Thursday, June 16, 2011
California Coastal Commission 2010 Voting Record and 2011 Outlook
This week, Surfrider Foundation, along with our partners at Sierra Club, California Coastkeeper Alliance, League for Coastal Protection, California Coastal Protection Network, and Coastwalk California released the 2010 California Coastal Commission Voting Chart. The Conservation Voting Chart tracks the voting record of the members of the California Coastal Commission and provides critical insight into Commissioner performance relating to its impact on natural coastal resources and their potential to set important statewide precedents. This year's Chart reports on the 21 most important environmental votes of the year in front of the Coastal Commission.
Commissioner Esther Sanchez, an Oceanside City Councilmember representing San Diego County, scored the highest amongst all of the Commissioners, with a Conservation Voting Score of 90%, up from her 2009 score of 75%. Her score also helped the Assembly appointments as a whole, surpass the scores of the Senate Rules Committee and the Governor's appointments to the Commission. The overall score of the Coastal Commission for 2010 was 61% pro-conservation voting. This score is down from the 66% achieved in 2009. However, the Commission is still on the higher side of their 23-year average score of 51%.
Key votes reported in the 2010 Chart include the Dana Point Strands Beach Access battle that eventually lead to litigation with the City of Dana Point, where the Commissioners voted unanimously to protect California citizens' beach access interests. There are also instances reported where the Commission failed to protect the coast, such as the Carlsbad Desalination Plant permit revocation request that was denied by the Commissioners despite intentional fraudulent information.
The story of the Commission continues in 2011, including many new appointments. Six of the twelve voting members have been added to the Commission in the past six months. This change in composition of the Commission leads to more representation on the South Central Coast, including Commissioner Brian Brennan from Ventura, Dayna Bochco from Los Angeles, Wendy Mitchell from Los Angeles, and Jana Zimmer from Santa Barbara. Other new members include electeds Steven Kinsey from Marin and Martha McClure from Del Norte County.
These new Commissioners seem to possess saavy in Sacramento as well as Los Angeles politics. Overall, it looks like this will be a promising set of Commissioners, and Surfrider Foundation is hopeful that they will stand strong for coastal protection.
Labels: California Coastal Commission, Voting Chart
Friday, October 8, 2010
Coastal Commission Voting Trends for 2009
This year's Chart clearly displays a trend toward conservation voting amongst the Commissioners. The total Commission Conservation Voting score went up markedly from 38% in 2008 to 66% in 2009. This is an increase of 28 percentage points, which is undoubtedly due to the wisdom of the new appointments to the Commission in 2009, including three of the top four scores of Commissioners Mark Stone (100%), Ross Mirkarimi (95%), and Ester Sanchez (75%). Importantly, the appointments of Stone and Sanchez helped to reflect on the Speaker of the Assembly's appointment score, which increased from 31% in 2008 to 69% in 2009.
This year's Chart reports on several important votes that included Surfrider Foundation participation. Beach management and shoreline armoring issues were featured in the Santa Barbara Goleta Beach and Pacifica Swan Valley decisions. Even though the Commission voted favorably on these projects in order to prevent future armoring and sand loss, the Commission has failed to come up with a proactive alternative to "emergency" seawall permits. These emergency permits continue to allow for armoring the California coastline with minimal public input, analysis of alternatives or redress. As evidenced by the Mariposa Land Company decision in this Chart, these "emergency" permits can allow seawalls to persist for years or even decades, without proper forethought or review.
Nonetheless, Surfrider will continue to monitor the activity of the California Coastal Commission and ensure that the Commission is fulfilling its legislative charge to protect, conserve, restore and enhance environmental and human resources of the California coast.
To view the 2009 Chart, click here.
Labels: California Coastal Commission, Desal Poseidon Carlsbad, seawalls
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
California Know Your H20 Policy Update
The animated video is progressing very well. The plan is to launch the video on World Water Day (March 22nd) with some coordinated events, media and video screenings.
This film depicts the Surfrider Foundation's vision of current problems with the way we manage freshwater, and solutions that can not only provide sustainable future supplies but take meaningful steps towards restoring our coast and ocean. It gives everyone from homeowners to government agencies a blueprint for change.
