Press release or SF Bay Improvement Act of 2010
Save The Bay is very proud of the unified effort by Rep. Speier and the whole Bay Area Congressional delegation, working to authorize new federal funds for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve the health of San Francisco Bay.
We are excited to be working with Rep. Speier and all Members to pass and enact this important legislation. (Image: Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Maateo, with Judy Kelly, Executive Director of the S.F. Estuary Partnership, and Marin County District 1 Supervisor Susan Adams.)
The article below appears in the April 23, 2010 San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, San Mateo County Times and other area newspapers. A fact sheet and Save The Bay’s endorsement of the bill are attached. Click for H.R. 5061
April 21, 2010
By Julia Scott
San Mateo County Times
Speier Bill would provide $100 million for
San Francisco Bay restoration
A proposed bill would direct up to $100 million in federal funds annually over 10 years to conserve and restore San Francisco Bay, an unprecedented annual infusion of cash that local environmental leaders say is both welcome and overdue.
On Tuesday, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, introduced HR 5061, the San Francisco Bay Improvement Act of 2010. She will hold a news conference in South San Francisco on Friday to discuss the bill's particulars, along with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Save the Bay, The Bay Institute and other groups that are supporting her efforts.
Under the bill, Congress could appropriate up to $100 million per year for bay restoration efforts, a windfall of federal money to reduce stormwater pollution, restore wetland habitat, fund research projects and subdue the onslaught of invasive aquatic species, among many other potential projects
Save the Bay Executive Director David Lewis said the bill represents "a fraction" of the funding needed for such projects but that it would likely attract matching state and local funding for dozens of ventures that have been in the works for years.
"One thing that we are blessed with in San Francisco Bay is a lot of creative planning into how the bay needs help for reducing pollution, restoring habitat and more," said Lewis. "The bill is intended to bring more federal resources for making the bay healthier."
The bill does not specify which projects or groups would get funding, but public agencies, scientific organizations and nonprofits would be eligible. The bill creates a position of program director for San Francisco Bay at the regional offices of the EPA to manage the project and dole out the funds as they are appropriated.
Contact Julia Scott at 650-348-4340.
David Lewis, Executive Director, Save The Bay
dlewis@saveSFbay.org
510.452.9261 x102
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