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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08142012 - C.33RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT the report on San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel Navigation Issues and AUTHORIZE staff to proceed with next steps including drafting a joint powers agreement for interagency collaboration, as recommended by the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee. FISCAL IMPACT: NONE to the General Fund. Staff and consultant costs for developing a joint powers agency will be covered by the Suisun Bay/New York Slough Assessment District fund. Staff costs of other participating agencies will be covered by those agencies. BACKGROUND: The Board of Supervisors on October 11, 2011, on a recommendation from the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee, authorized staff to begin discussions with stakeholders along the San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel on the potential for collaborative efforts to plan and finance improvements to the channel. The Board's authorization to staff included a particular focus on the need to create disposal sites for sediment that is dredged periodically from APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 08/14/2012 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor ABSENT:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Contact: John Greitzer, 925-674-7824 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: August 14, 2012 David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: Carrie Del Bonta, Deputy cc: C. 33 To:Board of Supervisors From:Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Comm Date:August 14, 2012 Contra Costa County Subject:REPORT on navigation issues with recommendations on ship-channel collaboration Report to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (Recommended for Board acceptance by the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee on July 5, 2012) on San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel Navigation Issues Prepared by Lawrence G. Mallon for the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development (Water Agency) June 2012 Executive Summary Contra Costa County staff and consultant conducted 20 interviews with stakeholders in the navigation community including private sector, local, regional and state officials to determine existing and future navigation needs and gaps in current coverage. Here are our key findings based on the interviews and on our research and analysis. • A common need was expressed for identifying sites to dispose of dredged material, and for beneficial reuse of the material for purposes such as restoring levees or habitat. Some disposal sites are almost full, and environmental policies are limiting future use of in-Bay or ocean sites for disposal, putting even more emphasis on the need for upland disposal sites (meaning sites that are on land instead of under water). • The Army Corps’ effort to develop a long-term management strategy for disposal of dredged material from the Delta has stalled for years due to a lack of funding. The County’s annual congressional requests for federal funding for this effort have not been granted. • No regional entity exists to coordinate these needs and work with the Army Corps of Engineers on a plan to deal with dredged material. • No regional entity exists to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on their ship- channel deepening projects (the County is one of the local sponsors of these projects). • The stakeholders, such as local jurisdictions and ports, indicated they are interested in a collaborative effort to deal with these issues, along with joint advocacy for funding for navigation improvements. • The County’s existing joint powers agreement (JPA) with the Port of Stockton could be broadened to include all the stakeholders and establish a regional collaborative entity to deal with these specific needs in the navigation community. Other institutional options could also be considered. • Several stakeholders encouraged joint regional advocacy for federal funding for ship channel improvements, rather than each entity lobbying on its own. • An initial discussion was held with the Western States Petroleum Association on a potential new assessment district that would levy annual assessments on shipping- dependent industries to help finance creation of disposal sites for dredged material. As beneficiaries of the dredging, these businesses would pay a “fair share” assessment. However, no commitment has been made. Further discussions will be sought by the County in the months ahead on this issue. • Available revenues from a now-expired assessment district could help defray costs of dealing with dredged material disposal issues which are outlined in this report. 2 Table of Contents 1. Purpose of this report…………………………………………...4 2. Approach and methodology…………………………………….4 3. Background on the Ship Channels Deepening Project………….5 4. Background on disposal of dredged material…………..….……8 4.a Development of policies on dredged material disposal...9 4.b Major upland disposal site availability…………………10 4.c Examples of beneficial reuse of dredged material………11 5. Issues raised by stakeholders…………………………….………13 6. Recommendations………………………………………………..17 7. Tasks for new regional entity…………………………………….20 8. Next steps.…………………………..…………………………….21 Appendix: list of stakeholder interviews and site visits….………….24 Figures Map 1. San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel…………after page 4 Map 2. Authorized depths of channel segments…………..after page 6 3 1. Purpose of this report The purpose of this report is to summarize the recent review by County staff and consultant of existing institutional arrangements that deal with navigation issues along the San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels. The report particularly focuses on two things: where and how to dispose of dredged material, and County participation in the ship-channel deepening projects being led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels consist of two adjacent channels covering 75 miles in all: The San Francisco or “John F. Baldwin” Ship Channel which extends from the Golden Gate, through the Carquinez Straits, to Chipps Island off Pittsburg; and the Stockton Ship Channel, from Chipps Island to the Port of Stockton (see Map 1). The report specifically looks at: (1) the 1999 Joint Powers Authority formed by the County and the Port of Stockton to deal with planning for the deepening of the San Francisco to Stockton Ship Channels. The JPA was formed for the purpose of providing Local Sponsorship for project planning purposes, including supporting operation and maintenance of the critical Suisun Bay and New York Slough channel segments; and (2) the potential for a successor to an assessment district that was administered by the County from 1999 to 2004 for shoreline industrial property owners roughly from Martinez to Antioch (along the portions of the channel known as Suisun Bay Channel and New York Slough). The annual assessments were levied to help finance the creation of a new site for disposal of dredged material. 2. Approach and methodology The work that is reported here was conducted in three phases, as described below. Phase 1: Historical research and compilation of reference materials concerning (a) regional navigation policy, investment, and oversight, and (b) the regulatory regime over dredged material disposal under the Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and the Army Corps’ Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS, which limits disposal of dredged material and promotes beneficial reuse of that material. Phase 2: Review of the creation of the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) involving the County and the Port of Stockton, and the Maintenance Assessment District that existed from 1999 to 2004 for shoreline industrial properties, and the subsequent relevant experience and lessons learned over the years of those institutional arrangements; and 4 Danville Bethel Island Discovery Bay Knightsen Byron Ryer Island Stake Point Point Edith Dillon Point §¨¦80 £¤101 §¨¦880 §¨¦580 §¨¦680 §¨¦580§¨¦580 §¨¦5 §¨¦5 }þ4 }þ24 §¨¦680 §¨¦80 §¨¦80 §¨¦680 }þ12 }þ12 Golden Gate Donlan Island Wetland Area Port of Stockton Browns Island Carqu i n e z Middle Ground San Pablo Strait Crockett Rodeo Bay PointClyde Port Costa Lathrop San Leandro Moraga Point San Pablo Point PinolePoint