DPC July 15, 2021 meeting – Agenda Item 9 (Delta National Heritage Area) - Attachment 1

DRAFT

July 15, 2021

The Honorable The Honorable United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives 172 Cannon House Office Building 2311 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Mark DeSaulnier The Honorable Jerry McNerney United State House of Representatives United States House of Representatives 503 Cannon House Office Building 2265 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable The Honorable Mike Thompson United States House of Representatives United State House of Representatives 2368 Rayburn House Office Building 268 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Letter of Support for H.R. 4087 (To amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to extend the management plan submission deadline for certain National Heritage Areas to 4 years, and for other purposes) and H.R. 1230 (To adjust the boundary of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area, and for other purposes)

Dear Representatives Bera, DeSaulnier, Garamendi, Matsui, McNerney, and Thompson:

The Delta Protection Commission (Commission) appreciates your past and current efforts to recognize the unique cultural, recreational, agricultural, and natural resources values of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through the creation of a National Heritage Area (NHA) in the Delta, Suisun Marsh, and Carquinez Strait. Legislation establishing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta NHA and designating the Commission as the local coordinating entity was signed into law on March 12, 2019. We are writing to express our support for two bills sponsored by Congressman Garamendi that affect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta NHA: H.R. 4087, which will extend our management plan submission deadline, and H.R. 1230, which will adjust the NHA boundary to include a portion of the city of Rio Vista.

The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act requires the Commission to submit a proposed management plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area to the Secretary of the Interior within three years of the Act's passage into law. The Commission has made significant progress in developing our management plan, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unforeseen delays and obstacles that make meeting the March 12, 2022 deadline extremely difficult. H.R. 4087 will extend our deadline (and the deadline of five other NHAs) by one year, which will allow us to provide the inclusive opportunities for

1 DPC July 15, 2021 meeting – Agenda Item 9 (Delta National Heritage Area) - Attachment 1 input that the National Park Service and the public are seeking, enable us to conduct tribal consultations more effectively than can be accomplished solely through virtual interactions, and permit our consultants to conduct necessary fieldwork and site visits.

Congressman Garamendi introduced H.R. 1230 at the request of the City of Rio Vista to expand the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta NHA’s boundary to include approximately 62 acres of adjacent publicly owned land encompassing the decommissioned United States Army Reserve Center, U.S. Coast Guard Station Rio Vista, Beach Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Sandy Beach County Park. The boundary expansion would enable the City of Rio Vista to obtain federal grant funding for proposed redevelopment of the decommissioned base.

We have valued our partnership with you in the push for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta NHA and encourage your work to promote these two pieces of legislation and see them enacted.

The Commission voted to approve this letter at its meeting on July 15, 2021 on a XX-XX vote.

Sincerely,

Don Nottoli Chair

cc: Members, Delta Protection Commission

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