Budget committee forwards amended ordinance to let Army Corps dredge Pier 70 Central Basin

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee voted Dec. 5 to forward an amended ordinance that authorizes the Port of San Francisco to enter a project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the Central Basin adjacent to Pier 70.

Daley Donaldson, Port Special Projects Manager, told the committee the Corps’ preferred alternative would deepen the Central Basin to an authorized depth of 32 feet and fold routine maintenance dredging into federal operations. “For every dollar that the Federal Government spends there, they stand to recoup almost 3,” Donaldson said, summarizing the Corps’ cost‑benefit analysis.

Restoring the authorized depth, Donaldson said, would prevent the shipyard at Pier 70 from turning away vessels for navigational reasons and make the facility more competitive. He described Pier 70 as the Port’s shipbuilding facility and one of the West Coast’s longest continuously operating shipyards, leased by BAE Systems and employing roughly 250 skilled craftworkers from multiple maritime unions.

Sherry Roybal, Maritime Marketing Manager for the Port of San Francisco, said at least four vessels were turned away in 2016 because of restricted clearance; she cited the submarine Pompanito as an example, saying the Port lacked the roughly 14 feet of clearance needed in a lane that leads to one dry dock. Donaldson said the next large dry dock capable of servicing comparable vessels is in Portland, Oregon, noting that the Corps considers the additional steaming distance and fuel costs when calculating federal benefits.

The ordinance would permit the Port’s executive director to execute the Corps’ project partnership agreement subject to specified matching requirements. The clerk read the item’s summary stating the Port must provide a 25 percent initial matching share not to exceed approximately $2,242,740 and a 10 percent maintenance match not to exceed approximately $897,100, for a total Port matching obligation not to exceed roughly $3.1 million. Deborah Newman of the Budget and Legislative Analyst said the 25 percent initial match has already been appropriated in fiscal years 2014–2016 budgets and that future maintenance match funding would be included in Port budgets subject to Board appropriation; the source of funds was identified as Port Harbor funds.

Port staff and counsel told the committee the U.S. Army Corps is conducting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and that the project was found categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); other regulatory processes remain in place. Donaldson noted the ordinance would waive certain Port contract provisions to accommodate the Corps’ federal boilerplate agreement language but said city attorneys had reviewed the documents and were comfortable recommending approval.

Deputy City Attorney Timothy Yoshida read a proposed amendment to add a Section 7 requiring the Port to file a copy of the fully executed project partnership agreement with the Clerk within 30 days of execution. A committee member identified in the transcript as Supervisor Yi moved to accept the amendment as read and to forward the legislation to the full Board with a positive recommendation as amended; the chair put the matter forward as a committee report and the motion carried without objection. The committee also moved, without objection, to excuse Supervisor Mark Farrell.

The ordinance will return to the full Board of Supervisors for further consideration. No members of the public spoke during the item’s public comment period.