Planning Commission certifies SFO Shoreline Protection Program EIR after Millbrae requests further meetings

The Planning Commission certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the San Francisco International Airport’s Shoreline Protection Program on June 1, finding the environmental analysis adequate under CEQA and the EIR ready for certification.

Planning staff said the SPP would replace existing shoreline protection features along 7.5 miles of bay shoreline with a combination of reinforced concrete and steel sheet pile walls; wall height would range from roughly 4 to 14 feet depending on location and project reach. Reach 16 (the airport’s western landside boundary adjacent to Highway 101) was analyzed programmatically because regional coordination with neighboring jurisdictions remains unresolved.

The draft EIR identified construction‑related air quality impacts as significant but potentially mitigable through identified measures; other topics such as biological resources, hydrology and tribal cultural resources were judged less than significant or less than significant with mitigation. Staff recommended certification so the airport commission can later adopt CEQA findings and mitigation as conditions of project approval.

Millbrae concerns and staff response

Millbrae Mayor Anne Schneider and other Bay Area residents urged the commission to delay certification and to meet with Millbrae staff and community leaders about construction and potential operational noise and vibration impacts — specifically low‑frequency noise and localized reverberation that residents contend may not be captured fully by FAA methodology. "I am here today to ask you to delay the approval of this EIR and instead require staff to meet with Millbrae staff to mitigate construction and ongoing flight operations from noise and vibrations," Schneider said.

Commissioners asked planning staff to set up a meeting with Millbrae and SFO environmental staff; they nonetheless concluded the EIR met CEQA requirements and voted to certify. The motion to certify passed unanimously, 6‑0. Staff noted the airport commission will consider adoption of mitigation measures and CEQA findings as part of project approval.