HAMILTON ARMY AIRFIELD WETLAND RESTORATION
CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT LOCATION AND Description
The project site is located on San Pablo Bay, four miles east of the city of Novato, Marin County, California. The project includes a 988-acre parcel with a former military airfield, adjacent California State Lands Commission areas, and the 1,612-acre Bel Marin Key Unit V (BMKV) parcel. The levee-protected site has subsided below the elevation of the surrounding properties, including the tidal wetlands immediately adjacent to San Pablo Bay. This project allows for the beneficial use of 24.4 million cubic yards of dredged material, including 3.5 million cubic yards from the Port of Oakland 50' Deepening Project. This wetlands-restoration project would advance the beneficial use of dredge material from San Francisco Bay as part of the Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS).
TOTAL FUNDING
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TOTAL COST
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$280,902,000
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FEDERAL COST
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$212,176,000
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NON-FEDERAL COST
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$ 70,726,000
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TOTAL FEDERAL COST THROUGH FY 2016
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$ 86,765,000
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ARRA FUNDING
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$ 0
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FY 2017 BUDGET
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$ 0
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FED COST TO COMPLETE
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$ 125,411,000
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FY16 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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Nursery management and planting
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Monitoring and adaptive management of the site
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Cost accounting, to include with the Port of
Oakland 50’ Deepening Project
FY17ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ISSUES AND OTHER INFORMATION
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The California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC)
is the non-Federal sponsor.
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This project did not receive funds from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Title IV, Pub. L. No.
111-5, 123 Stat. 115, Feb. 17, 2009.
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A General Re-evaluation Report (GRR) was
completed in 2003 and a Chief's Report was signed in July 2004, recommending
the adjacent 1612-acre BMKV property be added to the Hamilton Construction
Authorization.
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The BMKV parcel was authorized as part of the
Hamilton project in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007, and an
Aquatic Transfer Facility (ATF) was pursued as a more cost effective mode of
transporting dredge material to the site.
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A draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the ATF was released to the
public on 17 October 2008.
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Because of environmental issues and the State
budget, the Corps and State annotated technical comments and shelved the ATF Supplemental
EIS/EIR draft document until further notice.
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The San Francisco District (SPN) and NFS coordinated
a PCA amendment to include BMKV per Water Resources Development Act WRDA 2007
authorization. The approval of the PCA
amendment will allow Land, Easements, Rights-Of-Way, Relocation, and Disposal
Areas (LERRDS) crediting of the BMKV parcel, which was purchased by the NFS in
2001, and the use of federal matching funds for the project. However, at issue
was the 65/35 project cost share for the Hamilton-BMKV project. The NFS asked
for a review of the cost share ratio with
the stipulation that the PCA amendment would be signed only if the original
authorization’s 75/25 cost share continues. The Assistant Secretary of the
Army, Civil Works (ASACW) determined that legislative action was required to
maintain a 75/25 cost-share.
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WRRDA
2014 Section 1030(d) returned the cost share percentage back to 75/25.
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Regarding BMKV, the NFS has begun designing the
first major project feature (flood control levee) on its own, under the purview
of an existing In-Kind Services MOU. The
2010 MOU for design is still in effect.
However, the Conservancy’s design plans will align part of the BMKV
project levee differently than the description in the approved 2010 Integral
Determination Report (IDR). Because the
design is configured substantially differently than that in the plan
recommended in the General Reevaluation Report (GRR) authorized by Congress in
WRDA 2007, the Corps must undertake an analysis to determine whether the proposed changes are within the existing Congressional
authorization.
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Considering the steps required to determine
whether the proposed design is within the WRDA 2007 project authorization and
to potentially reconcile the Conservancy’s proposed design and construction to
the GRR, it would be premature at this time to enter into an MOU for in-kind
crediting for construction.
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The NFS is looking for ways to reduce the cost of
BMKV, which primarily means reducing the placement of dredge material. This would impact the region’s LTMS goals, as
well as delay the restoration of BMKV to wetlands.
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An
amendment to the PCA to cost share the Bay Trail 50/50 as authorized in WRDA
2007 was executed on 20 June 2013. Construction
of the Bay Trail was completed prior to opening the site to tidal action as per
environmental permit requirements.
CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST
- 2nd District, Rep. Jared Huffman
- Senator Barbara Boxer
- Senator Diane Feinstein
POINT OF CONTACT
- Deputy for Project Management, Arijs A. Rakstins, (415) 503-6720
Updated on 22 February 2016
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