San Francisco Establishes New Guidelines for Building Along Shorelines

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission proposed an amendment to its original climate change bay plan. The Bay Citizen reports that to reduce the risk of flooding from rising sea levels due to climate change, the commission proposed to discourage all waterfront construction. However, after much opposition the commission voted to scale back the proposal, which now gives more flexibility in approving construction proposals. Under the new rules, new construction on the waterfront will not be approved unless the benefits of building them outweigh the cost of protecting against flooding due to sea level rise.