Budget committee forwards updated SFO shoreline protection plan after $587 million estimate

On Sept. 11, 2019 the Budget and Finance Committee voted to forward to the Board of Supervisors an updated San Francisco International Airport shoreline protection program after a staff presentation and a Budget and Legislative Analyst review. Chair Sandra Lee Fearer moved the item to the full board with a positive recommendation; members took the motion without objection.

Kathy Weidner, director of Government Affairs at San Francisco International Airport, told the committee the updated program expands protection around the airport perimeter — including along Highway 101 — and incorporates 2018 state sea-level-rise design guidance. "The updated shoreline protection program is estimated to cost $587,000,000," Weidner said, describing work such as new sheet-pile walls, concrete walls and environmental mitigation not included in the 2015 plan.

Dan Goncher of the Budget and Legislative Analyst's Office reviewed the BLA analysis and recommended approval. The BLA report, which incorporates state guidance issued in 2018, showed an increase in the program scope and estimated costs from the 2015 plan to the current estimate. Goncher told the committee the airport has included $15.7 million in airport revenue bonds for initial costs and that the remaining roughly $571.4 million would need to be added to the capital improvement plan later. He estimated annual debt service at about $50.8 million and roughly $1.5 billion of total debt service over a 30-year term.

Chair Feuer exposed the committee's concern about the scale of the update and the science informing it, saying the projection was "somewhat frightening" and that future recalibration may be required as sea-level-rise science evolves. Committee members did not record a roll-call vote on the referral; the item was forwarded to the full Board to permit environmental review and future actions on bond issuance and appropriations, which will require subsequent Board approvals.

Why it matters: The airport said the shoreline protection program is intended to maintain airport operations and avoid reductions in passenger travel, employment and revenues. Approval of fiscal feasibility is a procedural step that allows environmental review to proceed; issuance of bonds or appropriation of airport funds would come later and require additional Board action.