Leveraging Incentives: Lessons Learned from San Francisco's Green Infrastructure Grant Program

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) launched its first capital-funded grant program targeting green infrastructure retrofits on large, impervious parcels. The primary goal of the Green Infrastructure Grant Program (GIGP) is to encourage the implementation of performance-based green infrastructure by providing grants to large public and private property owners to manage their stormwater onsite and improve collection system performance during wet weather. Two of the main drivers for the creation of the GIGP were the cost of capital project delivery in San Francisco and the upcoming bifurcation of the SFPUC’s sewer service charge. Together, the new rate structure and GIGP incentivize the implementation of performance-based green infrastructure on large properties. The GIGP also creates a new green infrastructure delivery mechanism in San Francisco to expedite multi-beneficial capital projects in a lower-cost environment than right-of-way projects. This presentation will highlight the history and drivers of the program, the grant program structure, case studies of awarded projects, and the challenges and lessons learned over the first year of implementation.