San Pedro Tiberon Angel Island Treasure Island Rindge Tract Roberts Island Rough and Ready Island Holland Tract Union Island Castro Valley Grizzly Bay Honker Bay Contra Costa County £¤101 £¤101 El Cerrito }þ4 San Francisco Bay San Pablo Bay Suisun Bay PACIFIC OCEAN S a n J o a q uin RiverOl d Ri v e r S acram en to R iver Strait Oakland Stockton Vallejo Concord Antioch Fairfield Tracy Hayward Livermore Grand Island Richmond Oakley Benicia Orinda Pleasanton Grizzly Island San Francisco Dublin Ryer Island Pittsburg Lafayette Novato Brentwood Lodi San Rafael Martinez Tyler Island Berkeley Staten Island Alameda ShermanIsland Andrus Island Pinole Rio Vista Victoria Island Webb Tract Brannan Island Hercules Bacon Island Bouldin Island McDonald Island Mare Island King IslandEmpire Tract Twitchell Island Walnut Creek San Ramon Cordelia Pleasant Hill Jersey Island Clayton Mandeville Island Venice Island Napa San Pablo Corte Madera Sausalito Bradford IslandVan Sickle Island SimmonsIsland Woodward Island Coney Island Medford Island Chipps Island Quimby Island Winter Island Sonoma Roe Island }þ12 }þ160 }þ84 }þ37 }þ24 }þ113}þ116 }þ121 }þ1 }þ29 }þ13 }þ242 }þ99 }þ120 }þ12 }þ160 }þ84 }þ1 }þ29 §¨¦5§¨¦80 §¨¦80 567J4 §¨¦580 §¨¦680 §¨¦880 §¨¦205 §¨¦280 §¨¦780 §¨¦238 §¨¦980 }þ4 }þ4 }þ4 }þ4 }þ37 §¨¦580 Solano County San Joaquin County Alameda County Marin County Sonoma County Sacramento County Napa County San Mateo County San Francisco County Richmond Outer Harbor Channel Pinole Shoal Channel Bulls Head Reach Suisun Bay Channel New York Slough San Francisco Bay to Stockton, CaliforniaJohn F. Baldwin and Stockton Shipping Channels µ 0 5 102.5 Miles Map Created on July 6th, 2012 by Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development, GIS Group 30 Muir Road, Martinez, CA 94553 37:59:41.791N 122:07:03.756W######### ###The base data for the Shipping Channel was derived from various sources. The County assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. This map contains copyrighted information and may not be altered. It may be reproduced in its current state if the source is cited. Users of this map agree to read and accept the County of Contra Costa disclaimer of liability for geographic information.#North Channel West Richmond Channel San Francisco Bar Channel ###Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel## John F. Baldwin Channel ## Phase 3: Interviews with public and private stakeholders about navigation issues, to gain their insight and experience as the basis for the development of a strategic regional approach summarized in this report. In all, staff and consultant conducted 20 public-sector and private-sector stakeholder interviews and three dredged material disposal site visits in three rounds between November, 2011 and June 2012. A full list of interviewees and interview dates is included in the Appendix to this report. The broad range and comprehensive array of representative interviews included: (1) Governmental entities including Solano County, and Cities and Port authorities including the Stockton Port District, the Port of West Sacramento, and the Port of Richmond; (2) Federal and state agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers (both their San Francisco and Sacramento District Offices), US Environmental Protection Agency Region IX , and California Department of Water Resources; (3) Subject matter experts including: San Francisco Bar Pilots; Bay Planning Coalition (BPC), and the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council (CMANC) (4) Consultants on flood control and levee restoration (5) Owners of disposal sites for dredged material; and (6) The Western States Petroleum Association which represents the five major petroleum refineries in Contra Costa and Solano Counties Successive rounds of interviews and site visits from such a broad cross-section of stakeholders yielded a wealth of insight, suggestions and recommendations on navigation needs and the potential for regional collaboration. In turn, the process afforded the opportunity for secondary vetting of preliminary findings with stakeholders and the ability to follow-up on stakeholder recommendations as the process progressed from one round of interviews to the next. 3. Background on the San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels Federal Navigation Project (the Ship Channel Deepening Project) The San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel Navigation Project owes its Congressional authorization to local initiative, including support from then U.S. Representative John Finley Baldwin Jr. of Martinez (the project’s namesake) for its inclusion in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965. The ship channel and its natural and manmade tributaries represent a post-Gold Rush marine gateway to the State Capitol of Sacramento and the New Deal-era public works agricultural link to the Central Valley. The Project is no less a remarkable feat of engineering than the Golden Gate Bridge or the Bay Bridge. 5 The Project includes two principal segments: (1) the San Francisco Bay (John F Baldwin) ship channel with an authorized depth of 45 feet, and (2) the Stockton Deepwater Ship Channel (from Avon to the Port of Stockton) with an authorized depth of 35 feet. “Authorized depth” is the maximum depth that a shipping channel is permitted to be, per an act of Congress that specifies it. The authorized depth in a Congressional act is based on recommendations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some shipping channels have not yet been deepened to their authorized depth, including portions of the San Francisco-to-Stockton Shipping Channels (see Map 2). The San Francisco Bay (John F. Baldwin) Channel The San Francisco Bay (John F. Baldwin) Channel has been improved and deepened in phases since the 1950s. The remaining phase – Phase III – would deepen several segments of the channel including Pinole Shoals in San Pablo Bay, Carquinez Strait, and Suisun Bay beyond their current depth of 35 feet. They are authorized for 45 feet, but it is unlikely they will be deepened to that much due to cost and environmental impacts. Stockton Deepwater Ship Channel In the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930 Congress authorized construction of the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel through the San Joaquin River and Delta islands to the Port of Stockton, to 30 feet in depth. The project was completed in 1933. A further deepening to 35 feet was completed in 1985. Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel In 1963 Congress authorized construction of the manmade Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel to 30 feet in depth. Not considered part of the San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channels, the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel runs from the Port of West Sacramento, southward to the Delta, running parallel to the Sacramento River. In 1986 Congress authorized a new project depth of 35 feet, comparable to the Stockton channel. Stalled for years due to lack of funding, the Sacramento deepening project recently restarted with State Proposition 1B bond proceeds. Indicative of the interdependency of these two ship channels, both ports (Stockton and Sacramento) already coordinate annual periodic maintenance dredging by sharing some costs but each must still independently locate adequate suitable “upland disposal” capacity for dredged material both from channel deepening work (adding as much as 30 million cubic yards of additional material to the region) and ongoing operation and maintenance dredging. 