Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ES-1 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
This joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA) addresses the potential
environmental consequences of the Regional Beach Sand Project which proposes dredging and placement
of sand on numerous potential receiver sites in the San Diego region. This document has been prepared
jointly by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) (local lead agency) and the U.S.
Department of the Navy (federallead agency) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act
of 1970 (CEQA) statutes (Cal. Pub. Res. Code, 21000 et seq., as amended) and implementing
guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., Title 14, 15000 et seq. (1998)); the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4332 (1994)) in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA (40 C.F.R. 1500-1508); and U.S. Navy regulations
implementing NEPA (32 C.F.R. Part 775).
The proposed action is to replenish approximately 2 million cubic yards (cy) of clean beach-quality sand
on up to 13 receiver sites in the San Diego region. The receiver sites are located from Oceanside in the
north to Imperial Beach in the south. Sand would be dredged from up to six offshore borrow sites. A
regional location map, including the proposed receiver sites and sand borrow sites, is shown in Figure ES-
1.
In 1993, SANDAG prepared the Shoreline Preservation Strategy for the San Diego Region, which
identified regional coastal areas with critical shoreline problems and recommended a strategy to address
the issue. That strategy involved various components including beach replenishment, sand retention
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structures, property protection structures, and policies regarding the use of the shoreline and bluff tops.
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Independent of that report, the Navy began to analyze a separate action in the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Development of Facilities in San Diego/ Coronado to Support the
Homeporting of One NIMITZ Class Aircraft Carrier (Department of the Navy 1995). In order to
accommodate the carrier, the Navy proposed to dredge the carrier berthing area, turning basin, and the
San Diego Bay navigation channel. A portion of the dredged sediment was initially believed to be suitable
for beach replenishment. As one option to dispose of the dredged material from the Homeporting project,
the Navy evaluated nine beach receiver sites in the San Diego region in that EIS.
Regional Beach Sand Project EIR/EA
Page ES-1
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