Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Carolyn Bloede, Director of Sustainability Department
Subject: Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of Grant Funds from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the San Francisco Bay Trash Reduction, Green Infrastructure, and Youth Education Project (Phase 2)
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the County of San Mateo to accept a $500,000 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and enter into a grant agreement to fund the San Francisco Bay Trash Reduction, Green Infrastructure, and Youth Education Project (Phase 2).
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BACKGROUND:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund is a competitive grant program to protect and restore San Francisco Bay and its watersheds by improving water quality and restoring aquatic habitat. The program gives preference to proposals benefitting disadvantaged communities and where a 50 percent funding match is provided by the grantee. The County was awarded a US EPA grant on August 1, 2023 (Resolution No. 079870) for trash reduction and youth education in the North Fair Oaks (NFO) community in the amount of $404,400. This grant was for the Athlone Trash Capture and Youth Education Project (Phase 1), which is currently being implemented.
The County has received a second US EPA San Francisco Water Quality Improvement Fund award in the amount of $500,000 to be spent within five years of the award. The grant funds will support the installation of approximately 40 small trash capture devices and two subsurface infiltration systems which will store and infiltrate stormwater in the NFO community to reduce trash from entering the San Francisco Bay. This project (Project) also includes direct outreach to local community-based organizations in the NFO community, providing residents with opportunities for environmental awareness and clear connections to local sustainability issues.
Additionally, Project completion supports the County’s Stormwater Program compliance efforts, including trash reduction and improved water quality reported towards the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Municipal Regional Stormwater National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit requirement of 100 percent trash capture by 2025. This grant will leverage existing County investments ensuring clean local waterways and regulatory compliance.
DISCUSSION:
The Sustainability Department and the Department of Public Works (DPW) will collaborate to install and maintain two subsurface infiltration systems in the unincorporated community of NFO as part of the Reconstruction of 8th, 16th, and Fair Oaks Avenue Project and install 40 small trash capture devices within unincorporated NFO and the Harbor-Industrial communities, which receive runoff from areas classified as high trash generation areas.
This Project builds upon existing and ongoing efforts by the County to reduce trash from entering waterways. The Project is strategically placed in high trash generation areas and as such will provide significant credit towards meeting state regulated trash reduction milestones by treating runoff from more than 500 acres in the Bayfront Canal-Atherton Channel and Belmont Creek watersheds to reduce trash load by more than 5% in the unincorporated San Mateo County. The trash capture devices are designed to capture other pollutants in addition to trash, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury, sediment loads, and all pollutants of concern from reaching the San Francisco Bay.
An education and outreach effort in the community will be launched leveraging existing Sustainability Department youth engagement programs and resources to engage local youth on a range of sustainability issues, including curriculum around stormwater pollution prevention and trash reduction. By pairing education with the opportunity to see sustainability at work in the local community, the Project hopes to inspire youth to become the next generation of environmental stewards. The Project will be completed by December 2025.
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the agreement and resolution as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total project cost is $1,076,372. Grant funding of $500,000 and Sustainability Department staff time match of $36,625 are included in the Sustainability Department FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget. The DPW FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget includes $400,000 construction costs and staff time match of $83,848 with the remaining staff time match of $55,899 proposed for the FY 2025-26 Recommended Budget. The grant requires a 50 percent match which is met through the DPW budget amounts and Sustainability Department and DPW staff time. There is no new Net County Cost associated with this project.
ATTACHMENT:
1. United States Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Award