6 Napa Oakland Alameda Concord Antioch Vallejo Berkeley Richmond Stockton Daly City Livermore Fairfield Vacaville San Leandro Walnut Creek San Francisco U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERSPROJECT AREAPACIFIC OC E A N SAC RAMENTO RIV ERSAN JUAQ U IN R IV E R GRIZZLY BAYSUISUN BAYSAN P A B L O BAY SAN FRA N CISCO BAY VICINITY MAP P A C IFI C OCEANSAN FRANCISCO BAY TO STOCKTON WORK COMPLETED AND PROPOSED SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICTSOUTH PACIFIC DIVISION 1 JANUARY 2010 NAVIGATIONCALIFORNIA LEGEND GRR/EIS IN PROGRESS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEEPENING THESE CHANNELS. NAVIGATION ROUTE OUTSIDE OF GRR/EIS STUDY AREA NAVIGATION ROUTEWITHIN GRR/EIS STUDY AREA. CURRENT DEPTH -35 F TAUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT PINOLE SHOAL CHANNEL WEST RICHMONDCHANNEL CURRENT DEPTH -35 F TAUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZEDDEPTH OF -35 FT. STOCKTON DEEP WATER SHIP CHANNELRICHMOND LONG WHARF MANEUVERING AREA AND SOUTHAMPTON SHOAL CHANNEL COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZEDDEPTH OF -45 FT. COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZEDDEPTH OF -55 FT. SAN FRANCISCO BAR CHANNEL CURRENT DEPTH -35 F TAUTHORIZED DEPTH -45 FT SUISUN BAY CHANNEL -WEST OF CHIPPS ISLAND COMPLETED TO AUTHORIZED DEPTH OF 35 FT SUISUN BAY CHANNEL -EAST OF CHIPPS ISLAND Map 2. “Upland disposal” means the disposal of dredged material at a site that is on land, as opposed to dumping the material in the ocean or in the bay. “Operation and maintenance” or “maintenance dredging” means periodic dredging to maintain proper depths. Proposition 1B trade corridors financing support Both the Stockton and Sacramento deepening projects expect to benefit from $17.5 million in state funds administered through the California Transportation Commission (CTC) from the proceeds of bonds issued by the State under the voter-enacted Proposition 1B Trade Corridor program. Those funds remain available if each port can initiate construction (meaning begin the deepening work) prior to December 2013. The Sacramento channel deepening project has already met this requirement. The Port of Stockton recently downsized its project and should satisfy the December 2013 deadline to start construction, if its environmental impact report/statement (EIR/EIS) is approved and certified in early 2013. Local Cooperation Agreement as requirement for construction and maintenance of San Francisco Bay (John F Baldwin) and Stockton Ship Channels Projects The County is a party to a Local Cooperation Agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Stockton, assigning the County and the Port their roles as local sponsors of the ship channel deepening project. Joint execution of the original Local Cooperation Agreement was the pre-requisite for construction of the deepening project (and other related projects under separate acts of Congress) by the Army Corps of Engineers. Without a Local Cooperative Agreement to designate local sponsors, the Army Corps has no legal authority to construct necessary improvements or maintain the Federal channels and expend Federal appropriations (this need for a local sponsor differentiates navigation projects from other water projects (such as water supply, flood control, or reclamation). Elements of Local Cooperation The Local Cooperation Agreement obligates the Local Sponsors to provide certain elements of local cooperation. These elements include: “riparian elements of lands, easements and rights of way over State tidelands and submerged lands, later expanded to encompass required relocations of utility crossings under State law, maintenance of berths and access channels to authorized channel depths, and upland disposal sites for dredged material disposal (emphasis added).” 7 In the County’s Local Cooperation Agreement, the required elements of local cooperation (for the County and the Port of Stockton) relating to operation and maintenance are to: (1) provide suitable areas for disposal of dredged material ("upland disposal sites"), including, among other things, all necessary dredged material retention dikes, bulkheads, and embankments, or the cost of such retaining works; (2) hold and save the federal government free from damages to wharves, bridge piers, and other marine and submarine structures, and agricultural lands due to initial dredging work and subsequent maintenance dredging, and due to deposition of dredged material, except damages due to the fault or negligence of the Government or its contractors (note that the County does not own or operate any wharves or bridge piers in the shipping channel); and (3) provide and maintain without cost to the federal government all necessary berthing areas, at depths commensurate with project depths, at all terminals and wharves to be served by the deepened channels (local service facilities). Impetus for establishment of JPA and Maintenance Assessment District Establishment of the JPA with the Port of Stockton, and the Maintenance Assessment District for shoreline industries, was necessary in order to satisfy the primary legal obligation of the County and Port as joint non-Federal Project sponsors. Both the JPA (which still exists) and the assessment district (which does not) focused on providing adequate upland disposal site capacity to meet current and anticipated future maintenance dredging volumes. This report recommends that these functions may be better discharged from a regional perspective through a collaborative effort of all navigation interests along the ship channel. Since the need for upland disposal is faced by all of the channel’s ports, industries and cities who operate wharves or marinas, there is much to be gained by working collaboratively to develop a regional management plan for disposing of dredged material. More information follows, on the issue of dredged material disposal. 4. Disposal of dredged material The shipping community and shoreline jurisdictions have become increasingly concerned about how, and where, to dispose of the material that is dredged from the bottom of the shipping channel. Dredging occurs on a regular basis in many locations – annually in some locations, less frequently in other locations. Any dredging work has to have a disposal site where the excavated material can be placed. There are at least two factors that are limiting the traditional open-ocean and in-bay disposal sites. One is the fact that some of the disposal sites are nearing their capacity (meaning they are almost full). The other is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ environmental policy that is limiting future use of in-water (“aquatic”) disposal sites, 8 instead directing dredgers to dispose of the material in upland sites, preferably to be put to some beneficial use such as restoration of levees or wildlife habitat. This chapter of the report looks at three aspects of this issue -- the development of the Corps’ policy limiting aquatic disposal; the major upland disposal sites that are available; and examples of beneficial reuse of dredged material. 4.a Development of the Army Corps of Engineers’ disposal policy: the San Francisco Bay Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) Beginning in 1965 (the same year the ship channel deepening project was authorized) a first-of-its-kind policy for managing dredged material in San Francisco Bay was initiated, due to the perceived need to limit disposal of dredged material in the Bay, in favor of upland disposal. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was established by the 1965 McAteer-Petris Act, the nation’s first coastal management act. Before its creation one third of the historic San Francisco Bay had been lost to landfill. Without it, it has been estimated that 70% of the Bay would already be filled. It was also the first regional regulatory agency imposed upon a major metropolitan area by popular vote and legislative fiat, paving the way for the California Coastal Act in 1976. The BCDC’s landmark San Francisco Bay Plan set the precedent for multiple uses of the Bay and a balance between development, sustainability, and water-dependent uses including navigation. BCDC was the catalyst for the 1990 Army Corps of Engineers’ Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) for the placement of dredged material in San Francisco Bay. The policy objectives were to (1) identify dredged material disposal sites, (2) develop management, economic and environmental plans for these sites, (3) implement a decision making framework for site usage and streamline the permit procedures, and (4) establish long- term site monitoring. One of the key outcomes of the Long-Term Management Strategy is the “40-40-20” policy, which states that of all the dredged material, at least 40% must be deposited on upland sites or used in beneficial reuse; no more than 40% can be disposed in the ocean (at the Corps’ site near the Farallon Islands), and no more than 20% can be disposed of in the Bay. The LTMS brought to the national forefront the potential use of dredged material for wetland, levee, and habitat restoration, promoting the beneficial reuse of dredged material as a resource rather than a byproduct. More recently, the Army Corps of Engineers began to work on a similar Long Term Management Strategy for the Delta (Delta LTMS). Five agencies (the Army Corps, Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Water Resources, the now- defunct California Bay-Delta Authority, and Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board) began meeting to examine dredging, reuse and disposal needs in the 9 Delta. This effort has been dormant for the past several years due to a lack of funding for the Army Corps to pursue it. The County’s annual requests for federal funding for the Delta LTMS have not been granted by Congress. The goals of the Delta LTMS, in whatever form it eventually takes, are to collectively manage dredging activities to support and maintain Delta channel functions for navigation, flood control, water conveyance, and terrestrial ecosystems, and protect and enhance water quality for Delta water supply and ecosystem functions. The lack of a Delta LTMS notwithstanding, the Army Corp’s 40-40-20 policy compels dredging stakeholders to make a concerted effort to identify more upland disposal sites and specific beneficial reuses that need dredged material. Thus there is a continuing need for the JPA and possibly a future Maintenance Assessment District or other financing mechanism, to meet the requirements of the 40-40-20 policy. 4.b Major upland disposal sites Ten-plus years of operating under the County-and-Port of Stockton JPA, and the five- year Maintenance Assessment District, yielded several potential disposal sites. These are: (1) Winter Island, privately owned and operated at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and Suisun Bay in Contra Costa County. It has five miles of perimeter levee restoration, has 200,000 cubic yards capacity per year by barges; silt and sand material is most desirable for levee restoration. (2) Montezuma wetlands, privately owned and operated, located on Montezuma Slough in Solano County. It may accept both cover and non-cover material not normally acceptable for unconfined aquatic disposal barges. (3) Van Sickle Island, a 2362-acre island on the western edge of the Delta within Suisun Marsh in Solano County. It is privately owned and operated, authorized to accept 6,000 to 8,000 cubic yard per year for levee restoration. There is a request in to accept 500,000 to one million cubic yards over a ten-year period The Pinole Shoals, Suisun Bay, and New York Slough reaches of the John F Baldwin segment (as shown on Map 1) are maintained (dredged) by the Army Corps of Engineers at annual intervals or in response to reports received from the San Francisco Bar Pilots about shoaling conditions, meaning the buildup of sediment on the bottom of the channel. The volume of material annually dredged depends upon the seasonal amount of upstream runoff from rain and weather patterns and cycles (e.g. El Nino), natural depth and flushing at Carquinez Straits, and local conditions in each segment of the channel. Currently annual maintenance of the Carquinez Strait occurs using an in-Bay aquatic site (subject to phase out). Pinole Shoals Channel in San Pablo Bay is dredged annually with disposal for maintenance purposes at the Suisun Bay disposal site for now. The Suisun 10 Bay Channel maintenance dredging likewise occurs annually with disposal at the Suisun Bay site. Periodic (quadrennial) maintenance of the New York Slough Channel segment occurs with upland deposit of material on the state-owned Sherman Island at one of its two disposal sites. Minimum under-the-keel bottom clearance for vessels is required for safe ship handling in a constricted channel environment, typical of most reaches (segments) of the San Francisco to Stockton Ship Channels. No one wants a collision or grounding resulting in a large oil spill or similar high consequence event in the San Francisco Bay or Delta estuary system. These maintenance dredging needs triggered the formation of the Suisun Bay/New York Slough Maintenance Assessment District (jointly by the County and Port of Stockton). The district was formed in response to a request by the Army Corps for an upland disposal site to receive dredged material from an annual maintenance dredging event in the Suisun Bay Channel. The Assessment District was created as a five-year effort from 1999 to 2004, in which shoreline properties roughly from Martinez to Antioch (properties along the New York Slough and Suisun Bay Channel segments of the ship channel) were levied an annual assessment, to finance the identification and creation of an upland site to dispose of the material that was excavated during maintenance dredging of those channel segments. The Assessment District generated over $2 million over the five-year period. Some of the funds were spent on planning and analysis that identified two potential sites and selected one of them, on Sherman Island. However, the process of creating a site was halted when the State Department of Water Resources (which owns Sherman Island) insisted the County assume unlimited liability for the site. The County did not agree to these terms, so the project was terminated and the assessment district reached its sunset in 2004. The unused funds, approximately $2 million, remain in the assessment district fund, which is administered by the County. The funds are now being used to cover the county’s renewed efforts to identify upland disposal opportunities for dredged material. 4.c Examples of beneficial reuse projects using dredged material Over the last decade the pace of dredged material management accelerated, while a new paradigm of potential beneficial reuse of dredged material emerged whose viability was proven in a series of Army Corps projects to restore wetlands. Following is a summary of experience to date with beneficial reuse of dredged material. • Sonoma Baylands Wetland Demonstration Project 11 Imposition of the Bay LTMS “40-40-20” rule spawned a series of beneficial reuse projects for dredged material under the direction of the Arm Corps of Engineers, beginning with the Sonoma Baylands Wetland Demonstration Project. Starting in 1994 the project involved 348 (eventually reduced to 289) acres of formerly diked and drained farmland including seasonal wetlands in Southwestern Sonoma County near the mouth of the Petaluma River subject to subsidence on the order of five feet below sea level. When completed in 1996 the project represented the largest planned tidal wetlands restoration project in the United States. The California Coastal Conservancy is the Local Sponsor for the demonstration project. No additional dredged material will be deposited at the site. A comprehensive interagency review completed in 2005 highlighted deficiencies in planning, design (continuing sill erosion), site monitoring, and slow development of a salt march biological community despite the selection of only two species for monitoring and management purposes. • Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration Project The former Hamilton Army Airfield Wetland Restoration Project located 25 miles north of San Francisco in the City of Novato involved the military facility decommissioned under the 1988 Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) by the Department of Defense. The project represents a partnership of the Army Corps of Engineers and the California Coastal Conservancy with assistance from BCDC. The design process reflects a level of maturity and resources far exceeding the aforementioned Sonoma Baylands project. It was designed to restore approximately 829 acres of tidal and seasonal wetland of the former 1600 acre Hamilton Army Air Base adjacent to San Pablo Bay in Marin County that had been diked with levees and drained in the 1800’s and likewise subsided to a depth of eight feet. The site was evaluated for deposit of dredged material from the John F Baldwin Deepwater Ship Channel and Oakland Harbor 50-foot deepening projects. The plan was to deposit dredged material to raise subsided elevations of diked former baylands, breaching the levee, and creating a system of tidal and seasonal wetlands of varying elevations. The Plan is ongoing, scheduled for completion in 2014 following deposition of dredged material at the site under a site operations plan with levee breaching expected to occur in 2015. Dredged material from the Oakland Harbor is driving both the Hamilton Army Airfield and Montezuma Slough wetland restoration projects (the latter is discussed below). • Montezuma Wetlands Restoration Project (Collinsville, Solano County) The Montezuma Wetlands Restoration Project is a combined industrial-scale 2,400-acre wetland restoration project and sediment re-handling facility located in Collinsville, Solano County on the Sacramento River upstream of the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. 