July 21, 2026
Economic Development
DATE: July 21, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Nannette Beacham, Director of Economic Development
Craig K. Murray, Development Project Manager II
Subject:
Standard Voluntary Agreement for Marina Bay
Environmental Reporting with the Department of Toxic
Substances Control (DTSC)
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Oversight fees associated with the Standard Voluntary Agreement will be assessed annually by the Department
of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Based on prior year actuals, DTSC oversight fees totaled $26,610 in FY
2024-2025. For planning purposes, City staff estimates
up to $40,000 in FY 2026-2027 to account for capping
work at Area FM and inclusion of Areas FF and O, with
DTSC’s FY 2026-2027 estimate expected in October
2026. Funding for current oversight fees is included
within the approved Fiscal Year 2026–2027 Economic
Development/Real Estate budget and will be budgeted
accordingly in subsequent fiscal years (Account String:
01369065-400201). There is no impact on the General
Fund.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
November 23, 1987
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
City staff is requesting authorization to enter into a
Standard Voluntary Agreement (SVA) with the
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for
environmental work reporting at various locations in
Marina Bay, as requested by Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
AGENDA REPORT
July 21, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a Standard Voluntary Agreement for Marina
Bay environmental reporting with the Department of
Toxic Substances Control that includes two privately-
owned and nine City-owned deed restricted properties in Marina Bay – Economic Development/Real Estate
(Nannette Beacham/Craig Murray 510-621-1264).
DISCUSSION:
The State of California Department of Health Services and Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has worked with the City of Richmond since 1987 on environmental site characterization and remediation efforts within the Marina Bay Project. The Marina Bay Project encompasses approximately 200 acres (excluding waterways and private rights-of-way) along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. Much of the area was originally a tidal mudflat and salt marsh. Santa Fe Land Improvement Company (Santa Fe) acquired the property in 1941. Between 1941 and 1947, Santa Fe leased the site to the Richmond Shipbuilding Corporation and Permanente Corporation, later known as the Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation (Kaiser). Construction of the shipyard began in 1941 and entailed substantial dredging of native bay mud to deepen the Richmond Marina Bay for use as a launching basin and filling the remaining portions of the site with dredged material and imported fill. Under contract to the United States Government, Kaiser constructed cargo and transport ships at the shipyard during World War II.
The shipyard closed in the late 1940s, and Santa Fe subsequently leased many of the shipyard buildings and various parcels of land within Marina Bay for warehousing, manufacturing, sand storage, concrete pre-casting, and other industrial uses. In 1977, the City purchased the site from Santa Fe. The property was subsequently divided into approximately 30 parcels on the West, North, East and South shores of the site for residential and commercial development.
The City of Richmond and developers conducted environmental investigations and implemented remedial investigations through the Marina Bay Project with oversight by DTSC. The City is responsible for nine discrete areas within the Marina Bay Project, for which it is responsible for implementing the requirements of environmental deed restrictions emplaced due to the presence of encapsulated or residual contamination following completion of remedial activities. The origins of the contamination are primarily the historical shipbuilding activities conducted at the project site.
Beginning in the 1980s, various environmental investigations were conducted to characterize the extent of contamination at the Marina Bay Project site and facilitate its redevelopment. On November 23, 1987, the Mayor approved a $45,000 Oversight Agreement for the Richmond Marina Bay Project with the State Department of Health Services. These early investigations ultimately culminated in the preparation of the Final Restoration Advisory Plan (RAP), which established the decision-making framework for remedial actions within each of the nine deed-restricted areas.
July 21, 2026
In December 2025, DTSC contacted the City of Richmond that it would need an updated agreement, a Standard Voluntary Agreement (SVA), and as well as the City’s nine-deed restricted areas that will be contained in this SVA that there are two areas within the Marina Bay Project, Areas FF and O, that are now privately owned but DTSC would like an agreement with City in order to also perform basic environmental oversight work on those two parcels (Attachment 1).
City staff are requesting authorization for the City Manager to enter into a SSVA) with the DTSC for the environmental oversite of the City of Richmond’s nine deed-restricted properties and two privately owned properties of Areas (Attachment 2).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Map
Attachment 2 – Contract – Standard Voluntary Agreement