Feds Meddling With Protections For California Coast
Art: Liana Finck
Video: Alex McCutcheon
In the latest salvo in a relentless campaign to strip California’s authority over its natural resources and environment, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is conducting an unusual performance review of the state’s Coastal Management Program, which regulates development along the coast. Coastal advocates see the move as an effort to advance new offshore oil drilling and build spaceport infrastructure, desalination plants, pipelines, and undersea cables, and are urging the public to weigh in.
When NOAA held its first public hearing as part of this review on August 10 in Santa Monica, more than 300 Californians rallied outside before packing the meeting room, where speakers testified for more than four hours. The crowd included state and local officials, business owners, fishers, scientists, environmental advocates, and concerned citizens.
Every speaker supported the California Coastal Program and warned that weakening protections would put the environment, economy, and coastal communities at risk. A July survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that many Californians would agree: 82% of adults see the Coastal Commission as a net benefit, and a majority oppose expanding offshore drilling.
Local and state officials stressed that the Coastal Management Program has received bipartisan support and positive performance reviews from NOAA in the past. “California coastal communities, be they small, large, red or blue, want a say in their future,” said Wade Crowfoot, California’s secretary of natural resources.
Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, also pointed out that the state has a track record of successfully working with the federal government to approve projects rather than obstructing development, as opponents have claimed. Since 1978, the “Coastal Commission has reviewed more than 3,700 projects. In 97% of those cases, we approved that project as submitted or worked collaboratively to improve it so it could move forward.”
Many speakers said they feared the review provided pretext to open the coast to new oil drilling. According to Lisa Gilfillan of the nonprofit Oceana, 25 city and county governments have recently passed resolutions opposing expanded drilling. Ray Mueller, a San Mateo County supervisor, worried that an oil spill could “trigger a catastrophic chain reaction across the entire West Coast” and “push toxic soil into the fragile estuaries like Pescadero Marsh.”
Other attendees spoke about the importance of California’s coastal economy, like Grant Bixby, a realtor who helped found the Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast. “Offshore oil and gas is bad for business,” Bixby argued. “We know the CZMA has worked because California has the world’s fourth largest economy; our coastal economy generates more than $50 billion per year in GDP.” Larry Goldzband, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, added that “economic growth and environmental protection are not competing interests. The Bay Area thrives economically because it is a great place to live and work.”
NOAA also held two virtual hearings on August 11 and 12, with a total of about 100 attendees. About 90% of the speakers voiced their support for the coastal program.
As of August 14, more than 18,000 written comments have been submitted. NOAA’s public comment period remains open until August 22 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Comments can be emailed to czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov with the subject line “Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program.”
Basics You Need to Know
The federal Coastal Zone Management Act, passed in 1972, allows states to review and manage activities of the federal government affecting their coastal areas to ensure these activities comply with their own state regulations. The law is one of California’s best tools for ensuring that coastal development projects meet state environmental protection, coastal access, and safety standards.
The CZMA requires “regular performance reviews” of the the state’s management program. The last review was in 2024, but U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick called for a new review in May of this year, arguing that the state program is not in compliance with the CZMA because it is not giving “proper weight to economic development and national priorities.”
For President Trump, one such priority has long been oil drilling off California’s coast. In January 2018, the first Trump administration unveiled a draft five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing that would have opened up the entire California coast to new drilling for the first time since 1984. That plan died when the Biden administration placed a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing in federal waters, but on his first day back in office, Trump reversed that order, and in November 2025, the current administration announced a new plan for offshore oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida.
The current review could have significant implications for California. If NOAA finds the state out of compliance, both California’s coastal permitting authority and millions of dollars in annual federal funding to the Coastal Commission, SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and State Coastal Conservancy — the agencies that administer the CCMP — are at risk.
