California Coastal Commission

The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 to identify and prevent ecological and environmental dangers threatening California's coastal landscape and to protect coastal land from privatization. Since the California Legislature passed the California Coastal Act of 1976, the Coastal Commission has planned and regulated the use of land and water in the coastal zone through reviews of local and federal government programs and activities. In the late 1960s, declining domestic natural gas reserves resulting from federal price controls on interstate gas led some U.S. utility firms to explore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports as an alternative source of natural gas. The utility companies were forced to acknowledge that the project was no longer economically viable after Congress passed the Natural Gas Policy in 1978, which lifted price controls on domestic natural gas discovered after 1977 and diminished the cost of domestic LNG.

The Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 (Propostion 20) and made permanent by the Legislature in 1976. The mission of the Commission, as the lead agency responsible for carrying out California's coastal management program, is to plan for and regulate development in the coastal zone consistent with the policies of the California Coastal Act.

The Commission is an independent entity of 16 members, 12 voting and four nonvoting. The Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly with confirmation of the Assembly Rules Committee, each appoint two public members and two locally elected officals. The four nonvoting members are the Secretary for Resources; Secretary for Business, Transportation and Housing; Secretary for Trade and Commerce; and Chairperson of the State Lands Commission.

The Commission appoints and executive director who is responsible for hiring and managing a staff of about 115 under the State's civil service system.

History

The following description has been extracted from the State of California official web site at: http://ceres.ca.gov/coastalcomm/whoweare.html

The Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 (Proposition 20) and made permanent by the Legislature in 1976. The mission of the Commission, as the lead agency responsible for carrying out California's coastal management program, is to plan for and regulate development in the coastal zone consistent with the policies of the California Coastal Act. The Commission is also one of two designated State coastal management agencies for the purpose of administering the federal Coastal Zone Management Act in California. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission has authority over federal activities and federally licensed or assisted activities within San Francisco Bay, many of which are not otherwise subject to state control; the Coastal Commission has the same authority over federal activities and federally licensed or assisted activities elsewhere in the California Coastal Zone. The policies of the Coastal Act deal with public access to the coast, coastal recreation, the marine environment, coastal land resources, and coastal development of various types, including energy facilities, ports, and other industrial development.

The Commission is an independent entity of 16 members, 12 voting and four nonvoting. The Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly with confirmation of the Assembly Rules Committee, each appoint two public members and two locally elected officials. The four nonvoting members are the Secretary for Resources; Secretary for Business, Transportation and Housing; Secretary for Trade and Commerce; and Chairperson of the State Lands Commission. The Commission appoints an executive director who is responsible for hiring and managing a staff of about 115 under the State's civil service system.

The Commission's headquarters office is located in San Francisco; while district offices are located along the coast in Santa Cruz, Ventura, Long Beach and San Diego, making it convenient for the Commission staff to visit proposed development sites and interact with the public, coastal local governments, and other agencies. Additionally, a small legislative/intergovernmental coordination office is located in Sacramento, making contact with the Legislature and other state agencies convenient.

Agency History

In November of 1972, the people of the State of California voted and approved of Proposition 20, the Coastal Zone Conservation Act, which created the temporary California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission (CCZCC). Members to the State Commission consisted of one member chosen by the each of the six regional commissions and six public representatives of which two were appointed by the Governor, two by the Senate Rules Committee, and two by the Speaker of the Assembly. In an effort to maximize local participation and to maintain communication with county and city governments within the coastal zone, six district offices were opened. The six regional commissions formed by Proposition 20 included: the North Coast Regional Commission (Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties); the North Central Coast Regional Commission (Sonoma, Marin, and San Francisco Counties); the Central Coast Regional Commission (San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties); the South Central Regional Commission (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties); the South Regional Commission (Los Angeles, and Orange Counties); and the San Diego Regional Commission (San Diego County). Proposition 20 stipulated that the membership of each of the six regional commissions come from an equal number of locally -elected officials (such as council members, mayors, county supervisors) and public representatives of which one-third was to be appointed by the Governor, one-third by the Senate Rules Committee, and one-third by the Speaker of the Assembly.

The CCZCC was mandated with the responsibility for the preservation and protection of California's environmentally and ecologically diverse coastal resources within the established coastal zone. Specifically, Proposition 20 required the CCZCC to study resources within the coastal zone, establish guidelines and review procedures for the approval or denial of development permits within the coastal zone beginning in 1973, and to prepare a statewide coastal plan for the long term conservation and management of California's coastal resources for future generations. In December of 1975, the CCZCC delivered its statewide plan to the Legislature. The plan was based on nine elements: the marine environment, coastal land development, appearance and design of coastal development, intensity of development, geology of the coastal zone, energy development and facility siting, transportation, recreation/access to the coast, and the powers, funding, and organizational authority necessary to carry out the coastal plan.

