I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 610 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant 

program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. ESHOO, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of San 

Francisco Bay. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘San Francisco Bay 

5 Restoration Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

4 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 124. SAN FRANCISCO BAY RESTORATION GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘Es10 tuary Partnership’ means the San Francisco Estu11 ary Partnership, designated as the management con12 ference for the San Francisco Bay under section 

13 320. 

14 ‘‘(2) SAN FRANCISCO BAY PLAN.—The term 

15 ‘San Francisco Bay Plan’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) until the date of the completion of the 

17 plan developed by the Director under subsection 

18 (d), the comprehensive conservation and man19 agement plan approved under section 320 for 

20 the San Francisco Bay estuary; and 

21 ‘‘(B) on and after the date of the comple22 tion of the plan developed by the Director under 

23 subsection (d), the plan developed by the Direc24 tor under subsection (d). 

25 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM OFFICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

2 shall establish in the Environmental Protection 

3 Agency a San Francisco Bay Program Office. The 

4 Office shall be located at the headquarters of Region 

5 9 of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR.—The Ad7 ministrator shall appoint a Director of the Office, 

8 who shall have management experience and technical 

9 expertise relating to the San Francisco Bay and be 

10 highly qualified to direct the development and imple11 mentation of projects, activities, and studies nec12 essary to implement the San Francisco Bay Plan. 

13 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY; STAFFING.— 

14 The Administrator shall delegate to the Director 

15 such authority and provide such staff as may be nec16 essary to carry out this section. 

17 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL PRIORITY LIST.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After providing public no19 tice, the Director shall annually compile a priority 

20 list, consistent with the San Francisco Bay Plan, 

21 identifying and prioritizing the projects, activities, 

22 and studies to be carried out with amounts made 

23 available under subsection (e). 


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1 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The annual priority list 

2 compiled under paragraph (1) shall include the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(A) Projects, activities, and studies, in5 cluding restoration projects and habitat im6 provement for fish, waterfowl, and wildlife, that 

7 advance the goals and objectives of the San 

8 Francisco Bay Plan, for— 

9 ‘‘(i) water quality improvement, in10 cluding the reduction of marine litter; 

11 ‘‘(ii) wetland, riverine, and estuary 

12 restoration and protection; 

13 ‘‘(iii) nearshore and endangered spe14 cies recovery; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) adaptation to climate change. 

16 ‘‘(B) Information on the projects, activi17 ties, and studies specified under subparagraph 

18 (A), including— 

19 ‘‘(i) the identity of each entity receiv20 ing assistance pursuant to subsection (e); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) a description of the communities 

23 to be served. 

24 ‘‘(C) The criteria and methods established 

25 by the Director for identification of projects, acVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H610.IH H610

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1 tivities, and studies to be included on the an2 nual priority list. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In compiling the annual 

4 priority list under paragraph (1), the Director shall 

5 consult with, and consider the recommendations of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the Estuary Partnership; 

7 ‘‘(B) the State of California and affected 

8 local governments in the San Francisco Bay es9 tuary watershed; 

10 ‘‘(C) the San Francisco Bay Restoration 

11 Authority; and 

12 ‘‘(D) any other relevant stakeholder in13 volved with the protection and restoration of 

14 the San Francisco Bay estuary that the Direc15 tor determines to be appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(d) SAN FRANCISCO BAY PLAN.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, the Di19 rector, in conjunction with the Estuary Partnership, 

20 shall review and revise the comprehensive conserva21 tion and management plan approved under section 

22 320 for the San Francisco Bay estuary to develop 

23 a plan to guide the projects, activities, and studies 

24 of the Office to address the restoration and protec25 tion of the San Francisco Bay. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REVISION OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY

2 PLAN.—Not less often than once every 5 years after 

3 the date of the completion of the plan described in 

4 paragraph (1), the Director shall review, and revise 

5 as appropriate, the San Francisco Bay Plan. 

6 ‘‘(3) OUTREACH.—In carrying out this sub7 section, the Director shall consult with the Estuary 

8 Partnership and Indian tribes and solicit input from 

9 other non-Federal stakeholders. 

10 ‘‘(e) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may provide 

12 funding through cooperative agreements, grants, or 

13 other means to State and local agencies, special dis14 tricts, and public or nonprofit agencies, institutions, 

15 and organizations, including the Estuary Partner16 ship, for projects, activities, and studies identified on 

17 the annual priority list compiled under subsection 

18 (c). 

19 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS; NON-FED20 ERAL SHARE.— 

21 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 

22 Amounts provided to any entity under this sec23 tion for a fiscal year shall not exceed an 

24 amount equal to 75 percent of the total cost of 


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1 any projects, activities, and studies that are to 

2 be carried out using those amounts. 

3 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Not less 

4 than 25 percent of the cost of any project, ac5 tivity, or study carried out using amounts pro6 vided under this section shall be provided from 

7 non-Federal sources. 

8 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

12 2022 through 2026. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

14 amount made available to carry out this section for 

15 a fiscal year, the Director may not use more than 

16 5 percent to pay administrative expenses incurred in 

17 carrying out this section. 

18 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—No amounts made avail19 able under this section may be used for the adminis20 tration of a management conference under section 

21 320. 

22 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL BUDGET PLAN.—In each of fiscal 

23 years 2022 through 2026, the President, as part of the 

24 annual budget submission of the President to Congress 

25 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, 


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1 shall submit information regarding each Federal depart2 ment and agency involved in San Francisco Bay protection 

3 and restoration, including— 

4 ‘‘(1) a report that displays for each Federal 

5 agency— 

6 ‘‘(A) the amounts obligated in the pre7 ceding fiscal year for protection and restoration 

8 projects, activities, and studies relating to the 

9 San Francisco Bay; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the proposed budget for protection 

11 and restoration projects, activities, and studies 

12 relating to the San Francisco Bay; and 

13 ‘‘(2) a description and assessment of the Fed14 eral role in the implementation of the San Francisco 

15 Bay Plan and the specific role of each Federal de16 partment and agency involved in San Francisco Bay 

17 protection and restoration, including specific 

18 projects, activities, and studies conducted or planned 

19 to achieve the identified goals and objectives of the 

20 San Francisco Bay Plan.’’. 

Æ 


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