Huffman Bill to Improve Restoration Efforts in San Francisco Bay Passes Committee

Expanding previous legislation to support the restoration of the San Francisco Bay and establish localized EPA efforts

February 27, 2025

Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman’s (CA-02) legislation, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Program Technical Correction Act, passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This bill expands and updates the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act to ensure this program can be more widely utilized.

“Improving the San Francisco Bay Restoration Program is central to helping our community tackle the challenges facing local rehabilitation efforts and the San Francisco Bay as a whole,” said Rep. Huffman. “We’ve seen the impacts of human activity on our local wetlands over the last 200 years, and we need urgent action to slow this decline. With this bill, we can make our federal investment in restoration more efficient and effective so healthy, resilient habitats can thrive in the Bay Area for generations to come.”

As part of the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress passed the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act to create the Environmental Protection Agency’s San Francisco Bay Program Office. This program aims to improve local water quality, protect endangered species, and give coastal communities the necessary resources to combat rising sea levels. In funding these critical efforts, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Program should help ensure our estuary receives the federal attention it deserves in the face of environmental degradation.

However, U.S. EPA Headquarters interpreted the original law in a way that placed unintentional limitations on the use of appropriated funds. Contrary to the intent of Congress, the San Francisco Bay Program has been denied the authorities that Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and other EPA Geographic Programs have to issue interagency agreements, contracts, and other more flexible funding mechanisms.

This bill will reform the law with technical corrections to clarify Congressional intent and expand the ability of this program to utilize a wider variety of funding mechanisms in support of the program goals.

More specifically, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Program Technical Correction Act would:

  • Expand the program authorization beyond federal grantmaking;
  • Authorize the EPA to enter agreements and contracts with other agencies, in addition to existing authorization;
  • Expands the program’s eligibility to receive funding to include federal agencies and public or private entities;
  • Clarify that EPA is authorized to cover up to 75% of total project cost for all forms of funding under this program, including interagency agreements, as with all other regional EPA programs;
  • Prevents non-federal entities associated with countries of concern from receiving funding through the program.

This legislation is endorsed by Save the Bay.

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