Jackie Speier: “Today, we are taking up the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act. This is legislation I have introduced every year since…”

“Today, we are taking up the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act. This is legislation I have introduced every year since 2010. Since then, the environmental conditions of the bay have only grown worse. The bay is the heart of the region, with a vibrant ecosystem that is home to the largest estuary on the West Coast. It generates more than $370 billion in goods and services annually and is home to more than 3\1/2\ million jobs. Forty percent of the land in California drains to the estuary, as my colleagues have mentioned. It also is home to more than 100 endangered and threatened species. The region's tidal and seasonal wetlands comprise a significant portion of America's coastal resources, yet over the past 200 years, 90 percent of the bay's wetlands have been destroyed by human activity. Increased pollution from cars, homes, and communities in San Francisco have absorbed into various creeks, rivers, and streams that flow into the bay and the Pacific Ocean. By 2030, the expected sea- level rise in the bay area will exceed the rate at which the marshes can elevate and move, effectively drowning them. Despite the impending threats, Federal efforts for bay restoration and pollution mitigation systems have failed to meet the enormous need. Between 2008 and 2016, EPA's geographic programs invested only $45 million into the San Francisco Bay, while Puget Sound received over $260 million and Chesapeake Bay $490 million.…”