History

Working Across Sectors to Advance the Bay

Bay Planning Coalition was founded in response to a challenge that remains familiar today: how to make complex regional decisions work more effectively for the people, communities, industries, and natural resources that depend on San Francisco Bay.

BPC emerged at a time when overlapping regulatory requirements and increasingly complicated permitting processes were creating uncertainty for dredging, maritime activity, shoreline projects, and other essential uses of the Bay. From the beginning, the Coalition brought together stakeholders with different perspectives to identify workable solutions and engage directly with local, state, and federal decisionmakers.

That collaborative approach has remained central to BPC's work even as the issues facing the region have evolved. While BPC began with a strong focus on dredging and shoreline development, its work has grown to include transportation, water and air quality, infrastructure, and climate adaptation.

Where BPC Began

BPC's earliest work centered on the regulatory environment surrounding San Francisco Bay, including dredging, wetlands, shoreline development, and the overlapping jurisdictions of state and federal agencies.

The Coalition quickly became a forum through which businesses, public agencies, technical professionals, and other Bay stakeholders could engage regulators and policymakers on issues affecting both the region's economy and environment.

That model — bringing affected stakeholders together, grounding policy discussions in practical experience, and working toward solutions across institutional boundaries — became a defining feature of BPC.

More than forty years later, BPC's work on permitting reform reflects a return to one of the Coalition's original purposes: helping the Bay Area move important projects from planning to implementation through clearer, more coordinated regulatory processes.

1983 – 1989

Building a Regional Coalition

BPC established itself as a regional voice on dredging, wetlands, water quality, and maritime planning, engaging state and federal agencies on regulatory and permitting issues affecting San Francisco Bay. Early work included expanding options for dredged material management, participating in development of the Bay's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, and advocating for market considerations in regional seaport planning.

Historic aerial view across San Francisco Bay

BPC representatives during a 1996 advocacy trip to Washington, D.C.

1990 – 2000

Creating Collaborative Solutions

BPC helped launch the Long Term Management Strategy for dredged material, collaborated with regional partners on recommendations to improve BCDC policies and practices, and helped establish the San Francisco Bay Wetland Joint Venture. In 1998, BPC received the Vice President's Hammer Award for its role in creating the coordinated permit-review process of the Dredged Material Management Office.

2001 – 2010

Advancing the Working Waterfront

BPC worked on issues ranging from dredging and beneficial reuse to ferry service, port infrastructure, and maritime air quality. The Coalition convened agencies and stakeholders to address environmental work windows, supported expanded regional water transit, helped advance seaport emissions initiatives, and supported the Port of Oakland channel deepening project, which supplied more than two million cubic yards of sediment for wetland restoration at Hamilton.

Bay Planning Coalition event during the 2010s

2011 – 2019

Expanding the Mission

BPC broadened its focus as sea-level rise, infrastructure resilience, transportation, energy, and water resources became increasingly important regional issues, expanding BPC's programming focus and advocacy priorities. By the end of the decade, BPC had strengthened its role as a regional convener on climate resilience, infrastructure, and regulatory policy.

2020 – Today

Turning Regional Priorities Into Action

BPC has increasingly focused on moving regional priorities from planning toward implementation, particularly around shoreline resilience, infrastructure, permitting reform, water resources, and beneficial reuse. The Coalition has advocated for major state and federal resilience investments, helped shape Bay-wide adaptation discussions, elevated permitting reform as a barrier to project delivery, and expanded opportunities for members to engage directly with agency leaders and policymakers.

BPC members and regional leaders at the 2025 Annual Event

Built on Collaboration

The issues facing San Francisco Bay have changed considerably since BPC was founded, but the Coalition's approach has remained remarkably consistent.

BPC brings together organizations with different responsibilities and perspectives to better understand regional challenges, identify areas of common interest, and advance solutions that can work in practice. That means connecting public agencies with the regulated community, technical experts with policymakers, and regional planning with the realities of project implementation.

From dredging and wetlands policy in BPC's earliest years to today's conversations around resilience, infrastructure, permitting, and sustainable use of the Bay, collaboration has remained at the center of the Coalition's work.

Building on More Than Forty Years of Experience

The challenges facing San Francisco Bay continue to evolve, but BPC's role remains rooted in the purpose that shaped the Coalition from the beginning: bringing people together to turn complex regional priorities into workable solutions. Today, BPC is building on that history to advance more efficient permitting, resilient shorelines, sustainable infrastructure, responsible management of the Bay's resources, and coordinated action across sectors and jurisdictions.

Over Four Decades of Regional Leadership

Working Across Sectors to Advance the Bay

Where BPC Began

Four Decades of Impact