Loading (50 kb)...'

State
California
GC Sec 66663-66663.3

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 66663-66663.3





66663. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that because of
the shallowness and high rate of sedimentation of the San Francisco
Bay, dredging is essential to establish and maintain navigational
channels for maritime commerce, which contributes substantially to
the local, regional, and state economies, as well as for military
navigation, flood control, recreational boating, and other public
purposes.



66663.1. The Legislature further finds and declares that it is in
the interest of the state to accomplish the following:
(a) Establish the relative importance of dredging needs so that
the most important projects can be prioritized and accomplished
quickly and unnecessary dredging activities are eliminated.
(b) Examine the potential for and promote using dredged materials
as a resource, such as creating new wetlands and maintaining existing
levees.
(c) Establish a broad range of environmentally sound and
economically feasible disposal options in order to protect fish and
wildlife resources and other beneficial uses of the bay and the
ocean.
(d) Identify how disposal sites can best be managed and assure
adequate monitoring of dredging and disposal activities.



66663.2. The Legislature further finds and declares that the United
States Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency,
the State Water Resources Control Board and relevant California
regional water quality control boards, and the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission have agreed to participate in
a joint effort known as the Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) to
formulate a federal/state management strategy for bay dredging that
concentrates federal efforts toward studying and possibly designating
ocean disposal sites, and state efforts towards inbay and upland
disposal options. This chapter is intended to reflect the commission'
s role in the Long Term Management Strategy, including all of the
following:
(a) Evaluation of the use of upland, diked bayland, and delta
areas for reuse of material dredged from the bay, regulatory
constraints and opportunities involving upland disposal, and
potential project sponsors and methods to implement those uses.
(b) Participation with the United States Geological Survey to make
a detailed study of bay sediment processes affecting the need for
bay dredging and the physical impacts of inbay disposal to augment
the modeling work on bay sediment dynamics being performed by the
State Water Resources Control Board and the United States Army Corps
of Engineers.
(c) Participation in the studies of the economic and environmental
impacts of the array of disposal options, and assistance in the
identification of feasible and environmentally acceptable disposal
sites for material dredged from the bay in the ocean, bay, upland,
and delta areas, with particular attention given to identifying sites
suitable for the reuse of dredged materials.
(d) Participation in the development of a joint agency
comprehensive dredging management plan to implement the Long Term
Management Strategy, which shall include all of the following:
(1) Prioritization of dredging needs, taking into account
technical requirements, geographic factors, costs, and economic
investments affecting, and environmental impacts resulting from,
maritime, recreational boating, and other dredging projects, and the
monitoring and evaluation of regulatory compliance, the environmental
effects of dredging and disposal, and the effectiveness of
designated disposal sites.
(2) Guidelines for dredging and disposal.
(3) The establishment and implementation of an office of dredged
material management, that includes at a minimum the agencies
identified in Section 66663.2, and which will simplify and expedite
the processing of permit applications for the dredging and disposal
of dredged material using the Long Term Management Strategy goals and
policies.
(4) The development of alternatives to open water disposal of
dredged sediments.



66663.3. The Legislature finds and declares that the commission
should avoid duplication of effort in carrying out its role in the
Long Term Management Strategy by making maximum use of information
available from other portions of the strategy, the San Francisco
Estuary Project, and other federal, state, and local agencies and
private organizations.