The California Urban Waterfront Restoration Financing Authority (CUWARFA) was established to issue up to $650 million in conduit financing to make loans or acquire title to property and to underwrite or undertake directly a variety of urban waterfront development projects within the coastal zone, the Sacramento-Yolo Port District, the Stockton Port District, and those metropolitan statistical areas meeting specified conditions. The Federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 requires that bonds authorized by CUWARFA generally be within an allocation from the state's ''private activity'' bond limit in order for the bonds to be federally tax-exempt, unless the issuer qualifies as a private, nonprofit business.

Financing is available for both publicly and privately sponsored projects that provide visitor-serving facilities, waterfront-dependent industries, public recreation, and erosion control facilities. The State Coastal Conservancy must approve both the specific project and a master plan for urban waterfront restoration before any project can obtain CUWARFA approval for revenue bond financing. The Authority has sold $3.33 million in revenue bonds to date.