The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld yesterday announced nearly $5 million in EPA grants to state and local agencies to restore water quality and wetlands throughout the San Francisco Bay watershed at a ceremony held at Breuner Marsh, one of the sites to receive federal restoration grant funding.
The ceremony was attended by U.S. Representative George Miller, senior officials from the East Bay Regional Park District, and representatives from various state and federal elected officials.
“ This project is a testament to the successful collaborations between federal and local agencies to ensure that communities across the Bay Area are safer, healthier, and have better access to educational opportunities in our natural surroundings, ” said Congressman Miller .
Grants range from $500,000 to $1.5 million and will support five projects that restore rivers and tidal marshes, and address legacy mercury contamination as well as the increasing concern over nutrients.
The projects are funded under EPA’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF) that has invested over $32 million in 53 projects across the Bay region since 2008. Since inception, SFBWQIF investments have been matched with another $105 million from 71 partner agencies and organizations.
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Press Release, April 23, 2014