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Read these related articles, also from the Summer 2005 Green Footnotes:

Ethics at the Coastal Commission

CGF Environmental Forum: Coastal Clash

The Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission
by Sara Wan, California Coastal Commissioner

More than three decades ago, voters concerned about coastal development and its impact on public access and coastal resources worked for Proposition 20, the California Coastal Conservation Initiative. This Initiative, passed in 1972, created the Coastal Commission.

The Coastal Act and the Coastal Zone
Four years later, the State Legislature enacted the California Coastal Act, which is the primary law that governs the decisions of the Coastal Commission. The Act outlines, among other things, standards for development within the Coastal Zone.

The Coastal Zone encompasses 1.5 million acres of land, and stretches from three miles at sea to an inland boundary that varies from several blocks in urban areas to as much as five miles in less developed areas. Covering 1,100 miles of California coastline from Oregon to Mexico, including 287 miles of shoreline surrounding nine off-shore islands, the Coastal Zone extends into federal waters under the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

Local Coastal Plans
The Coastal Act is umbrella legislation designed to encourage local governments to create Local Coastal Plans (LCPs) to govern decisions that determine the short- and long-term conservation and use of coastal resources. These LCPs can be thought of as the equivalent of General Plans for areas within the Coastal Zone. Local Coastal Plans must be consistent with the policies of Coastal Act, and protect public access and coastal resources.

Until the Coastal Commission certifies an LCP, the Commission makes the final decisions on all development within a jurisdiction (city or county) within the Coastal Zone. Once an LCP is certified for a jurisdiction, decisions are handled locally, but can be appealed to the Commission.

The heart of the Coastal Act
Chapter 3, the so-called "heart of the Coastal Act," contains the standards used by the Commission in the review of coastal development permits and Local Coastal Plans. The chapter's seven articles govern all development along the Coast, and mandate protection of public access, recreational opportunities, and marine and land resources.

Article 1 states that Chapter 3 shall be used as the standard against which the legality of LCPs and development permits will be measured.

Article 2 mandates that development shall not interfere with the public's right to access the (sea including dry sand beach) beach.

Article 3 covers recreation, placing a priority on coastal dependent public and private recreation over residential development.

Article 4 deals with protection of the marine environment, including water quality issues, wetlands protections and coastal armoring.

Article 5 includes protections for environmentally sensitive habitat, agriculture and archeological resources.

Article 6 deals with development and issues such as protection of coastal views, limitations on coastal armoring and landform alteration, and geologic hazards.

Article 7 covers industrial development.

Because it is not possible to condense the Coastal Act into a short column, I urge everyone to read and learn about the Coastal Act, the basis for all Coastal Commission decisions. As a citizen, if you have concerns about a project, your objections must be based on the Act and its policies.

Balancing development and resource protection
In my opinion, the Coastal Act is the best environmental law in the world, because it seeks to balance the right to develop with very strong policies to protect resources. If the Coastal Commission is doing its job, and citizens are providing the input and information we need to do that job, the result should be that development approved for the Coastal Zone is consistent with and respectful of the Coastal Act.

You can obtain a copy of the Coastal Act from the Coastal Commission or online at www.coastal.ca.gov/ccatc.html.

For more information about how to use the Coastal Act policies for environmental activism, read the Organization of Regional Coastal Activists (ORCA) training manual.