12 The phased project combines a high velocity 5,000-cubic-yard hydraulic pumping capacity per hour with 24 miles of piping system to accept up to 17 million cubic yards of dredged material including de-watering of the material to raise subsided land to elevations suitable for restoration of tidal marsh. The first phases of the project are designed to receive dredged material from the Port of Oakland. These projects have proven the basic hypothesis and concept of beneficial reuse of dredged material for wetland habitat restoration. They have evolved from small pilot projects to commercially sustainable industrial-scale projects with sufficient technology to match rates of hydraulic river suction dredging, dewatering and deposition across large wetland restoration projects. • South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project The earlier wetland restoration projects have laid the foundation for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast. Dredged material from maintenance dredging of the port of Redwood City is deposited directly into ponds in a form of salt marsh restoration. Three ponds comprising 630 acres have already had levees breached restoring tidal flow. Additional material will be needed for levee restoration as flood protection. The project is yielding invaluable data and insight into the synergistic effect of wetland habitat and levee restoration. It is leading to an emerging recognition that there is an overall sediment budget for the San Francisco Bay and watershed notwithstanding 150 years of human intervention. The growing body of knowledge suggests that regional sediment management strategies adopt amore holistic methodology that takes into account a broader definition of beneficial reuse of dredged material. These evolutionary steps in our overall understanding of regional sediment management bode well for large-scale navigation projects but not necessarily for routine maintenance dredging. The Port of Richmond, for example, with the imposition of federal restrictions on continued in-Bay disposal near Alcatraz, will in all likelihood have to utilize either deep-ocean or upland disposal sites, which will be more expensive for them as these sites are farther from the Port of Richmond and thus will involve higher transportation costs. Associated Local Sponsor-required berth dredging by the Port of Richmond’s commercial tenants, or by the refineries, will also face this same fate when traditional Suisun Bay disposal sites reach capacity and are phased out. 5. Issues raised in stakeholder discussions The research, stakeholder interviews, site visits and analysis yielded several planning and operational issues to be addressed as part of the process of refocusing the JPA and potentially a financing mechanism, such as an assessment district, in the years ahead. 13 The persistent theme and most significant advice given by stakeholders was to focus on planning and operational issues that transcend the capability of any one port or agency to address and require a broad regional perspective. In order to achieve early success, the regional effort – such as through a JPA -- should focus on one or two issues that are winnable in the near term while representing initial steps toward resolving long- term issues. Issue # 1: Need for coordinated local participation in ship-channel deepening projects. There is a need for coordinated local sponsorship of the San Francisco Bay to Stockton ship-channel deepening project involving both public and private stakeholders in the planning process for new construction and dredged material management. From the interviews with stakeholders it is apparent that the Stockton Port District, Army Corps of Engineers, oil refineries and other stakeholders would clearly benefit from the collective input and representation of a collaborative entity such as a JPA covering the entire length of the ship channels. This would include working with the Army Corps on the analysis of planning scenarios and options for constructing necessary channel improvements, and management of additional dredged material from project construction and increased operations and maintenance dredging volumes. Another key piece of advice provided to staff by port representatives was to identify the gaps in planning and advocacy that are not currently being provided, and to develop an effective collective strategy and steps required to fill those gaps. Unlike in 1999, no group of constituents has actively banded together to request the County’s active intervention in navigation matters. This time the initiative was generated by the County in its effort to resume its active participation in navigation matters and determine if there was interest in multi-party collaboration on navigation, dredging, or financing issues. In our stakeholder conversations, stakeholders indicated they would welcome assistance in identifying and securing long-term adequate disposal capacity. The same informal message emanates from Army Corps staff and became more pronounced in consecutive meetings as staff invitations for discussions have increased. The need for regional collaboration was echoed and encouraged time and again in further meetings with past and current representatives of the Bay Planning Coalition, California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Currently no public agency can speak from a truly regional perspective on the importance of navigation and commerce –and the paramount need to maintain and improve that priceless public asset reflecting substantial public investment - embodied in the deepening projects on the San Francisco-to-Stockton channels and the Sacramento channel. As a County Water Agency with a broader perspective than merely navigation, the County’s voice through the JPA is an indispensable element in that equation. 14 Issue #2: Need for collaborative efforts in seeking federal funds for channel projects The stakeholders along the ship channel have one potential advantage in lobbying for funds that is not necessarily present in other major shipping channels around the country. No other region that we know of has such a long ship channel – 75 miles from just outside the Golden Gate at San Francisco, to the Port of Stockton – authorized as one project in federal legislation. Other major shipping channels have their federal funding authorizations broken into smaller localized projects. By having such a long ship-channel authorized as one project, there is opportunity for stakeholders to work together and jointly advocate for their needs at the federal level, since the entire channel is seen as one project. The entire San Francisco-to-Stockton Ship Channel spans four congressional districts. Adding the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel to the mix adds two more congressional districts, for six altogether. As continuing political uncertainty surrounds the Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging budget, the importance of the unified, single-project authorization and linkage to related projects such as deepenings at Richmond and Sacramento cannot be underestimated in effective proponency before State and Federal authorities. Issue #3: Need for additional upland disposal sites for the Ports of Richmond, Stockton, and Sacramento, Contra Costa refineries and cities, and planning and financing mechanisms for providing that capacity. This issue has several dimensions. One is the need to identify anticipated volumes of dredged material from maintaining existing authorized channel depths, additional volumes associated with future channel improvements (as much as 30 million cubic yards of material), and increased maintenance material in the future. There is a need for a 10-to-20- year plan to match demand volume with disposal site capacity. The focus should be upon beneficial reuse of the dredged material (encompassing both one-time deepening or construction projects and ongoing maintenance dredging), and placement for levee restoration. With the Montezuma Wetlands site currently permitted for17 million cubic yards of material, much of it coming from the Oakland Harbor, other upland disposal sites are needed. There is, therefore, a recognized need for a regional strategy and funding mechanism for defining, conducting, and financing additional site capacity without having to wait for the last minute, as happened in 1999 with