The Navy’s proposal for a second explosives-handling wharf on Hood Canal got a key approval Friday from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The project at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor would cover 6.3 acres of water and tidelands, affecting marine habitat that includes eelgrass and other vegetation, as well as a freshwater wetland.

Ecology signed off on the project, with the condition that the Navy pay $6.9 million into a new Hood Canal program that funds environmental restoration projects.

The project’s federal environmental permit is still under development.