The Legislature further finds and declares:

(a) That further filling of San Francisco Bay and certain waterways specified in subdivision (e) of Section 66610 should be authorized only when public benefits from fill clearly exceed public detriment from the loss of the water areas and should be limited to water-oriented uses (such as ports, water-related industry, airports, bridges, wildlife refuges, water-oriented recreation, and public assembly, water intake and discharge lines for desalinization plants and power generating plants requiring large amounts of water for cooling purposes) or minor fill for improving shoreline appearance or public access to the bay;

(b) That fill in the bay and certain waterways specified in subdivision (e) of Section 66610 for any purpose should be authorized only when no alternative upland location is available for such purpose;

(c) That the water area authorized to be filled should be the minimum necessary to achieve the purpose of the fill;

(d) That the nature, location, and extent of any fill should be such that it will minimize harmful effects to the bay area, such as, the reduction or impairment of the volume surface area or circulation of water, water quality, fertility of marshes or fish or wildlife resources, or other conditions impacting the environment, as defined in § 21060.5 of the Public Resources Code;

(e) That public health, safety, and welfare require that fill be constructed in accordance with sound safety standards which will afford reasonable protection to persons and property against the hazards of unstable geologic or soil conditions or of flood or storm waters;

(f) That fill should be authorized when the filling would, to the maximum extent feasible, establish a permanent shoreline;

(g) That fill should be authorized when the applicant has such valid title to the properties in question that he or she may fill them in the manner and for the uses to be approved.

(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 774, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)