September 22, 1999
STATE WATER RESOURCES
CONTROL BOARD WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP SESSION – DIVISION OF WATER RIGHTS
October 6,
1999
ITEM: 15
SUBJECT: CERTIFICATION, PURSUANT TO
THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL
QUALITY ACT, OF THE FINAL PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT
(FINAL PEIR) FOR THE
LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (LTMS)
FOR THE
PLACEMENT OF DREDGED
MATERIAL IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY
REGION
DISCUSSION: The impacts of open-water,
unconfined disposal of dredged material in San Francisco
Bay have been of concern for many years. A group of state and federal agencies (U.S.
Army Corps of
Engineers, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, State
Water Resources Control Board, San
Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Control Board, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission) have
worked for the last decade to develop a new approach to the
management of this material. These agencies have worked closely with
local governments, port
authorities, the dredging community,
environmental groups, and others during this period. The result
of this effort is the LTMS,
a management policy for dredged materials management for the next 50
years.
The essence of this new
policy is that clean dredged material is to be viewed, whenever possible, as a
resource rather than as a waste
material. At present, nearly all clean
material dredged in the San
Francisco Bay area is
deposited in one of four disposal sites
within the Bay. Under the LTMS, the
goal is to use approximately
40% of this material for upland/wetland reuse, including restoration of tidal
wetlands; 40% to be disposed
of at the designated Deep Ocean Disposal Site about 50 miles west of
San Francisco; and the
remaining 20% to be deposited, as now, at existing disposal sites in the Bay.
Contaminated material is not
included in this policy document; such materials have separate disposal
guidelines.
The Final Programmatic
Environmental Impact Report (Final PEIR) document provides environmental
analysis of dredged material
handling alternatives. By itself, it
adopts no specific policy and imposes no
specific requirements on
dredging activities. Specific regulations and requirements will
evolve from a
Management Plan (MP) which
is currently under development by the
LTMS agencies, and which will
be incorporated into a San
Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Basin Plan
Amendment and a San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Bay Plan
Amendment.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency are the co-lead agencies
under the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA). These agencies have
recently completed the
Final Policy EIS and signed
a Record of Decision on July 16, 1999,
which certifies the Final Policy EIS.
These agencies have also
completed federal Endangered Species
Act consultations with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the
National Marine Fisheries Service, each of which has issued a final non-
jeopardy biological
opinion.
The State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB) is the lead agency under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As such, it has the authority to certify the
Final Programmatic
EIR. The SWRCB has completed California Endangered
Species Act consultation with the
California Department of
Fish and Game, which has issued a final non-jeopardy biological opinion.
POLICY ISSUE: Should the SWRCB adopt the
proposed resolution certifying that the LTMS Final
Programmatic EIR complies
with the requirements of CEQA?
FISCAL IMPACT: Funding for this activity is
currently included within the Division of Water
Rights. With certification of the Final PEIR, responsibility for project
oversight will shift to the
Division of Water Quality’s
Basin Planning Unit, and to the San
Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Control Board.
development and implementation of the MP and a Basin Plan Amendment. The Central Valey
RWQCB may also need to develop and adopt a Basin Plan Amendment to fully impl.ement
the final PEIR and the Management Plan.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the proposed
resolution, certifying that the LTMS
Final Programmatic EIR complies with the requirements of CEQA.
_____________________________________________________________________________
DRAFT September 22,
1999
STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD
CERTIFICATION, PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT, OF THE FINAL PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (PEIR) FOR THE LONG TERM MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (LTMS) FOR THE PLACEMENT OF DREDGED MATERIAL IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION
WHEREAS:
1. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) has served as the lead agency for the preparation of the LTMS PEIR, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), which have prepared the LTMS Policy Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
2. The SWRCB, USACE and USEPA have circulated the joint draft PEIS/PEIR for public review and comment.
3. The SWRCB, USACE and USEPA have responded to the comments received and have prepared a joint Final PEIS/PEIR.
4. The USACE and USEPA have certified the Final PEIS by jointly signing a Record of Decision on July 16, 1999.
5. The SWRCB has consulted with the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) under the California Endangered Species Act, and the DFG has issued a non-jeopardy biological opinion.
6. The SWRCB certifies that the PEIR has been completed in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)(Pub. Res. Code, § 21000 et seq.).
7. The SWRCB has reviewed and considered the information within the PEIR, and the PEIR reflects the independent judgment of the SWRCB.
8. As a plan-level document, no particular dredging projects are being approved under this PEIR. All Mitigation Measures identified in the PEIR will be incorporated into the LTMS agencies’ jointly-developed Management Plan, and further incorporated into a San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Basin Plan Amendment, a San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Bay Plan Amendment, and, as applicable, all permits issued thereunder. The San Francisco Bay and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Boards shall be responsible to monitor, in compliance with CEQA, that the Mitigation Measures described in Chapter 5 of the Final PEIS/PEIR are implemented in specific dredging, or dredged materials placement, projects in their Regions.
9. The SWRCB concludes that it is in the public interest to certify the Final PEIR, to be used in the preparation of a multi-agency Management Plan and implementing regulations, and for the preparation of a Basin Plan Amendment by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and a Bay Plan Amendment by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED THAT:
The SWRCB certifies that the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for the Long Term Management Strategy for the Placement of Dredged Material in the San Francisco Bay Region complies with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.
CERTIFICATION
The undersigned Administrative Assistant to the SWRCB does hereby certify that the forgoing is a full, true, and correct copy of a resolution duly and regularly adopted at a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board held on October 21, 1999.
________________________________
Maureen Marché
Administrative Assistant to the Board