the Sherman Island advance agreement entered into between the County and the Army Corps of Engineers. One option is to create a new maintenance assessment district, broader in scope than the 1999-2004 assessment district, to finance additional transportation, placement, testing and reuse of dredged material for levee restoration. An initial conversation with a private 15 sector representative on May 10, 2012, indicated that local industries were not particularly supportive of the assessment district idea, though they are willing to discuss the issue further. Concerns were raised that the prior assessment district was not able to complete its task, leaving questions about whether an assessment district is the best approach to take. Another dimension is the need for a maintenance dredging contractual arrangement between a JPA (in lieu of the County) and the Army Corps including standby authority to advance some of the remaining funds from the assessment district (or a successor assessment district) to conduct emergency dredging such as with Bulls Head Reach in the Suisun Bay channel and to create or identify an upland site for that deposit. Bulls Head Reach is an area near the mouth of Suisun Bay (see Map 1) where sediment on the bottom frequently builds up to a height that is unsafe for ships, requiring emergency “knockdown” dredging to be performed on short notice. This means the sediment is knocked flat and left on the bottom of the ship channel, rather than excavated and taken to a disposal site. The Army Corps is looking at options for dealing with this recurring problem. Issue #4: Need for long term regional sediment strategy and Dredged Material Management Plan including beneficial reuse and safety stockpiling of new material We have broken this issue out separately to underscore its long term importance and the concomitant need for a champion that can fashion a broader coalition beyond the navigation and environmental community of interest to include the California Department of Water Resources, Army Corps of Engineers, perhaps the reclamation districts, and others in addressing this critical problem for which we have a potential solution. The Army Corps of Engineers’ Dredged Material Management Plan is a blueprint for where and how to dispose of dredged material from specific dredging and deepening projects. It is more specific than the Long Term Management Strategy, which is more of a policy document than a plan. There is clearly an emerging perspective from various stakeholders that there is a need for an agency such as a JPA to provide the necessary planning leadership to assist the Army Corps of Engineers in the development of a regional management plan for dredged 16 material. This work by a JPA would be performed in collaboration with the ports, state and federal agencies, and potentially the reclamation districts This need emerges from our many discussions with stakeholders and is based jupon the collective experience of more than a decade of experience under the Bay Long Term Management Strategy and lessons learned with various wetland restoration demonstration projects. This need for regional sediment management is of critical importance to the region and the State, as it offers material for use in levee emergency response. There is a unique opportunity to solve multiple problems with a corresponding need for long-term material placement in a cost-effective manner. The JPA role would be principally in coordinated interagency planning and in orchestrating a strategic effort to synchronize multiple dredging episodes over time with strategic placement and stockpiling where it is needed in time of emergency. 6. Recommendations Staff and consultant analyzed and synthesized the major themes from the 20 stakeholder interviews spanning almost six months. On the basis of the interviews, there is a recurring question about vision. The visionary question is whether the JPA should articulate a clear vision and mission, and associated planning guidance and leadership that is noticeably absent from the overall perspective of the San Francisco Bay- to-Stockton Federal navigation project. There are many compelling reasons to address a manifest leadership vacuum in regional navigation policy, planning and execution. One is the clear need, established in many of the stakeholder interviews, for collaboration on navigation projects across the entire length of the ship channel, embracing a regional perspective. The ideal candidate to fill this vacuum must be a multi-purpose rather than a single purpose unit of State government. The entity should ideally possess an overall water resources perspective. It should encompass the geographic span and sphere of influence (including key beneficiaries such as oil refineries) over the critical marine transportation choke points at the confluence of the Delta, the two major rivers flowing into the San Francisco Bay and potentially involve all of the navigation interests along the entire length of the channel. Recommendation #1 -- Establish a collaborative regional entity across the entire ship channel There is a void in regional planning corresponding to the regional importance and dimension of the entire project that is manifest in both the planning for channel-wide improvements and the need for additional upland site capacity to accommodate 17 anticipated volumes of material for both new construction and ongoing operation and maintenance dredging. No existing non-profit private organization or public agency has the requisite focus, mandate, authority, capability, and resources – particularly a financing mechanism such as an assessment district--to address regional sediment management. A JPA could serve as such a regional entity. There is an opportunity of immense regional importance in the potential to use the JPA, and potentially a financing mechanism such as an assessment district, as they were originally intended when first created in the 1990s. This will carry the vision and regional planning capability beyond a single purpose agency to address dredged material management again from an overall regional perspective and the best uses and placement of that material for the benefit of the entire region. Once the vision and the course and direction are set, the questions of geographic scope, focus and composition become more sharply defined, providing a unified focus. The geographic scope of the JPA and/or a potential financing entity must be regional, encompassing the entire ship channel. It must encompass the John F Baldwin Channel and each of its critical reaches which are subject to phase-out of open aquatic disposal of dredged material. The joint entity, whether a JPA or otherwise, should also include interdependent projects that are connected and rely upon the main deepening project for direct access to San Francisco Bay such as the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel. The principal focus should remain on channel-wide Local Sponsor planning for new construction, and expansion of the dredged material management reach from the original two segments (Suisun Bay and New York Slough) to the entire ship channel. The following entities ideally would be invited to joint a new JPA: (1) Contra Costa County (2) Stockton Port District (3) Solano County (4) City and Port of West Sacramento (5) City and Port of Richmond (6) City of Martinez (7) City of Benicia (8) City of Pittsburg (9) City of Antioch Navigation is too important to the regional economy and emerging gaps and seams between planning and regulatory authority to continue fragmented project-by-project planning and execution, especially maintenance dredging and dredged material management 18 A refocused JPA would have the bargaining power to enter into a comprehensive long term memorandum of agreement with the state Department of Water Resources and other arrangements with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (requiring a general order change for dredged material from waste to resource). A JPA could also have agreements with other entities if necessary, such as local reclamation districts and landowners for easement access to multiple levee restoration sites at various locations within the Project area. There is clearly movement on several fronts focusing on beneficial reuse and more specifically tidal marsh restoration and levee restoration with accompanying creation of wildlife habitat. The progressive march from the Sonoma Baylands project through the Hamilton Army Airfield project, and