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Notice of Availability

The draft San Francisco Bay Federal Channels Regional Dredged Material Management Plan (RDMMP), Operations and Maintenance Dredging and Sediment Placement Activities Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Report, and associated appendices are available for public review and comment. Public comments may be submitted until Dec. 16, 2024.

NEPA comments should be sent to SF-Bay-Dredging@usace.army.mil

CEQA comments should be sent to Jazzy.Graham-Davis@Waterboards.ca.gov

PUBLIC MEETING: A public meeting was held Nov. 19 to explain the proposed project and answer clarifying questions on the Draft EA/EIR. 

Click on the links below to access the document:

Draft Regional Dredged Material Management Plan

Draft FONSI

Federal Navigation Channels and Placement Sites in the SF Bay

Grey and white map with red lines and pink spots and highway markers

What is a Regional Dredge Material Management Plan?

The Corps of Engineers' mission to maintain safe and efficient navigation in the San Francisco Bay has been complicated by a budget that has not kept pace with the rising costs of dredging.   A key mission component is to develop a long-range plan for the placement of dredged material or what is known as a Dredge Material Management Plan or DMMP.  The San Francisco District has begun a regional approach to this that encompasses the 11 federally authorized channels in the Bay Area.

SF Bay RDMMP Fact Sheet

Background

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), San Francisco District (SPN) is responsible for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) dredging program in San Francisco Bay that includes a network of federal navigation projects. The execution of this O&M dredging program requires a strategic and regional, systems-level approach that addresses multiple sediment management challenges, including limited dredged sediment placement capacity and the best approaches for the beneficial reuse of dredged sediment. SPN began developing a Regional Dredged Material Management Plan (RDMMP) for the O&M dredging program that will outline the approach and identify specific measures necessary to manage the volume of dredged sediment over the next 20 years. Phase 1 of RDMMP development included completion of a Gaps Analysis that addresses key knowledge gaps with respect to dredged sediment management, and the development of scopes of work for studies that address those knowledge gaps. Phase 2 focuses on execution of the studies for addressing knowledge gaps and developing the plan for dredged sediment management based on the findings from the studies.

Current Update:  In partnership with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) has been contracted to coordinate the Interagency Working Group (IWG) for RDMMP development. The primary role of the IWG is to provide expert advice and review of work products associated with the RDMMP Gap Analysis (identified in July 2020 charrettes). Gap Analysis efforts are underway, including a Regional Analysis Report (SFEI), Sediment Transport Modeling (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District and ERDC), and Ecological Modeling (ERDC). Upon report completion and monitoring being established, a Sediment Monitoring Framework will be produced. An additional effort that was identified by the project delivery team (PDT) has also begun - Benefits Analysis-Decision Support (ERDC-Institute for Water Resources). Concurrently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District has begun the plan formulation process to identify and compare the Regional Dredged Material Management Plan’s alternatives to include stakeholder, resource agency, interested parties, and public input. These efforts will inform the PDT’s efforts as they analyze placement site alternatives and ultimately recommend a plan for all maintenance dredging of federal navigation projects in San Francisco Bay. A National Environmental Policy Act analysis will be conducted for the 2025-2034 dredging projects and placement sites proposed by the RDMMP.

RDMMP Past Meetings

MEETING

Project Title: San Francisco Bay Federal Channels Operation and Maintenance Dredging and Sediment Placement Activities (Proposed Project) 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as the lead federal agency, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) are preparing a joint NEPA/CEQA document for Operations and Maintenance dredging of the federal navigational channels in San Francisco Bay, and for dredged material placement in the San Francisco Bay Region. Under CEQA, upon deciding to prepare an EIR, the Water Board, as the CEQA lead agency, must issue a Notice of Preparation (NOP) to inform responsible and trustee agencies and the public of its decision. This documentation will be consistent with the previously prepared Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Report for Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Channels in San Francisco Bay: Fiscal Years 2015-2024 (2015-2024 EA/EIR), and other approved management plans. The Water Board is requesting your agency's comments on the scope and content of the environmental information that is relevant to your agency's statutory responsibilities regarding the proposed project. Your agency may need to use the EIR when considering your permit or other approval for the project.  

Due to the time limits mandated by State law, your response must be sent at the earliest possible date, but not later than 30 days after the notice date. Please send your response to Jazzy Graham-Davis (Jazzy.Graham-Davis@Waterboards.ca.gov), along with the name for a contact person in your agency. 

Written comments on the scope of the NEPA/CEQA document should be sent to the Water Board, c/o Jazzy Graham-Davis (Jazzy.Graham-Davis@Waterboards.ca.gov). Comments must be received by 5 p.m. March 14, 2024. The scoping period will run from February 13, 2024 through March 14, 2024.

A meeting was held during the scoping period.

Draft SF By Dredging Notice of Preparation

June 2, 2023, Charrette - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) San Francisco District held a San Francisco Bay Regional Dredged Material Management Plan (RDMMP) Charrette on Friday, June 2nd, from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The objectives of the RDMMP planning process are to ensure San Francisco Bay’s federally dredged navigation channels have placement site capacity over 20 years, to identify the array of dredged material placement alternative plans, and to determine the federal standard base plan for USACE maintenance dredging projects. As part of the planning process, USACE staff and partners are currently considering:  

  1. dredged material supply (i.e., maintenance dredging volumes from 11 federal navigation projects in and adjacent to San Francisco Bay);
  2. dredged material placement sites, including beneficial uses of dredged material (i.e., placement site opportunities, capacity, and timing); and
  3. dredged material placement equipment, methods, and strategies (e.g., direct placement, water column seeding, strategic placement, marsh spraying).

This interactive event consisted of presentations on the San Francisco Bay RDMMP planning process to date, as well as group discussion and brainstorming (e.g., measures and alternative plans). Please see the charrette notes and presentation files below for more information. 

RDMMP Charrette Presentation

Notes RDMMP Charrette 6-2-2023

The SF District held a public meeting Friday, July 19, 2019, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Federal Building located at 90, 7th Street in SF to provide details about the process for completing a Dredge Material Management Plan and to provide a forum for public comment and recommendations about the scope of this effort. The Corps sought public input for development of the Project Management Plan for the SF RDMMP. A few months later, the USACE SF District held a public meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, to present an overview of the District's Navigation Program. The meeting was part of an effort by the Corps to evaluate the agency's SF Bay Navigation Program to best position the program for success over the next several decades. It took place from 6-8 p.m., at the Pinole Library located at 2935 Pinole Valley Rd, Pinole, Calif., 94585.

The USACE SF District then hosted a series of virtual charrettes to discuss comments submitted on the draft Project Management Plan (PMP) for the SF Bay RDMMP. The charrettes were organized into four comment categories:

  1. Toxicology – July 7, 2020
  2. Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues – July 9, 2020
  3. Physical Processes – sediment transport, sea walls, erosion controls, etc.
  4. Economics, Social Studies, and Policies – July 16, 2020
  5. Summary and Next Steps – July 21, 2020

 

ADDITIONAL PROJECT INFO