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Senate backs interim Highway 37 project with incidental-take authorization; bill framed as necessary resilience step
Summary
Senators approved SB 697, authorizing incidental take for certain species to enable an interim half-billion-dollar project on Highway 37 and related habitat restoration. Supporters described the measure as a necessary step while planning a longer-term elevated causeway; opponents urged alternatives and emphasized transit and housing solutions.
The Senate approved SB 697, authorizing an incidental-take permit and related conservation measures to allow an interim resilience and restoration project along State Highway 37, the low-lying route that crosses marshes north of San Pablo Bay.
Senator Bill Wilson, presenting the measure, said the corridor is at acute risk from sea-level rise and that without action portions of Highway 37 could be under water within decades. Wilson described the interim proposal—estimated at roughly $500 million—to protect and restore marsh and bay habitat while enabling immediate safety and flood-resilience upgrades. He said the legislation would require mitigation and restoration comparable to habitat conservation plans and would not remove protections for listed species.
Wilson acknowledged controversy in the region and said the interim project is a step toward an eventual elevated causeway—an $11 billion project that is not immediately fundable. “This is an essential part of that,” Wilson said, arguing the interim project helps keep the highway operable for essential workers and regional commerce.
Supporters said the bill balances immediate resilience needs with commitments to habitat mitigation and restoration. The author emphasized that an incidental take permit would be conditioned on mitigation plans and restoration actions that match the protections of formal habitat conservation plans or natural-community conservation plans.
Debate on the floor reflected differing priorities. Supporters stressed the need to preserve a functioning transportation corridor now; some members noted a long-term preference for an elevated causeway or additional housing and transit solutions but said those projects will take many years to deliver. The Senate recorded a roll call and approved the measure.
SB 697 moves on in the legislative process; the bill includes language to ensure mitigation, mitigation planning and restoration obligations would be executed alongside construction of the interim project.