now Montezuma Slough, attests to this unmistakable trend and to its feasibility on a larger regional scale. All that is lacking is the political will and exercise of appropriate planning capability and leadership through a regional collaborative entity such as a JPA. Recommendation #2 -- The stakeholders, through the new collaborative entity, need to take up the slack in planning for upland disposal and beneficial reuse of dredged material. As noted earlier, there has been no progress in recent years on developing a Delta Long- Term Management Strategy (LTMS) due to a lack of funding for the Corps to develop it. All of the stakeholders acknowledged this fact, and the County continues to request federal funding for it every year, without success despite the efforts of our congressional delegation. A region entity, such as a JPA, would be able to rely on the collective insight and experience of the participating entities and might be able to develop such a plan in lieu of the Army Corps’ long-stalled plan. There is a regional and statewide imperative to strive for optimal use of dredged material through proper testing, placement, and strategic stockpiling, synchronized with availability of material from dredging construction and maintenance cycle projects. The required actions and competence have been demonstrated in both beneficial reuse projects to date and by the JPA over the course of the last decade. Recommendation #3 -- The regional entity should jointly advocate for federal navigation funds each year on behalf of all of the participating entities. The regional entity can take advantage of the single-project nature of the ship channel deepening and advocate for funding for all aspects of the channel, collectively. The ports, jurisdictions that operate wharves and other navigation entities could all seek funding and advocate for their interests jointly through a unified regional entity such as a JPA. The entire San Francisco-to-Stockton ship channel spans four congressional districts. From west to east, they include the 8th (Rep. Nancy Pelosi), 7th (Rep. George 19 Miller), the 10th (Rep. John Garamendi), and 11th (Rep. Jerry McNerney). Including the Sacramento Deepwater Ship Channel, which feeds into it, adds two more congressional districts -- the 3rd (Rep. Dan Lungren) and the 1st (Rep. Mike Thompson), from south to north. Six congressional districts, in all, could provide a strong advocacy base in Washington for future funding requests. These districts will change when redistricting takes effect in January 2013. We do not yet have maps for the new districts. 7. Tasks for a new regional entity to take on Staff and consultant have identified a number of major internal and external milestones to be accomplished in the first year of a new joint entity, under a new or revised JPA agreement a.) The first task would be to define the geographic scope and charter of the JPA to encompass the entire San Francisco Bay to Stockton Ship Channel and associated navigation projects. The JPA would take a systemic regional geographic and planning approach to the conduct of navigation dredging, and sediment and dredged material management, and extend the opportunity for membership to Solano County, the Ports of Richmond and West Sacramento, the shoreline cities with navigation operations, and potentially other members. b.) Define limited organizational objectives for the first year with a minimal organizational structure and mission primarily to build institutional credibility and fill regional perspective (gaps and seams) in dredged material management c.) Define the parameters and initiate collaborative development of a long term (10-20 year) regional dredged material management plan (DMMP) with the Army Corps of Engineers and other interested parties. d.) Staff should also commence using available assessment district funds to prepare a long overdue five-year engineer’s report to ensure adequate upland site capacity, and synchronize quantities and availability of dredged material. This should include the feasibility and optimal placement (including levee restoration for seismic event or other levee failure mitigation, water supply and flood control protection) by synchronizing need, volumes, location, timing, placement, and beneficial reuse of dredged material where most needed ( e.g. stockpile dredged material from two channel-deepening projects for levee restoration). It could also study the advisability of planning to use backup and emergency disposal capacity at the Collinsville Montezuma Slough disposal site in addition to other stockpiling sites for dredged material e.) With the concurrence of the new JPA governing Board, it may be advisable to purse a Memorandum of Agreement with DWR, and supplemental agreements with reclamation districts, and flood control agencies (unable on a case by case basis to plan for beneficial reuse but are eligible for DRW collaborative planning grants) and to explore the 20 opportunity to provide suitable dredged material at predictable intervals for levee repair as a beneficial reuse. f.) Participate in an Army Corps of Engineers planning conference expected in March 2013 for the channel deepening project, and other regular meetings leading up to that conference, in the evaluation of alternative feasible and preferable scenarios for future improvement of the channels from an environmental, engineering and economic perspective. This would also include exploration with stakeholders of a potential North Channel improvement, the Avon Turning basin (more in item “j” below), Bulls Head Reach solutions and other recurring dredging issues. g.) Mention the need for a regional dredged material management plan when commenting on the forthcoming environmental impact report/statement for the Port of Stockton deepening project, expected to be published later in 2012. h.) Draft standby authority agreements, similar to the Winter and Sherman Island dredging agreements, under the JPA to advance funds to the Army Corps of Engineers to perform emergency dredging when needed at Bulls Head Reach in Suisun Bay (this is a concrete example of the continuing need for collective versus piecemeal planning to maintain the viability of the overall navigation system) i.) Lay the framework for a future financing mechanism, possibly an assessment district, in which the beneficiaries would bear the cost of site analysis, transportation, placement, and other disposal-related costs which will benefit their operations. j.) Determine if there is private-sector interest in reviving the Avon Ship Turning Basin project, which was being developed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1990s and early 2000s in response to concerns about limited room for turning ships at a privately owned wharf at Avon, just east of Martinez. When ship pilots have to turn their ships after loading or unloading, they cannot turn around and stay entirely within the ship channel; rather, the ships go partly out of the channel into shallower water as they turn around, creating safety risks. The Corps had funding for the project and had begun engineering and design, but the project was dropped when the industry that owned the wharf (Valero and then Ultramar) withdrew their interest in the project. 