EPA opens $29M to San Francisco Bay watershed restoration projects

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is accepting applications for approximately $29 million in grants to protect and restore San Francisco Bay watersheds and wetlands — the largest annual allocation ever.

The agency is announcing two separate funding opportunities with a due date for applications of September 20, 2022. Projects selected will receive between $200,000 and $1 million.

“Among our nation’s iconic bodies of water, the San Francisco Bay stands out not only for its unique beauty and striking vistas but for the tremendous environmental and economic benefits it brings to California and the United States,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “These federal grants provide critical funding to support climate resiliency and safeguard wetlands throughout the Bay Area, especially in communities that have been bearing greater pollution burdens.”

The San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF), a competitive grant program EPA has administered since 2008, has already provided $71 million over the years in 59 grant awards.

The SFBWQIF has summarized results of completed projects including efforts related to wetland and watershed restoration, as well as the expanded use of green infrastructure to reduce polluted runoff. These projects improve water quality and community livability by protecting shorelines, minimizing flood impacts, enhancing habitat for threatened and endangered species, and reducing nutrients, mercury, and PCBs from reaching the Bay.