The Legislature further finds and declares that the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board and relevant California regional water quality control boards, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission have agreed to participate in a joint effort known as the Long Term Management Strategy (LTMS) to formulate a federal/state management strategy for bay dredging that concentrates federal efforts toward studying and possibly designating ocean disposal sites, and state efforts towards inbay and upland disposal options. This chapter is intended to reflect the commission’s role in the Long Term Management Strategy, including all of the following:
(a)
Evaluation of the use of upland, diked bayland, and delta areas for reuse of material dredged from the bay, regulatory constraints and opportunities involving upland disposal, and potential project sponsors and methods to implement those uses.
(b)
Participation with the United States Geological Survey to make a detailed study of bay sediment processes affecting the need for bay dredging and the physical impacts of inbay disposal to augment the modeling work on bay sediment dynamics being performed by the State Water Resources Control Board and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
(c)
Participation in the studies of the economic and environmental impacts of the array of disposal options, and assistance in the identification of feasible and environmentally acceptable disposal sites for material dredged from the bay in the ocean, bay, upland, and delta areas, with particular attention given to identifying sites suitable for the reuse of dredged materials.
(d)
Participation in the development of a joint agency comprehensive dredging management plan to implement the Long Term Management Strategy, which shall include all of the following:
(1)
Prioritization of dredging needs, taking into account technical requirements, geographic factors, costs, and economic investments affecting, and environmental impacts resulting from, maritime, recreational boating, and other dredging projects, and the monitoring and evaluation of regulatory compliance, the environmental effects of dredging and disposal, and the effectiveness of designated disposal sites.
(2)
Guidelines for dredging and disposal.
(3)
The establishment and implementation of an office of dredged material management, that includes at a minimum the agencies identified in Section 66663.2, and which will simplify and expedite the processing of permit applications for the dredging and disposal of dredged material using the Long Term Management Strategy goals and policies.
(4)
The development of alternatives to open water disposal of dredged sediments.