8. Next steps Step #1: Authorize staff to draft a revised Joint Powers Agreement to reflect proposed changes in geographic scope, charter, focus, and composition. Under its current provisions the existing JPA remains in full force and effect unless dissolved by the current parties, Contra Costa County and the Stockton Port District. The process of amending and adopting the new JPA generally follows the same procedure followed in 1999 under the applicable provision of the Government Code Sections 6500 et seq. 21 The instrument needs to be redrafted preferably in the form of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to provide it the requisite authority to perform the functions described in this report, such as collaborative planning for the construction, operation and management of the entire project including the John Baldwin and Stockton Ship channel segments. The primary focus should be on the entire length of the channel deepening project under the Army Corps planning process. On the recommendation of favorably disposed staff members of the stakeholder agencies, limited non-burdensome governance provisions should be incorporated into the Agreement (not too many meetings, as little impact on staff resources as possible, etc.). Step #2: Circulate draft JPA charter and consult with current and prospective institutional members and other public and private stakeholders and conduct follow up meetings to flesh out issues that need resolution Following review by County Counsel, the JPA would be circulated to invited participants. Before general release, the Stockton Port District will be consulted to ascertain their position and recommendations surrounding the revised charter. Following this staff should be directed to circulate the new or revised JPA charter with current and prospective institutional members and other public and private stakeholders. Follow-up stakeholder meetings will be convened to discuss any issues and resolve them before the draft instrument is finalized. Staff will be available to appear before councils or boards of the participating entities as requested by those jurisdictions. Note that we recommend the existing JPA be revised even if additional agencies choose not to join the JPA and it remains a two-party JPA. Changes still are needed to reflect the challenges, issues and tasks described in this report. Step #3: Extend membership invitation to new members and coordinate formal adoption and approval of the new JPA agreement and appointment of designated representative by each prospective member Following adoption of the revised JPA by the Board of Supervisors, and the Stockton Port District, appropriate joint forma invitations should be issued to other prospective members and staff authorized to make appropriate appearances as requested at scheduled meetings and further proceedings again for the purpose of providing relevant information and responding to any questions prior to adoption of the revised charter by those entities. Step #4: Conduct organizational meeting of JPA and adoption of minimal bylaws and operating procedures, and approval of budget (seed funding from available funds from the 1999-2004 assessment district) and minimal staffing. The final organizational step would include the issuance of appropriate public notice of the organizational meeting and the filing of the adopted charter within thirty days of the 22 effective date with the Secretary of State with a courtesy copy forwarded to the State Controller. 23 APPENDIX Interviews and site visits conducted for this report (1) September 20, 2011Dave Patterson US Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District (2) November 14, 2011 Dave Patterson, US Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District (3) November 14, 2011 Captain Bruce Horton, San Francisco Bar Pilots (4) November 15, 2011 Jeff Wingfield and Steve Escobar, Stockton Port District (5) November 15, 2011 Gary Mattei, US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (Operations and Maintenance) (6) March 5, 2012 Dave Patterson and Jessica Burton Evans, US Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District (7) March 5, 2012 Ellen Johnck, former executive director, Bay Planning Commission (retired) (8) March 6, 2012 Jeff Wingfield and Steve Escobar, Stockton Port District (9) May 8, 2012 Jim Matzorkis, Executive Director, and Mike Williams, Port of Richmond (10) May 9, 2012 Site visits to Sonoma Baylands (Petaluma) and Hamilton Army Airfield (Novato) Marin County Wetland Restoration Demonstration Projects (11) May 9, 2012 Mike Luken, Executive Director and Bill Panos, Director of Public Works, Port of Sacramento and City of West Sacramento (12) May 10, 2012 Dennis Clark, Project Manager for two levee restoration projects, US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (13) May 10, 2012 Site visit to Montezuma Slough-Collinsville Solano County Wetland Restoratio0n and Dredged Material Re-handling site, hosted by Jim Levine, President of Levine Fricke (the facility owner-operator) (14) May 10, 2012 Guy Bjerke, Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) (15)May 10, 2012 Bill Emlin, Stephen Pierce and Roberta Goulart, Solano County (Resources Management) 24 (16) June 13, 2012 Dave Patterson, Jessica Burton-Evans, and Glen Mitchell, US Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District (17) June 13, 2012 Bill Croyle, California Department of Water Resources (Flood Control) (18) June 14, 2012 Brian Ross and Melissa Scianni, US Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, Dredged Material Management Team (19) June 18, 2012 Jim Haussener, Executive Director, California Marine Affairs and Navigation Council (CMANC) (20) June 18, 2012, John Coleman, Executive Director, Bay Planning Coalition (telephone interview) 25 BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) the bottom of the channel. The Board action also included authorization to talk with private industry about the potential for a new benefit assessment district that would help finance the desired disposal sites and other navigation projects. An earlier assessment district which the County administered raised over $2 million in revenue but was not able to complete its task of establishing a new site or sites for disposal of dredged material. County staff and a maritime consultant, Lawrence G. Mallon, conducted 20 stakeholder interviews and site visits over a six-month period from January through June 2012. The stakeholders included three ports along the channel (Richmond, Sacramento and Stockton), some local jurisdictions along the channel, state and federal regulatory agencies, shoreline industries and maritime advocacy and planning groups. Additional stakeholder interviews will be conducted as the process moves forward, pending Board authorization as requested here. The attached report describes the findings, recommendations and proposed next steps, based on the stakeholder interviews, visits to dredged material disposal sites, and research and analysis of the issues described in the report. The key recommendations are to authorize staff to begin work on a joint powers agreement that would enable shoreline stakeholders to work together on ship channel issues, chiefly to create new disposal sites for dredged material and to conduct joint advocacy for federal funding for navigation improvements throughout the ship channel. A collaborative entity such as a joint powers authority would provide a unified voice for the ship-channel. Similar collaborative entities have been successfully created in other navigation areas of the country. Perhaps the most active of these is the Big River Coalition, in which numerous ports and other public entities and private industry, in several states, joined forces in 2011 to advocate for more federal funding for navigation projects on the Lower Mississippi River Navigation Channel. The County's involvement in finding new sites and uses for dredged material addresses several needs. One is the County's role as a local sponsor of the ship-channel deepening project. As a local sponsor we are required to participate in the planning of the project, including disposal plans for dredged material. Another need addressed by this effort is the need for habitat restoration and levee restoration, both of which the County supports in its policy platforms and funding requests. Dredged material can be reused in habitat restoration and levee improvement projects. The recommended actions will help accomplish this. The attached report was reviewed with the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee on July 5. The Committee recommends the Board of Supervisors accept the report and authorize staff to take the next steps described in Section 8 of the report. The report contains an Appendix that lists all 20 of the stakeholder entities who were interviewed, or sites visited, in the preparation of this report. The Board should note that since the report was completed, additional stakeholder interviews have been conducted. An initial discussion with private industry concerning the creation of a new assessment district indicated a willingness on industry's part to engage in discussions but no commitments have been made. Continued discussions are anticipated on this subject. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: Collaborative efforts on navigation issues will not be undertaken, continuing the present situation in which no unified perspective or advocacy is conducted on ship-channel issues. This results in missed opportunities for effective funding requests and advocacy, and achievement of other County goals that benefit from use of dredged material. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: None. ATTACHMENTS Navigation Report