DATE:
July 1, 2025
TO:
LaTanya Bellow, City Manager
FROM:
Chadrick Smalley, Community Development Director
SUBJECT:
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Authorizing The Mayor To Sign A Revised Letter Of Commitment For The San Francisco Estuary Partnership’s Senate Bill 1 Grant Application For The East Bay Crescent Sub-Regional Vulnerability Assessment And Shoreline Adaptation Planning
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign a revised letter of commitment for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership’s application for a California Senate Bill 1 grant for the East Bay Crescent (EBC) Sub-regional Vulnerability Assessment and Shoreline Adaptation Planning.
Background
The Senate Bill 1 (California Sea Level Rise Mitigation and Adaptation Act of 2021, or “SB 1”) grant program provides funding for local, regional, and tribal governments to develop sea level rise (SLR) adaptation plans and projects to build resilience to SLR along the coast of California, including San Francisco Bay. The program has two funding tracks: “Track One” is for pre-planning and planning phases of SLR work, and “Track Two” is for the project phase. The proposed letter of commitment is in reference to the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) Track One funding application to study potential adaptation and mitigation strategies for SLR in the Emeryville Crescent and areas north along the Alameda County shoreline.
On December 10, 2024, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 24-150 “Authorizing the Mayor to sign a letter of commitment for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership’s application for a California Senate Bill 1 grant for the East Bay Crescent Community Engagement and Climate Adaptation project to study potential sea level rise adaptation and mitigation strategies in the Emeryville Crescent and areas north along the Alameda County shoreline.” On December 20, 2024, SFEP submitted the East Bay Crescent Community Engagement and Climate Adaptation project on behalf of themselves and the cities of Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley and Albany as well the resource agencies and land managers within these jurisdictions’ shorelines.
Subsequently, the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) asked SFEP to address several key questions prior to resubmitting the application on July 3, 2025. These questions related primarily to the following two topics, each to be resolved in the reapplication:
Ambiguity regarding tasks included in the application related to the development of elements of a Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) as required by SB 272, but no development of the RSAP was proposed Inclusion of the City of Oakland in the application, as the City of Oakland was also applying under another application jointly with the City of Alameda Discussion
SLR is a global concern, and in the San Francisco Bay, responses to it are necessarily regional. The Emeryville Crescent is centrally located within the Bay Region, and it is not only important wildlife habitat administered by the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), but it is also directly adjacent to critical regional infrastructure including a heavily traveled section of Interstate 80 leading to the Bay Bridge operated by Caltrans, facilities utilized by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), and land owned by the Port of Oakland.
In keeping with General Plan goals, City staff have been working with SFEP staff to develop a regional approach to mitigating and adapting to SLR in the Emeryville Crescent. SFEP has convened a group of critical partners for this effort, including staff from the cities of Emeryville, Oakland, Albany and Berkeley and staff from Caltrans, EBRPD, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, EBMUD, the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Funding for study and planning, including visioning work with community stakeholders including community-based organizations serving marginalized communities, tribes, arts organizations, and recreation, environmental, and open space groups is a necessary next step, and the SB 1 grant program is well matched to the need.
Regarding the first issue raised by OPC: SFEP’s application for funding initially proposed an Exposure Analysis, a Vulnerability Assessment, and Planning Pathways for SLR in the East Bay Crescent Operating Landscape Unit (OLU), a key geographic unit identified by the San Francisco Estuary Institute for subregional planning. However, OPC raised concerns that unless a RSAP was completed, the proposed outreach would be ineligible for funding. Options OPC offered included either scaling back the application to remove outreach activities or expanding the application to include the development of a RSAP for each community with overlapping projects and adaptation strategies in key geographies. SFEP asked partners if they wished to scale back and staff from each jurisdiction noted that the lack of resources to complete the RSAP would hinder the municipal response, unless the elements were included in the application. Accordingly, SFEP has worked with the partners, technical assistance and each jurisdiction to revise the application to include the development of the RSAP. For this revised application, OPC indicated a new letter of commitment acknowledging the funding is to be used to complete the RSAP and therefore no additional OPC funding can be pursued for the development of an RSAP is required. Additional staff time will be needed to complete the RSAP and the revised application will include funds to pay for the additional staff time.
Regarding the second question: The City of Oakland will apply for SB1 funding for its own RSAP and will not be a co-applicant on the revised East Bay Cresent OLU application, but will receive funding for staff time as required for coordination within the Emeryville Crescent, where the Port of Oakland owns land and because half of the shoreline is within the City of Oakland’s jurisdiction.
SFEP will reimburse the City of Emeryville through a Subrecipient Agreement, the form of which will be provided to the City in the event the SFEP’s application for SB 1 funds is awarded. For the City of Emeryville, the grant budget includes 0.4 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of a Project Manager and 0.1 FTE spread among the affected Departments, as the adaptation strategies will affect nearly every department and staff time will be required for the duration of the planning process, expected and budgeted over a three-year duration. The proposed revised SB1-funded work will provide the basis for required project planning under the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) RSAP process and coordinate the risk assessments with the work previously done in the Oakland Estuary. Each jurisdiction will be provided with the necessary materials to approve a jurisdictionally specific RSAP with consistent elements in adjoining jurisdictions’ RSAPs Fiscal Impact
As noted above, the proposed Letter of Commitment commits the City to providing staff support to the SFEP’s project. This support is proposed to be reimbursed by SFEP through a subrecipient agreement; therefore, the Letter of Commitment has no fiscal impact. Further, the staff resources required for the City to align with BCDC’s RSAP Guidelines will be reduced by this effort.
The OPC provides up to $1.5 million per jurisdiction to develop a RSAP. This cap is lifted for jurisdictions collaborating among multiple applicants. Emeryville must forgo future funding if awarded these funds to complete an RSAP, however, given the limited staffing for applying for, managing and implementing an OPC grant, this strategy is optimal for leveraging technical assistance, partnerships, and funding for staff. The RSAP requirement represents an unfunded mandate, should these funds not be awarded.
Staff Communication with the Public
There has been no formal public communication on this project to date.
Conclusion
The multitude of agencies with interest and/or jurisdiction in the Emeryville Crescent and broader impacts related to sea level rise resulting in groundwater upwelling means that a regional approach will be necessary to adapt to and mitigate SLR. SFEP is uniquely situated to lead the broad effort that will be necessary to ensure that critical infrastructure, protected wildlife, cultural assets, and the residents of Emeryville are all included in adaptation and mitigation plans. For these reasons, staff recommends the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign the revised letter of commitment to accompany SFEP’s revised application for SB1 funding.
PREPARED BY: Amber Evans, Community and Economic Development Coordinator II Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
LaTanya Bellow, City Manager
Attachments
Draft Resolution, including
Exhibit A - Letter of Commitment
SFEP Grant Application Revised Letter of Commitment
City Council Meeting | July 1, 2025
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM