NOAA Opens California Coastal Review, Threatening $51 Billion Coast Economy
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 26
NOAA Opens California Coastal Review, Threatening $51 Billion Coast Economy
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 26
Summary
NOAA formally noticed a review of California’s Coastal Management Program, opening public comment through Aug. 22 and scheduling three meetings, including one in-person session in Santa Monica on Aug. 10.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered the review after accusing California of obstructing spaceport development and giving too little weight to federal and economic priorities on offshore oil, pipelines and desalination.
California officials say the review could strip millions of dollars in program funding or weaken the state’s role in scrutinizing federal coastal projects for hazards such as oil spills and restoration failures.
The move lands as Trump pushes expanded offshore drilling and more rocket launches, and after California’s coastal agencies recently pressed for wildlife monitoring and light controls around increased Vandenberg launches.
Environmental groups and state leaders cast the review as a political attack on a federal-state partnership that has long let California influence, though not veto, projects affecting its coastline.