San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission 375 Beale Street, Suite 510, San Francisco, California 94105 tel 415 352 3600 fax 888 348 5190 State of California | Gavin Newsom – Governor | [email protected] | www.bcdc.ca.gov October 19, 2020 TO: Seaport Planning Advisory Committee FROM: Linda Scourtis, Port and Oil Spill Prevention and Response Manager (415/352- 3644; [email protected]) Katharine Pan, Waterfront Planner (415/352-3650; [email protected]) SUBJECT: San Francisco Bay Area Seaport Plan: Preliminary Alternatives (For Committee consideration on October 29, 2020) Staff Summary The purpose of the October 29, 2020, Seaport Planning Advisory Committee (SPAC) meeting is for the SPAC to select a series of Alternatives, different combinations of port priority use designations, to be evaluated as part of the Alternatives Analysis phase of the San Francisco Bay Area Seaport Plan (Seaport Plan) update process. As part of the Alternatives Analysis, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) staff will assess the potential effects of each Alternative under a range of topic areas. Staff will present a set of Preliminary Alternatives, which the SPAC may choose to select, alter, or augment as needed. Staff requests that the SPAC also provide clear direction on the depth and kind of information to include in the evaluation, including any additional topic areas, sources of information, perspectives, etc. that the SPAC will require to make an informed recommendation on the Seaport Plan update. The resulting evaluation will be used by the SPAC to compare the potential port priority use designation changes and recommend a preferred set of designations to include in the draft Seaport Plan update and staff recommendations that will be presented to the Commission. This staff report includes information to inform the SPAC’s discussion, including background on the Seaport Plan’s authority, jurisdiction, and scope; descriptions of the Preliminary Alternatives for the SPAC’s consideration; a list of potential topics for evaluation; an introduction to potential new policy approaches to consider for the updated plan; a description of upcoming milestones for the planning process; and a list of discussion questions, including the following: 1. What are the Alternatives, or components of the Alternatives, BCDC staff should evaluate as part of the Alternatives Analysis? Should there be any alterations to the Preliminary Alternatives or additional Alternatives? 2. Are there other topics staff should assess as part of the Alternatives evaluation that would help the SPAC make its recommendation on a Preferred Plan to the Commission? Is there any particular direction for staff on information sources or types of information the SPAC would like to see as part of the evaluation? Page 2 October 19, 2020 3. Are there any initial thoughts on potential policy approaches for sea level rise, ground transportation, environmental justice, or general seaport planning that staff should explore and expand upon for the next SPAC meeting? Are there other topic areas or approaches you would suggest? Do you have insights on how well a potential approach might work or what implementation might look like? 4. Do you have comments or suggestions on community outreach around the Seaport Plan, or ideas of forums or contacts staff should consider? Staff Report I. Introduction The SPAC is meeting to begin its consideration of potential land use and policy Alternatives for the Seaport Plan update. At this meeting, the SPAC will review mapping for a series of preliminary land use Alternatives prepared by BCDC staff and approve a set of three to four Alternatives for staff to analyze in detail. The SPAC will also discuss potential policy approaches for the Seaport Plan, including sea level rise, ground transportation, environmental justice, and seaport planning, and provide staff with direction on strategies to pursue or explore. II. Background A. Seaport Planning Advisory Committee The SPAC consists of representatives from BCDC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission/Association of Bay Area Governments (MTC/ABAG), the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region, the five Bay Area ports described in the Seaport Plan, the California Department of Transportation, and Save the Bay. The SPAC considers amendments to the Seaport Plan and provides recommendations to BCDC and its staff based on technical expertise, background reports, and public comment. B. The Bay Plan and the Seaport Plan Section 66602 of the McAteer-Petris Act (Title 7.2 of the California Government Code) declares seaports to be among certain water-oriented land uses along the Bay shoreline that are essential to the public welfare of the Bay Area, and requires the San Francisco Bay Plan (Bay Plan) to provide for adequate and suitable locations for these uses to minimize the future need to use Bay fill to create new sites for these uses. Thus, the Bay Plan designates areas for various water-oriented priority land uses within its shoreline band