A draft of the Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Report for maintenance dredging of the Federal Navigation Channels in San Francisco Bay is now available for review .
The Draft EA/EIR was prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Water Board) to address the potential environmental effects of the maintenance dredging of federal navigation channels in San Francisco Bay and the associated placement of dredged materials from 2015 to 2024.
The report also evaluates in detail the potential environmental impacts of four alternatives: the No Action/No Project Alternative, the Proposed Action/Project, and two reduced hopper dredge use alternatives.
In the draft, the USACE, San Francisco District, proposes to continue operations and maintenance dredging of the federal navigation channels in San Francisco Bay, California, for a period of 10 years (2015 through 2024).
The navigation channels and associated placement sites, located in the San Francisco Bay Long‐Term Management Strategy (LTMS) program area (including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma), would be dredged annually using a hopper dredge. In instances where a hopper dredge is not available, a mechanical dredge may be used for these channels.
A 45-day period is established for comments from December 5, 2014 to January 20, 2015. A public meeting will be held in Oakland, California, on January 7, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. to receive comments on the Draft EA/EIR.
The Regional Water Board anticipates a hearing regarding the 401 water quality certification and Final EIR in April 2015, subject to change depending on the comments received.
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