# San Francisco Bay Restoration Act: What It Does

This bill creates a dedicated federal program to help restore and protect San Francisco Bay by establishing a new office within the Environmental Protection Agency and providing money for restoration projects. The program would run from 2022 through 2026, with up to $50 million available each year to fund work that improves the bay's health and environment.

The bill sets up a San Francisco Bay Program Office that would be run by a director with expertise in bay restoration. This director's job would be to work with local governments, environmental groups, and other organizations to identify the most important restoration projects each year and decide which ones get federal funding. The priority list would focus on practical improvements like cleaning up water pollution, restoring wetlands and habitats for fish and wildlife, protecting endangered species, and helping the bay adapt to climate change. The director would also develop a comprehensive plan within five years that guides all restoration efforts and gets updated every five years after that.

To actually get the money, local agencies, nonprofits, and other organizations would apply for grants, but they'd have to pay for at least 25 percent of any project themselves—the federal government would cover up to 75 percent. This means communities and organizations have to show they're serious about these projects by investing their own resources. The bill also limits how much money can go toward administrative costs, requiring that at least 95 percent of the funding actually goes to restoration work rather than bureaucracy.

San Francisco Bay Restoration Act

Speier, Jackie

San Francisco Bay Restoration Act This bill provides support for the protection and restoration of the San Francisco Bay estuary and the&nbsp;recovery&nbsp;of certain species in the estuary. Specifically, it establishes a San Francisco Bay Program Office in the Environmental Protection Agency. The program must annually compile a list of funding priorities for projects or studies that advance the goals and objectives of the comprehensive conservation and management plan approved&nbsp;under the National Estuary Program for the San Francisco Bay estuary. The list must include projects or studies for <ul> <li>water quality improvement; </li> <li>wetland, riverine, and estuary restoration and protection; </li> <li>nearshore and endangered species recovery; and</li> <li>adaptation to climate change.</li> </ul> The program must review such plan at least once every five years and revise the plan as appropriate. The program may&nbsp;provide funding through grants or other means for studies or projects on the priority list.