191470

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1. The Council finds:

1. The Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) has an opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $25,000,000 for a project to protect public health and environmental resiliency by managing stormwater, enhancing Portlanders’ connection to their waterway, and improving habitat for threatened and endangered species.
2. Authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act by the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grant (CFDA 11.463 Habitat Conservation, Funding Opportunity NOAA-NMFS HCPO 2023 2008081) provides grants to local governments to support projects that restore healthy coastal ecosystems using approaches that enhance community and ecosystem resilience to climate hazards and incorporate indigenous knowledge to develop nature-based solutions. The Lower Willamette River and its tributaries are considered coastal ecosystems because they are tidally influenced and support salmon and steelhead, which are ocean migrating species.
3. The project, titled “Transforming Johnson Creek’s Ecosystem through Salmon Habitat Improvements, Climate Resilience and Community Investments,” is composed of the high-priority Johnson Creek Oxbow (JCO) and West Lents Floodplain (WLF) Restoration projects.  If awarded, funds will be used to restore approximately 32 acres of City-owned property to restore fisheries, enhance ecosystems and support community resilience to climate change.
4. Johnson Creek provides critical habitat for threatened and endangered salmonids protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and helps sustain fisheries below the Columbia River dams by supporting spawning and rearing habitat, cold water, and high-flow refuge habitat critical for salmonid recovery. Proposed grant projects restore this creek at the following locations: JCO is between SE 45^th Ave and SE Harney St, and WLF is between SE 87^th Ave and SE Lambert St.
5. Funding from the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grant will support implementation of the City’s Johnson Creek Restoration Plan (JCRP, 2001), which calls for restoring natural resource functions to reduce flood risk, improve water quality and enhance wildlife habitat. It also follows the direction of several important state, and federal recovery plans for threatened and endangered species including NOAA Fisheries’ 2011 Columbia River Estuary ESA Recovery Plan Module for Salmon and Steelhead.
6. Low-income and other residents and businesses in the JCO and WLF areas have disproportionately suffered from environmental justice issues including urban heat island effects, poor air and water quality, and flood hazards. This project will include environmental and community investments for residents in the Lents and Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighborhoods.
7. Investing in habitat restoration and resilience in historically underserved communities protects the health and livability communities, enhances climate resilience and adaptation, and contributes to the recovery and conservation of threatened and endangered species.
8. If the grant application is successful, sub-grant awards to community groups would be implemented to provide local education, engagement and stewardship activities.  Awards to community groups would include groups such as those working with unhoused community members, students, and Lents and Ardenwald-Johnson Creek residents.
9. No match is required for this grant.  However, BES anticipates leveraging up to 38% of the overall project cost.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. The Mayor to apply to NOAA for a Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grant for an amount up to $25,000,000. 
2. The Mayor to provide such information and assurances as are required for the grant period.
3. The Office of Management and Finance Grants Management Division to perform all administrative matters in relation to the grant application, grant agreement or amendments, requests for reimbursement from the grantor, and to submit required online grant documents on the Mayor’s behalf.

Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists because the grant application must be submitted no later than November 17, 2023.  Per the Office of Management and Finance Grants Management Division, submittal of the application sooner than this deadline is preferred; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.