Project Grant 97T33201

This $12,000,000 federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9's San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (CFDA 66.126) will enable the California State Coastal Conservancy to facilitate the beneficial reuse of dredged sediment from federal navigation channels for wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay. Specifically, the Conservancy will enter a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) San Francisco District to fund the incremental cost difference between the federal standard for dredging projects and the cost for beneficially reusing the dredged material at wetland restoration sites, including Cullinan Ranch, Montezuma, and Bel Marin Keys. As a sub-recipient, USACE will prioritize beneficial reuse in the bidding process for its annual Operations and Management dredge program and use the grant funds to cover the incremental costs for at least one year, and up to three years depending on availability of other federal funding. The key deliverables include the MOU and the beneficial reuse of all suitable dredged material for tidal wetland restoration in the San Francisco Bay over the project period.