October 2025 ABAG E-News: Register for SFEP Conference; Apply for Power-Building & Engagement Grant; PCA Program Revised, New Call for Proposals Coming
MTC and ABAG sent this bulletin at 10/02/2025 01:18 PM PDT
Register for the San Francisco Estuary Partnership Conference
Registration is open for the 2025 State of the Estuary Conference from Oct. 28-29 at the Oakland Scottish Rite. Join us to network, celebrate regional accomplishments, learn from one another and discover what’s happening across the field. Connect science, restoration, stewardship and community with the shared goal of maintaining and restoring the health of the San Francisco Estuary.
Application Open for Power-Building and Engagement Grant
The Power-Building and Engagement (Pb+E) grant program, part of ABAG and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)’s Community Action Resource Empowerment initiative, supports community-based organizations to strengthen community leadership, build partnerships and implement community-driven solutions that advance the expansion of housing choices and affordability and reduce car dependency. Pb+E will distribute $1.3 million in grants to community-based organizations under three project categories. The application window closes Oct. 9, 2025 at 5 p.m. PST. Please help us spread the word about this funding opportunity to community-based organizations in your counties. The funding for this grant program comes from the state's REAP 2.0 program.
Priority Conservation Areas (PCA) Program Revised, New Call for Proposals Coming
ABAG-MTC's Priority Conservation Areas (PCA) Program — which indicates regionally significant areas to be protected and improved — has been revised. PCAs include natural habitats, farms and ranchlands, recreation areas, urban green spaces and locations that can help fight the effects of climate change. In addition, ABAG and MTC, in coordination with the State Coastal Conservancy, anticipate releasing a call for proposals for the PCA Grant Program in October. MTC has provided $8 million in local and federal funds for the current grant round of this program. Grants may range from $200,000 to $1 million.
Sacred Land, Shared Futures: SB 4/Faith-Based Development Workshops
The Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) Program is hosting three workshops to help jurisdiction staff and faith communities in the Bay Area explore SB 4 (2024, also known as YIGBY – Yes in God’s Backyard). SB 4 creates new opportunities for faith-based institutions to develop affordable housing on their land, but many religious organizations and local jurisdictions need support to navigate the process. These workshops will bring jurisdictions and faith communities together to connect, learn from peers and explore new tools and resources to advance faith-based development. For direct questions, please contact Rev. Penny Nixon (revgpn@gmail.com) and Emily Robbins (robbins@planningcollaborative.com).
Legislature Promotes Preservation of Affordable Market-Rate Housing
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA)’s work to preserve existing housing that lower- and middle-income residents can afford got an important endorsement when the state Legislature sent Assembly Bill 670 (Quirk-Silva) to Governor Newsom on Sept. 11. If signed, the measure will allow local governments throughout California to count investments in preserving unsubsidized affordable housing toward the annual progress reports used to assess the housing elements of cities’ and counties’ adopted general plans. The bill also requires local governments to report all demolished housing units and to demonstrate compliance with replacement housing and relocation assistance standards.
First of its Kind: Palo Alto’s Horizontal Levee Construction Begins
As of Sept. 8, construction of the Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project is underway. This project is the first of its kind to be built on the San Francisco Bay shoreline, using effluent from the Regional Water Quality Control Plant to irrigate native plantings and inform future “living levee” designs throughout the Bay Area. The San Francisco Estuary Partnership is collaborating with the City of Palo Alto on this pilot project, located along a 500-foot section of coastline at Harbor Marsh in the Palo Alto Baylands. It will restore a variety of marsh habitat types, including seasonal and perennial wet meadows, freshwater marsh, riparian scrub and upland habitat.
San Francisco Bay stands out as an exception to the worldwide trend toward wetland destruction. In a rare bit of positive environmental news, a new report from the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) indicates that restored tidal wetlands in the Bay almost quadrupled from 2000 to 2020, bringing the total to 53,000 acres and growing.
The Power-Building and Engagement (Pb+E) grant program, part of ABAG and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)’s Community Action Resource Empowerment initiative, supports community-based organizations to strengthen community leadership, build partnerships and implement community-driven solutions that advance the expansion of housing choices and affordability and reduce car dependency. Pb+E will distribute $1.3 million in grants to community-based organizations under three project categories. The application window closes Oct. 9, 2025 at 5 p.m. PST. Please help us spread the word about this funding opportunity to community-based organizations in your counties. The funding for this grant program comes from the state's REAP 2.0 program.
ABAG-MTC's Priority Conservation Areas (PCA) Program — which indicates regionally significant areas to be protected and improved — has been revised. PCAs include natural habitats, farms and ranchlands, recreation areas, urban green spaces and locations that can help fight the effects of climate change. In addition, ABAG and MTC, in coordination with the State Coastal Conservancy, anticipate releasing a call for proposals for the PCA Grant Program in October. MTC has provided $8 million in local and federal funds for the current grant round of this program. Grants may range from $200,000 to $1 million.