jurisdiction (areas that are 100 feet landward of the Bay), including sites designated for port priority use. Future development proposed in priority use areas must be consistent with policies in the Bay Plan related to those areas. Boundaries for the priority use areas are established by the Commission in Resolution 16. The Seaport Plan is an extension of the Bay Plan that governs port planning and development, per Bay Plan Port Policy 1. According to this policy, the Seaport Plan provides for the expansion and/or redevelopment of port facilities at Benicia, Oakland, Redwood City, Richmond, and San Page 3 October 19, 2020 Francisco, as well as the development of new port facilities at Selby;1 further deepening of shipping channels to accommodate expected growth in ship size and improved terminal productivity; the maintenance of up-to-date cargo forecasts and existing cargo handling capability estimates to guide the permitting of terminals; and the development of port facilities with the least potential adverse environmental impacts while still providing for reasonable terminal development. BCDC uses the Seaport Plan in making port-related decisions on permit applications, consistency determinations, and related matters. C. Port Priority Use Areas Consistent with the Bay Plan, the Seaport Plan designates areas determined necessary for future port development as port priority use areas to reserve them for cargo handling or related uses. Port priority use areas are reserved for regional maritime port use and include within their premises marine terminals and directly related ancillary activities such as container freight stations, transit sheds and other temporary storage, ship repairing, support transportation uses including trucking and railroad yards, freight forwarders, government offices related to port activity, chandlers and marine services. Within port priority use areas, sites for marine terminals are identified and are reserved specifically for cargo handling operations. Using a cargo forecast, the Seaport Plan assigns a cargo type and amount that each existing and future marine terminal should be able to accommodate over the planning horizon. D. Seaport Plan Update On January 17, 2019, BCDC voted to initiate two Bay Plan amendments to update the Seaport Plan. Bay Plan Amendment (BPA) No. 1-19 is a general update of the Seaport Plan to revise the plan’s cargo forecasts and related policies, ensure consistency with updated Bay Plan policies, and update mapping and port priority use designations to reflect changes in port planning and operations. BPA No. 2-19 specifically addresses a request by the Oakland Athletics to remove the port priority use designation from Howard Terminal at the Port of Oakland to allow for the development of a baseball stadium and mixed-used district on and adjacent to the site. Ultimately, the SPAC will consider both amendments and provide its recommendations to the Commission. Any revisions to the Seaport Plan’s port priority use designations will require parallel revisions to the Bay Plan priority use maps and Resolution 16 to ensure consistency. The general update process is shown in Figure 1. 1 Note that the Seaport Plan also includes provisions for the Concord Naval Weapons Reservation, which is not named in Bay Plan Policy 1. Page 4 October 19, 2020 Figure 1: Seaport Plan Update Process As part of the Background Studies phase of the update, BCDC worked with consultants at the Tioga Group and Hackett Associates to prepare an updated regional forecast of oceangoing cargo and terminal capacity through 2050. The SPAC voted to accept the 2019-2050 Bay Area Seaport Forecast (Cargo Forecast) for the purpose of informing long-term regionwide policy and planning in the Seaport Plan update at its May 11, 2020, meeting. The final Cargo Forecast can be viewed on the BCDC website at https://www.bcdc.ca.gov/seaport/2019-2050-Bay-Area- Seaport-Forecast.pdf. The process is currently in the Alternatives phase, which will lead to the draft Seaport Plan, environmental assessments of the BPAs and, finally, public hearings. Upcoming milestones are described in further detail in the Next Steps section of this staff report. III. Alternatives Analysis The Alternatives Analysis will allow the SPAC to compare the potential effects of multiple land use and policy scenarios to inform its recommendations to staff and the Commission on the draft Seaport Plan update. Each Alternative will consist of proposed port priority use designation changes as well as any broad policy approaches the SPAC directs staff to evaluate. Staff has prepared the following three Preliminary Alternatives for the SPAC to consider; the SPAC may choose to confirm these three Preliminary Alternatives, make alterations to the Preliminary Alternatives, or request additional Alternatives for evaluation. The Preliminary Alternatives are summarized in Table 1 and Table 2 and are described in the sections below. Alternatives will be defined in further detail in collaboration with the ports and the Oakland Athletics during the evaluation.