The Coastal Zone Conservation Act did not authorize the establishment of a permanent governmental agency. Prior to its expiration date in 1976, Senator Jerry Smith (D- Santa Clara) introduced legislation (SB1227) to extend the Coastal Zone Conservation Act until January of 1981. Known as the California Coastal Act (Chapter 1330 of Statutes of 1976) it named the successor agency to the CCZCC as the California Coastal Commission (CCC). In addition to maintaining the obligations, powers, duties, and responsibilities of the CCZCC, the Coastal Act required the Coastal Commission to implement the Local Coastal Program (LCP). As part of the LCP, each local government within the coastal zone was to prepare a coastal development program based on the principles of Coastal Act no later than July 1, 1980. Upon approval of the LCP by the CCC, the CCC was authorized to close the regional commission offices and theoretically assume any and all regional commission obligations, powers, duties, responsibilities, benefits, and legal interests.

Similar to the CCZCC, representatives to the CCC consist of appointees from the Governor and from the Legislature. Commission members include sixteen independent members with twelve voting and four non-voting members. The Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly with the confirmation of the Assembly Rules Committee select two public and two locally-elected officials as representatives to the CCC. In an effort to minimize duplication and conflicts among existing state agencies, the Coastal Act stipulated that the four non-voting members include the Secretary for Resources, Secretary for Business, Transportation, and Housing, Secretary for Trade and Commerce, and the Chairperson of the State Lands Commission. The commission and each regional commission were given the responsibility of appointing the executive director. In addition to having the responsibility of hiring senior staff, the executive director was given broad supervisory powers. The executive director was to assist local governments in implementing the LCP, oversee the CCC budget, coordinate planning and regulatory procedures with existing state agencies within the coastal zone, and to balance the energy interests of the nation (primarily along the Outer Continental Shelf) with the California Coastal Act.

Unable to certify a significant portion of city and county LCP by the deadline of July 1, 1980, the legislature granted yet another extension to the CCC in 1981 (Chapter 1173, Statutes of 1981). Since 1981 the primary constituents of the CCC are local governments, industrial ports, development interests needing coastal permits, community organizations, and utility and other related energy interests along California's coastline.

Historical Background

The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 to identify and prevent ecological and environmental dangers threatening California's coastal landscape and to protect coastal land from privatization. Since the California Legislature passed the California Coastal Act of 1976, the Coastal Commission has planned and regulated the use of land and water in the coastal zone through reviews of local and federal government programs and activities.

In the late 1960s, declining domestic natural gas reserves resulting from federal price controls on interstate gas led some U.S. utility firms to explore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports as an alternative source of natural gas. Western LNG Terminal Company, Pacific Gas and Electric, and El Paso Natural Gas Company proposed to build and employ LNG import facilities at multiple California coastal sites in 1972. The Port of Los Angeles, Oxnard, and Point Conception were first identified as prospective LNG Terminal sites; however, the three state agencies involved with siting authority: the California Coastal Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and the California Energy Commission were unable to approve the sites because of conflicts of interest stemming from environmental and safety concerns of the Coastal Commission.

The LNG Terminal Siting Act of 1977 was passed by California legislature to prevent a stalemate and increase the likelihood of site approval allowing for permitting of proposed LNG Terminal sites. The new law gave state siting authority for the project to CPUC, while simultaneously acknowledging environmental concerns by granting the Coastal Commission the task of identifying and ranking proposed sites that would mitigate environmental damage. The Coastal Commission initially evaluated 82 sites, and found only four met the strict population density standards and other protective criteria that they had established regarding wind and wave conditions, earthquake hazards, and soil conditions. Of these four, the Point Conception site was conditionally approved by the CPUC despite concerns about minimal seismic risks in the area.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (formerly the FCP) also granted conditional approval of the Point Conception site. However, project opponents appealed FERC's approval, and the Federal courts remanded the case back to FERC for reconsideration of seismic risk factors. Although the Point Conception site eventually regained conditional approval from FERC in 1983, the project was ultimately abandoned. The utility companies were forced to acknowledge that the project was no longer economically viable after Congress passed the Natural Gas Policy in 1978, which lifted price controls on domestic natural gas discovered after 1977 and diminished the cost of domestic LNG.