The film was made possible by countless hours from talented and dedicated volunteers, and financial contributions from several chapters.
Ocean Desalination Projects:
Our Request for Revocation based on a flawed greenhouse gas mitigation plan was voted down by the Coastal Commission. However, they also voted down Poseidon's motion that eliminated the findings that they had intentionally misled the Commission by refusing to provide documents undermining their GHG mitigation calculation. The action by the Coastal Commission was weak, but we believe compulsory mitigation of greenhouse gases is a marginal victory and important legal precedent for future desal proposals.
We are waiting to hear from the State Water Resources Control Board on their decision whether or not to go forward with our challenge of the Poseidon-Carlsbad intake permit. We hope to hear something in the next week or so. This decision will also be critical to ensuring only proposals that use the best design, location and technology to minimize marine life mortality are approved for Carlsbad and any future desal proposal.
Poseidon-Huntington is now preparing a Supplemental EIR. We have not seen the issues they plan to address. But our experience in Carlsbad makes us better prepared to comment on the SEIR in Huntington Beach.
Ocean Friendly Gardens:
We presented the OFG program to the Coastal Commission and Coastal Conservancy staff last week. They are interested in doing a pilot "urban watershed renovation" project with multiple NGOs to document the benefits of LID, OFG, daylighting urban creeks, etc. We think it might make sense to just do a carefully selected neighborhood and get some before and after data on dry & wet weather runoff — both volume and pollutant loading. They liked it and we are scheduled to go back in March to walk a neighborhood in San Francisco that may serve as a pilot. We hope to convince the Coastal Conservancy to do a pilot in Southern California as well — maybe the San Jon sub-watershed in Ventura that the Ventura Chapter has identified. Check it out here:
http://www.venturariver.org/2008/01/urban-watershed-planning-ventura-ca.html
Recycled Wastewater:
The study in San Diego is moving forward and the progress is positive - yet slow.
Also, Surfrider Foundation is now a member of the multi-stakeholder Los Angeles Recycled Wastewater planning group and will attend our first meeting on Feb 25.
Finally, California Senator Pavley has drafted a bill directing the Department of Public Health to promulgate drinking water quality standards for recycled wastewater. As is, we think the bill is a step in the right direction. We are looking into the bill and we'll be talking to PCL (who sponsored the bill), and then maybe Senator Pavley's office with some suggested improvements.
City Ordinances:
Los Angeles is considering some fairly progressive ordinances to implement LID and "green streets."
Also, cities statewide are trying to meet the deadlines for implementing their own landscape/irrigation ordinances for new development - or just implement the State’s model ordinance. Finding and highlighting innovative ordinances will be one way that we can promote best practices.
Labels: California Coastal Commission, know your h20
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Richard Bloom appointed as new Coastal Commissioner
When interviewing with Surfrider Foundation and other environmental groups for this position, Bloom affirmed his priority for protecting the environment above all other factors and especially public parks, which he regards as our legacy to the future. This won him the recommendation of the environmental groups, along with Gerrie Shipske from Long Beach and Pam O'Connor from Santa Monica.
Bloom is an attorney by profession and also chairs the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. For more information on Bloom's appointment, click here.
Labels: California Coastal Commission
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass Appoints Mark Stone and Ester Sanchez as Coastal Commissioners
There will be two new faces on the California Coastal Commission: Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone and Oceanside City Councilmember Ester Sanchez. These appointments were largely lauded by the environmental community who monitors Coastal Commission activity and was allowed to meet with Speaker Bass to discuss the pending appointments during her decision process. Mark Stone was the number one choice in his region to fill the important Commission seat, and Surfrider Foundation is hopeful that Ester Sanchez will also make a wise and valuable addition to the Commission.
This article explains more about the Mark Stone appointment in replacement of repeat appointee Monterey representative Dave Potter.
This article speaks about the San Diego appointment of Ester Sanchez to replace Ben Hueso. This appointment was made over Donna Frye, who was backed by more than 40 environmental groups as the lead choice.
Labels: appoinment, California Coastal Commission, Ester Sanchez, Mark Stone
