in the permit name is a misnomer. The text of the proposal states that it would be required of moorings and marinas located inland in estuaries, bays and fresh waters such as the San-Joaquin Delta, lakes and reservoirs. The scope could also be expanded as the proposal moves forward.

Initial estimates are that compliance with the permit requirements would impose an annual cost of $250,000 per year on each marina and club.

The SWRCB decided to pursue the Coastal Permit after the federal initiatives were overturned last year. The stated objective is to control pollutants by implementing appropriate management practices at marinas located in impaired waters, and to prevent pollution generated by marina activities from potentially impacting high quality waters.

The SWRCB plans to conduct stakeholder workshops in February through April of 2010, to receive public comments in April 2010, and to vote upon the permit in November of 2010. The exact dates, times and locations of the stakeholder workshops have not yet been set, but plans are for workshops to be: February 2010 in San Diego, March 2010 in Ventura, and April 2010 in San Francisco.

BPC is working with PICYA, SCYA and RBOC to turn back this proposed regulation bnecause there are sufficient “clean marina” and monitoring programs in place and the reglulation is unnecessary.

Pertinent documents are posted at www.swrcb.ca.govand www.rboc.org.

Final Green Sturgeon Critical Habitat Designation

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Green Sturgeon Final Critical Habitat (CH) designation rule was published on Oct. 9, 2009. Click here for a copy of the report. Other Final Rule documents include the Economic and Biological Reports which are available on the NMFS Southwest Region website at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov

NOAA’s designation as proposed would include most, but not all, marine waters within 110 meters depth from Monterey Bay to Cape Flattery, including US waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 73 Fed. Reg. 52083 (September 8, 2008). BPC submitted a comprehensive scientific, economic and legal analysis of he proposed rule and recommended exclusions of certain areas of San Francisco Bay from the rule. The Rule has the potential for severe regulatory impact on dredging and disposal and shipping and related trade and commerce activity. BPC Response Letter – December 22. 2008

NMFS did not accept our recommendations for critical habitat exclusions, and we plan to have a meeting with them NMFS soon to discuss their justification. Based on the final CH, according to the NMFS staff, this Rule means that section 7 consultations will now have to consider the effects of projects on critical habitat for the green sturgeon. Although this rule may result in additional consultation requirements for development activities, NMFS has told us that it does not anticipate that this Rule would result in major disruptions to dredging Bay activities in S. F. Bay. We trust that this will prove to be the case as Bay commercial and recreational users have been operating under the Critical Habitat designation for salmon for many years without major disruption.

In related rulemaking, NOAA published is final Endangered Species Act 4 (d) rule for the Green Sturgeon. We are awaiting the final rule.BPC Comment Letter – July 20, 2009

90th Annual Meeting

Noah Knowles with the USGS, recently gave a presentation on ‘Sea Level Rise and Projected Inflow Changes in San Francisco Bay’ at the AAAS Seminar (Understanding the Estuary) at San Francisco State University, on August 17, 2009.

Knowles Presentation