Locals wary of proposed coast council

Alicia Robinson

A bill that would create a new state council to supervise ocean

protection and resources is passing through the state Legislature,

but local coastal advocates worry it may add another layer of

bureaucracy to the web of agencies that regulate the state’s coastal

waters.

A bill written by Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco) would create

a state Ocean Protection Council to coordinate and increase

cooperation among the various state agencies that now work to protect

the coast and ocean.

“I introduced this bill because the ocean that Californians depend

on for recreation, fishing and tourism is taking a pounding, and it’s

one of our prime responsibilities to protect this resource for future

generations,” Burton said in a written statement. Aides said

significant amendments to the bill are expected in the next week.

State legislators have extensively discussed ocean protection in

the past and some progress has been made in protecting the coastal

waters, but 70th District Assemblyman John Campbell said there’s room

to do more.

However, Campbell and some coastal advocates said they’re wary of

putting another finger in the bureaucratic pie.

“What this does is it actually adds another commission of

bureaucracy in the way, I think, of getting the ocean cleaned up,”

Campbell said. “Instead we ought to be consolidating some of these

commissions and streamlining the process rather than adding another

layer.”

He said he wouldn’t support the current form of the bill, which is

scheduled for discussion in the Senate in April and could then move

on to the Assembly.

While more attention should be given to the health of the ocean,

adding a governmental agency may not be the best way to achieve it,

said Garry Brown, executive director of Orange County CoastKeeper.

“I think one of my concerns is that it dilutes some parts of the

Coastal Act and it may take away some of the authority that the

[California] Coastal Commission now has,” Brown said.

Another layer of bureaucracy could make it harder for CoastKeeper,

a nonprofit group that works to protect and restore marine habitat,

to do its job, Brown said. The group now has to deal with agencies

including the Army Corps of Engineers, the coastal commission and the

state Department of Fish and Game to perform any activity that

affects the coast.

“We have to get approval from eight different agencies already to

plant kelp off a reef in Crystal Cove,” Brown said.

Newport Beach City Councilman Don Webb, who is on the city’s

Coastal/Bay Water Quality Advisory Committee, echoed Brown’s

concerns.

The city already has difficulties in getting permits from the

Coastal Commission and another level of government would make the

process even harder, he said.

Brown and Webb said they would reserve judgment until they saw how

the bill came out of the legislative process, and both said it could

be a positive move under certain conditions.

Brown said if the new agency could find more funding for coastal

protection or do more to protect certain areas from overfishing, he

would be in favor of it.

“We definitely support anything that’s going to make our beaches

and ocean waters cleaner and better and safer for our residents to

use,” Webb said. “But I think we have enough agencies already.”

Changes to some of the departments that deal with ocean protection

could already be in store due to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s

California Performance Review, Campbell said. The review is one of

the governor’s promised reforms to cut costs and streamline state

government. It will likely be finished this summer.

“I would be surprised if in the environmental area there was not

some consolidation,” Campbell said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.