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Mission | Who We Are | Strong Advocacy | Agency Relations Projects & AccomplishmentsAcronyms: BAAQMD = Bay Area Air Quality Management District BCDC = S. F. Bay Conservation and Development Commission CalEPA = California Environmental Protection Agency MTC = Metropolitan Transportation Commission NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration SFRWQCB = S. F. Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board SWRCB = State Water Resources Control Board USACE = U. S. Army Corps of Engineers USEPA = U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 2006-2007 - BPC establishes a dialogue among the local BAAQMD Board and BPC port, marine terminal, and contractor members and begins work towards a strategic plan for marine emissions reduction. An important principle in this effort is that a collaborative strategy with BAAQMD must include the goal to advance necessary infrastructure improvement while reducing emissions in a cost-feasible manner. This dialogue should provide a forum for comments on the CARB and BAAQMD regulatory proposals and keep members abreast of air quality regulatory compliance. 2005 - BPC adopts an Infrastructure Safety Initiative in response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Initiative is an educational campaign aimed at strengthening the region, state and nation’s infrastructure such as levees, transportation, water and energy supply facilities. BPC’s partners include the Bay Area Council, the Bay Area Economic Forum, the Homebuilders Association of Northern California, and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. The Task Force is calling upon state and national leaders to reassess spending priorities and adopt a new method of decision making emphasizing safety, disaster preparedness, prevention and response and improved permitting process for critical infrastructure projects. 2004 - At BPC’s request, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review program evaluated permitting delays and inefficiencies in the Bay Area’s environmental permit process. The result was the creation of a local task force whose membership included BPC members, environmental organizations and BCDC staff. The Task Force concluded its deliberations and produced a 19-point Report adopted by BCDC in 2006. The Report recommends changes to permit practices and proposes changes to dredging regulations to provide long-term permits. In addition, there was agreement on a revised interpretation of Sub-Tidal Policy #2 to include a programmatic alternative analysis for sand mining. 2003 - NOAA Fisheries selects San Francisco Bay and the Environmental Windows Workgroup as the west coast demonstration project for its national Marine Transportation Partnership Project. NOAA appoints BPC with three other partners, BCDC, Port of Oakland and NOAA to participate in the development of a series of "best management practices." The windows workgroup will be the case study illustrating how ports can work with fishery agencies to effectively coordinate maritime operations and endangered species protection. 2001-2002 - BPC convenes the Environmental Windows Workgroup. Environmental "windows" are the ever-shrinking seasonal times established for dredging projects to protect endangered species. The purpose of the workgroup is to improve project planning, increase flexibility and streamline the endangered species consultation process to ensure needed dredging is done. 2001 - The S. F. Bay Water Transit Authority (WTA) asks BPC to help develop the ferry system expansion plan, which is now completed and pending before the California legislature. 2000 - State and federal agencies adopt the Long Term Management Strategy for Dredged Material Disposal (LTMS). This culminates BPC's 12-year effort to develop a plan for dredging and disposal, which includes the designation of several, dredged material disposal sites and a one-stop permit office. 1999-2000 - With BPC's advocacy, BCDC and the Regional Board each unanimously approved the Port of Oakland's -50' channel deepening project. 1999 - BPC helps found the San Francisco Bay Wetland Joint Venture to develop and to restore wetlands with willing landowners only. 1999 - BPC lobbies successfully for seismic safety legislation which identifies appropriate boundaries and responsibilities for setting construction standards between local governments and BCDC in the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. 1998-1999 - The federal Secretary of Transportation asks BPC to help implement the Marine Transportation Initiative which coordinates harbor maintenance among federal agencies. 1998 - Vice President Al Gore awards BPC the Hammer Award for its leadership in creating the joint state-federal cooperative permit review program called the Dredged Material Management Office (DMMO). 1997 - Governor Wilson appoints BPC to the task force formulating the mission of the new California Environmental Protection Agency. 1997 - BPC investigates and exposes abuses of the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act. 1996-2000 - The California Coastal Conservancy selects BPC as the lead stakeholder organization on its team to complete the Dredged Material Rehandling Site Study Project. 1996-1997 - BPC completes its Sediment Testing Guidelines for Dredged Material Disposal at San Francisco Bay Sites which is then used as a framework for discussion within the Long Term Management Strategy. 1996 - BPC leads the RWQCB and the Department of Fish and Game with scientific analysis of treated wood products in marine environments. 1994-1995 - BPC and Save the Bay Association collaborate in a joint project to preserve BCDC lest its functions be transferred to the Coastal Commission, and reform it. The collaboration produced 40 recommendations for reform at BCDC, which BCDC unanimously adopted. 1994 - BPC successfully urges the USACE to reorganize its San Francisco District Regulatory Branch based on the "project manager" model. 1991-1992 - BPC collaborates with the Homebuilders Association of Northern California and the Delta to establish and shape a new planning agency for the Delta, the Delta Protection Commission. 1991 - BPC secures the elimination of unauthorized State Lands Commission fees on dredging and streamlines dredging and mining lease procedures. 1990-2000 - BPC serves as the catalyst for the state-federal Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) for Dredged Material Disposal. The goal of the federal-state LTMS is to increase the availability of disposal options (in-Bay, ocean and upland) and establish a coordinated agency dredging permit process. 1990 - BPC and the California Chamber of Commerce form the California Wetland Consensus project, group of statewide business and environmental organizations. The group developed guidance which Governor Wilson subsequently adopted as the Governor's Wetland Policy Initiative. 1990 - BPC participates in the Limited Government Project in partnership with the Pacific Legal Foundation and the California Homebuilders Association. The Project advocated protection for property rights in federal land regulation. 1989-1991 - BCDC and MTC accept BPC's proposals for the Regional Seaport Plan. The proposals require the agencies to consider market factors in allocating land for seaport use. 1988-1998 - BPC forms a statewide committee on the implementation of the Bay Protection and Toxic Hot Spot Cleanup Program. The Committee works with the State Water Resources Control Board and its nine coastal regional boards over a period of ten years to achieve a scientifically sound and economically feasible cleanup program. 1988-1992 - The USEPA invites BPC to form and lead the business caucus in the development of the S. F. Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. The Plan, adopted by Governor Wilson in 1992, formed the basis for a new water quality strategy based on controlling nonpoint source pollution and strengthened the decisionmaking process for water allocation through the new CalFed program. 1988 - BPC, working with state and federal officials, facilitates the designation of the new Deepwater Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (DODS), greatly facilitating Bay dredging projects. 1986 - Ruling on a BPC petition, the state Office of Administrative Law strikes down another "underground regulation". The OAL rules that the wetland policies adopted by the SFRWQCB amount to a regulation and were not legally adopted. The law firm of Washburn, Briscoe & McCarthy represented BPC. 1985 - BPC organizes a scientific panel on the federal Clean Water Act's wetland plant list. It achieved a major agreement on placement of certain plants, such as lolium perenne, in obligate and facultative plant listings for purposes of USACE's wetland jurisdictional determinations. 1984 - The Governor Deukmejian approves BPC's recommended appointees to BCDC and the SFRWQCB. 1984 - Washburn, Briscoe & McCarthy files an amicus brief on behalf of BPC in the U. S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the Clean Water Act's wetland definition. 1983 - BPC prevails before the State Office of Administrative Law which rules that BCDC does not have jurisdiction over the so-called "Diked Historic Baylands". The law firm, Washburn, Briscoe & McCarthy represented BPC before the Office of Administrative Law. |
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