San Francisco Bay Restoration Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1906 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to estab- lish a grant program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘San Francisco Bay 4 Restoration Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1906 IS SEC. 2. SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION GRANT PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 3 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 124. SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION GRANT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 9 the Director of the Office appointed under sub- 10 section (b)(2). 11 ‘‘(2) ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘Es- 12 tuary Partnership’ means the San Francisco Estu- 13 ary Partnership designated as the management con- 14 ference for the San Francisco Bay under section 15 320. 16 ‘‘(3) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the 17 San Francisco Bay Program Office established 18 under subsection (b)(1). 19 ‘‘(4) SAN FRANCISCO BAY PLAN.—The term 20 ‘San Francisco Bay Plan’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) until the date of the completion of the 22 plan developed by the Director under subsection 23 (d)(1), the comprehensive conservation and 24 management plan approved under section 320 25 for the San Francisco Bay estuary; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1906 IS ‘‘(B) on and after the date of the comple- 1 tion of the plan developed by the Director under 2 subsection (d)(1), the plan developed by the Di- 3 rector under that subsection. 4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM OFFICE.— 5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 7 shall establish in the Environmental Protection 8 Agency a San Francisco Bay Program Office. 9 ‘‘(B) LOCATION.—The Office shall be lo- 10 cated at the headquarters of Region 9 of the 11 Environmental Protection Agency. 12 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR.—The Ad- 13 ministrator shall appoint a Director of the Office, 14 who shall— 15 ‘‘(A) have management experience and 16 technical expertise relating to the San Fran- 17 cisco Bay; and 18 ‘‘(B) be highly qualified to direct the devel- 19 opment and implementation of projects, activi- 20 ties, and studies necessary to implement the 21 San Francisco Bay Plan. 22 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY; STAFFING.— 23 The Administrator shall delegate to the Director 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1906 IS such authority and provide such staff as may be nec- 1 essary to carry out this section. 2 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL PRIORITY LIST.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After providing public no- 4 tice, the Director shall annually compile a priority 5 list, consistent with the San Francisco Bay Plan, 6 that identifies and prioritizes the projects, activities, 7 and studies to be carried out with amounts made 8 available under subsection (e). 9 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The annual priority list 10 compiled under paragraph (1) shall include— 11 ‘‘(A) projects, activities, and studies to be 12 carried out within the San Francisco Bay estu- 13 ary watershed, including restoration projects 14 and habitat improvement for fish, waterfowl, 15 and wildlife, that advance the goals and objec- 16 tives of the San Francisco Bay Plan for— 17 ‘‘(i) water quality improvement, in- 18 cluding the reduction of marine litter; 19 ‘‘(ii) wetland, riverine, and estuary 20 restoration and protection; 21 ‘‘(iii) nearshore and endangered spe- 22 cies recovery; and 23 ‘‘(iv) adaptation to climate change; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1906 IS ‘‘(B) information on the projects, activities, 1 and studies described in subparagraph (A), in- 2 cluding— 3 ‘‘(i) the identity of each entity receiv- 4 ing assistance under subsection (e); and 5 ‘‘(ii) a description of the communities 6 to be served; and 7 ‘‘(C) a description of the criteria and 8 methods established by the Director for identi- 9 fication of the projects, activities, and studies to 10 be included on the annual priority list. 11 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In compiling the annual 12 priority list under paragraph (1), the Director shall 13 consult with, and consider the recommendations of— 14 ‘‘(A) the Estuary Partnership; 15 ‘‘(B) the State of California and affected 16 local governments in the San Francisco Bay es- 17 tuary watershed; 18 ‘‘(C) the San Francisco Bay Restoration 19 Authority; and 20 ‘‘(D) any other relevant stakeholder in- 21 volved with the protection and restoration of 22 the San Francisco Bay estuary that the Direc- 23 tor determines to be appropriate. 24 ‘‘(d) SAN FRANCISCO BAY PLAN.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1906 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 1 after the date of enactment of this section, the Di- 2 rector, in conjunction with the Estuary Partnership, 3 shall review and revise the comprehensive conserva- 4 tion and management plan approved under section 5 320 for the San Francisco Bay estuary to develop 6 a plan to guide the projects, activities, and studies 7 of the Office to address the restoration and protec- 8 tion of the San Francisco Bay. 9 ‘‘(2) REVISION OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY 10 PLAN.—Not less frequently than once every 5 years 11 after the date of the completion of the plan de- 12 scribed in paragraph (1), the Director shall review, 13 and revise as appropriate, the San Francisco Bay 14 Plan. 15 ‘‘(3) OUTREACH.—In carrying out this sub- 16 section, the Director shall— 17 ‘‘(A) consult with the Estuary Partnership 18 and Indian tribes; and 19 ‘‘(B) solicit input from other non-Federal 20 stakeholders. 21 ‘‘(e) GRANT PROGRAM.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may provide 23 funding through cooperative agreements, grants, or 24 other means to State and local agencies, special dis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1906 IS tricts, and public or nonprofit agencies, institutions, 1 and organizations, including the Estuary Partner- 2 ship, for projects, activities, and studies identified on 3 the annual priority list compiled under subsection 4 (c). 5 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS; NON-FED- 6 ERAL SHARE.— 7 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 8 Amounts provided to any entity under this sec- 9 tion for a fiscal year shall not exceed an 10 amount equal to 75 percent of the total cost of 11 any projects, activities, and studies that are to 12 be carried out using those amounts. 13 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Not less 14 than 25 percent of the cost of any project, ac- 15 tivity, or study carried out using amounts pro- 16 vided under this section shall be provided from 17 non-Federal sources. 18 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 19 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 21 this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 22 2022 through 2026. 23 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 24 amount made available to carry out this section for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1906 IS a fiscal year, the Director may use not more than 1 5 percent to pay administrative expenses incurred in 2 carrying out this section. 3 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—No amounts made avail- 4 able under this section may be used for the adminis- 5 tration of a management conference under section 6 320. 7 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.—In each of fiscal 8 years 2022 through 2026, the President, as part of the 9 annual budget submission of the President to Congress 10 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, 11 shall submit information regarding each Federal depart- 12 ment and agency involved in San Francisco Bay protection 13 and restoration, including— 14 ‘‘(1) a report that displays for each Federal 15 agency— 16 ‘‘(A) the amounts obligated in the pre- 17 ceding fiscal year for protection and restoration 18 projects, activities, and studies relating to the 19 San Francisco Bay; and 20 ‘‘(B) the proposed budget for protection 21 and restoration projects, activities, and studies 22 relating to the San Francisco Bay; and 23 ‘‘(2) a description and assessment of the Fed- 24 eral role in the implementation of the San Francisco 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1906 IS Bay Plan and the specific role of each Federal de- 1 partment and agency involved in San Francisco Bay 2 protection and restoration, including specific 3 projects, activities, and studies conducted or planned 4 to achieve the identified goals and objectives of the 5 San Francisco Bay Plan.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS