By: Chris Mouawad, Legal and Policy Intern, and Ashley Eagle-Gibbs, Legal and Policy Director
As an environmental nonprofit leader, we hold an active role in coordinating and providing input to legislators, committee members, and state agencies on legislation relevant to Marin's coastal region in order to safeguard our coast and oceans. One of the most significant efforts during the 2023 legislative session was to defend the California coast by ensuring environmental protections provided by the California Coastal Act of 1976 continue to apply to activity in the Coastal Zone. The Coastal Zone in Marin County accounts for over 82 thousand acres of Marin County - all of it located in West Marin [1]. This includes portions (but not the entirety) of sites of significant ecological importance such as Bodega Bay, Tomales Bay, Point Reyes National Seashore, Duxbury Point, Bolinas Lagoon, Audubon Canyon Ranch, Mount Tamalpais State Park, and Rodeo Lagoon [2]. As a result, any reduction of the applicability of environmental regulations in the Coastal Zone can impact the preservation of ecologically significant sites or neighboring areas. This year we have worked on a number of legislative issues pertaining to defending and safeguarding our coasts and oceans, providing ecological restoration and biodiversity protection, and addressing climate change and sea level rise.
Defending & Safeguarding Our Coasts & Ocean Through the Coastal Act
This year we have worked on two housing bills to ensure the Coastal Act is preserved. The Coastal Act was created by a ballot proposition when California voters sought to “Save Our Coast” by preserving coastal resources and public access to the coast. While the main purpose of the two housing bills is to modify existing housing streamlining bills, their exclusion of the Coastal Act serves to benefit developers while weakening environmental, public access, and sea level rise protections in the coastal zone.
Unfortunately, the movement from our legislature towards environmental deregulation (or rolling back our existing environmental protections) is in full effect, in this case, disguised as supporting housing. We want to make it very clear that both EAC, our partners, and the Coastal Commission fully support affordable housing, but environmental review must also take place in order to protect our shared coastal resources, public access, and ensure we are prepared for sea level rise and other coastal hazards.
Bill: AB 1287
The first bill we had concerns with was AB 1287 - related to density bonuses and incentives. While we were not opposed to the substance of the law, we were very concerned it intended to remove the Coastal Commission’s review authority in the Coastal Zone. The Coastal Commission’s review of activity in the Coastal Zone serves to protect coastal resources and ensure public access. We were successful in seeking amendments that were made in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, protecting the Coastal Commission’s authority to review proposals in the Coastal Zone. Read our Comment Letter.
Bill: SB 423
For the next bill, the fight is not over! We continue to oppose SB 423 unless it is amended. This bill relates to extending the sunset clause of existing law SB 35, which allows for streamlining of multi-family development projects that include affordable housing. While we are not opposed to the sunset clause extension, we are very concerned the bill proposes to remove Coastal Commission authority in the Coastal Zone. This not only raises environmental concerns for habitat and species, but it raises concerns for site development safety (think sea level rise, blufftop erosion, toxic sites, and fire), as well as concerns regarding future public access. We have raised our concerns to the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, and the Author’s office. While we have heard some amendments may be pending, we remain concerned about the impacts of this bill and the precedent that it sets by exempting Coastal Commission authority through a government code amendment. We continue to oppose this bill unless it is amended. We are joined by environmental partners, like the Surfrider Foundation, as well as environmental justice and affordable housing advocates in continuing our opposition to this bill.
Take Action! Contact ashley@eacmarin.org to learn more about these efforts and how you can get involved. One thing you can do right now is reach out to your Assemblymember on this issue and let him/her know that you are concerned and that he/she should vote no on the floor!
Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Protection
In addition to our work to protect the Coastal Act, we have supported a number of positive ocean and coastal conservation bills through comment letters, testimony, and participating in CA Oceans Day including supporting AB 1407 (ocean recovery and large-scale restoration bill), SB 337 (which would codify our state’s 30x30 goals), and AB 45 (blue carbon demonstration projects). We are excited to see these bills moving forward.
Bill: AB 953
We have supported this bill which incentivizes safe shipping along our coast with a voluntary vessel speed reduction program. We are glad to see the bill is moving forward. Read our Coalition Comment Letter
Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
As our recently unveiled Our Coastal Climate exhibit highlights, climate change, and sea level rise pose an existential risk to habitat (for both humans and otherwise) all around the planet. We are working to protect what we can by supporting legislation that has a material impact to face the challenge of climate change and sea level rise.
This year we have also taken action with our partners by submitting comments to make sure California retains its coastal resiliency budget, which was proposed to be slashed by 43% this year. We were collectively successful, and the legislature ultimately brought back the funding for coastal resilience with nearly $300 million for the State Coastal Conservancy to respond to sea level rise.
We are encouraged by the following climate-related bills:
Bill: SB 272
This bill better prepares our state for sea level rise, and encourages local governments in the Bay Area and Coastal Zone to develop and implement a sea level rise adaptation plan. In coastal Marin County, this plan would protect critical public infrastructure such as roads and water systems. We are pleased to see SB 272 pass the Senate and make its way to the Assembly floor. Read our Coalition Comment Letter
Bill: AB 45
This allows for the creation of blue carbon demonstration projects in the Coastal Zone. The foundation of this bill is the understanding our planet’s most important carbon sink is the ocean. The projects would restore marine habitats and ecosystems with the explicit goal to sequester carbon. The results of these projects will then be made available to inform future blue carbon initiatives. AB 45 passed the Assembly and will head to the Senate floor.
We will continue to work to protect our coast and advance good climate, coastal, and biodiversity bills. We work to achieve our goals by coordinating partners, sending written comments, and participating in legislative hearings.
