The Commission held its April public meeting in the Southern California desert. It was the first time in the Commission’s 80-year history meeting in the Palm Desert. The Commission issued dozens of leases and authorized other actions for the use and occupation of the Commission’s lands and resources.
Mission Rock Project
The Commission issued approvals for the Mission Rock Project in San Francisco, a multi-use development located on filled public trust lands adjacent to the San Francisco Giants Ballpark. The project will create over 8 acres of open space and waterfront parks, drawing visitors and locals to the Bay and activating this southern area of the waterfront. The project, first advanced over a decade ago, has also been approved by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors and Port Commission and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission is slated to consider the project on June 21, 2018.
Renewable Energy
The Commission received a presentation from staff about its work over the past two years to assess the potential of the Commission’s offshore sovereign lands and school lands for renewable energy development. This is an example of the Commission’s shift to being more proactive in its public land and resource management. The Commission and its staff look forward to continuing its research, analysis and outreach—enthusiastically supporting the state’s renewable energy goals with vigor and in collaboration with other agencies, regional governments, tribal nations, local communities, industry and other interested stakeholders.
Environmental Justice
The staff updated the Commission on its ambitious effort to establish a meaningful and implementable Environmental Justice Policy. Community members and environmental justice advocates eloquently spoke on this endeavor and provided information about the profoundly affecting challenges many disadvantaged and marginalized communities in California face.
Abandoned Mine Remediation
The staff briefed the Commission on its Abandoned Mine Program and latest remediation techniques used to safeguard abandoned mines. The staff presented recent milestones and a compendium of collaborative work between the Commission and the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Mine Reclamation to identify and remediate abandoned mines on school lands. Remediating abandoned mines ameliorate public safety hazards and hazards to wildlife.
Legislation
The Commission voted to sponsor legislation, AB 1759 (McCarty), to grant the City of Sacramento title to land associated with the Sacramento Downtown Railyards Title Settlement and Land Exchange Agreement and to repeal two land grants made in the 1970s. The Commission also voted to support legislation, AB 2578 (Chiu), to create a funding mechanism to repair the Embarcadero Seawall situated on Public Trust lands, and to support legislation to create a program and funding source to remove abandoned commercial vessels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.