As Californians celebrate 50 years of protecting our coast through the California Coastal Act, the Trump administration is weaponizing the very authority that makes it possible by launching a formal review of our state’s Coastal Management Program.
This federal review is an overt effort to take control of California’s coast and ocean by eliminating our state’s authority to push back on destructive offshore drilling and other federal coastal projects and activities.
California's coastal magnificence and economic dominance aren’t accidents, but the result of hard-fought protections built, defended, and won for our beaches and ocean over decades. We're not about to give those protections up now. Please join us in speaking up in defense of California!
Opportunities to be heard
Background
The Federal Government Is Reviewing California's Coastal Management Program. Here's What That Means for Beaches Everywhere.
The Public Comment Period Is Open: Here's How to Defend California's Coast
For nearly 50 years, the California Coastal Commission has worked with federal agencies to review projects under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Since California's coastal program was approved in 1978, the Commission has reviewed more than 3,700 federal and federally regulated projects for consistency with California's coastal policies.
Ninety-six percent of the time, the Commission negotiates improvements so projects can move forward. It objects only in a small percentage of cases – and even then, the federal government can override that objection. This is not a program that blocks development. It's a program that improves it, and steps in only when negotiation fails.
Where negotiations have worked
Some of the clearest examples are the least dramatic. For example, the Commission regularly works with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on beach nourishment and, in 2024, approved a six-year dredging project at Channel Islands Harbor and Port Hueneme that placed sand on Silver Strand and Hueneme beaches and restored more than 13 acres of dune habitat.
Every five to seven years, the Commission reviews the U.S. Navy's marine warfare training program, which the Navy's own assessment estimates disturbs, injures, or kills tens of thousands of marine mammals annually, including rare beaked whales whose escape response from high-intensity sonar causes fatal injuries. The Commission doesn't stop Navy training. It negotiates mitigation: expanded research, avoidance of marine protected areas, better monitoring. The Navy has adopted those measures repeatedly.
Where the California Coastal Commission drew a line
But when the harm is too great, the Commission has objected – and those objections have held up.
In 2008, under pressure from activists, including Surfrider, Commissioners objected to the Trestles Toll Road, a proposed six-lane highway that would have cut through San Onofre State Beach, threatened endangered species, destroyed a Juaneño/Acjachemen village site, and disrupted the sediment flow that creates the Trestles surf break, now the official surfing venue for the LA28 Olympics. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce upheld the Commission's decision. The road was never built.
In 2007, the Commission blocked a massive offshore liquefied natural gas terminal off Ventura County, citing explosion risk to nearby communities and harm to whales and seabirds. In 2012, it objected to an offshore seismic survey that would have blasted the central coast with underwater explosions every 11 to 20 seconds for weeks, threatening to wipe out the entire local population of Morro Bay harbor porpoises. The Commission pushed the applicant toward land-based alternatives instead.
The Legal Foundation
Two cases matter most for today, because they establish that this authority is real and enforceable.
In 1981, a federal court sided with the Commission after the federal government tried to let Southern Pacific Railway sell off Monterey Bay shoreline for private development without consulting the state — the first legal test of a state's authority under the CZMA. California won. That corridor is now the 18-mile Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, used by millions every year.
And in 2005, after the federal government tried to quietly extend 40 expired offshore oil leases without consulting California, the Commission sued — and won. All 40 leases expired. That ruling is the legal backbone of California's authority to review offshore oil drilling in federal waters today.
Every one of these examples, from beach sand to Navy sonar to Trestles to offshore drilling leases, shows a program that works with federal agencies 96 percent of the time, and draws a hard, legally upheld line the other 4 percent, exactly when it matters most.
That's the program under review right now. It has a five-decade record proving it works. The California Coastal Program doesn't need to be re-litigated – it needs to be protected.
As California Policy Associate Director, Jennifer advocates at the legislature and in front of state agencies to ensure protection of the Golden State's 1,100 miles of coastline. Based in Humboldt County, she supports California's 20 chapters on regional ocean protection efforts.
As Senior Manager of the Coasts & Climate Initiative, Emma works with decision makers to implement policy solutions to protect coastal communities from the impacts of climate change. She earned her BA in history and political science from Warren Wilson College before launching a career in public service.
As Ocean Protection Senior Manager, Pete leads the organization's national campaigns on offshore drilling, marine protected areas, renewable energy development, and other ocean-related issues. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Duke University and a master’s degree from the University of Washington’s School of Marine Affairs.