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VIDEO and PRESS RELEASES. Surfriders‘ Jennifer Savage, on June 11th, 2026.
“The Trump administration has put California’s coast on notice.
As California marks 50 years of protecting its coast, the Trump administration is attempting to undermine the very authority that makes it possible. On May 20, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick directed NOAA to conduct a formal review of California’s coastal management program — the federal-state partnership that gives California real power to protect its beaches and push back against harmful federal projects along our coast. The stated rationale is to ensure California gives sufficient weight to “economic development” and federal priorities in areas including offshore energy, transportation, infrastructure, and commercial space development. The Trump administration is accusing California’s coastal protections are getting in the way.
What you can do
NOAA is accepting input through three channels. Comments become part of the official public record, so anything submitted, including names, will be publicly accessible.
1.. In-Person Public Meeting August 10, 2026 | 2-6 p.m. PT Pacific Ballroom, Hilton Santa Monica Hotel and Suites, 1707 4th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
To speak, register by emailing czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov by 11:59 p.m. PT on August 8. Walk-in registration is available but called only after pre-registered speakers. Each speaker gets three minutes; time cannot be transferred to another speaker. The meeting will be recorded, and a transcript will be available by emailing the address above. You can also watch via livestream (comments not accepted through this channel): register for the livestream here.
2. Virtual Public Meetings August 11 and 12, 2026 | 2–5 p.m. PT each day, via Adobe Connect
Register by 11:59 p.m. PT on August 10 at this link. Attendance is capped at 1,000 per session, so NOAA asks participants to attend only one day. Speakers are called in order via the Adobe Connect “raise hand” function, with three minutes each and no transferring time. Sessions will be recorded, with transcripts available by email request.
3. Written Comments Email czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov with “Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program” in the subject line. Deadline: August 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PT
What to say
If you live, work, surf, fish, or simply love the California coast, NOAA needs to hear from you directly. Tell them what California’s coastal protections mean to your community. Point to the track record: a program that has concurred with the vast majority of federal projects it reviews, while still catching the rare ones that pose real harm. Remind them that this review follows directly on the heels of a 2024 evaluation that found California’s program working exactly as intended.
This comment period is the public’s formal opportunity to put these facts on the record before NOAA issues its findings. We’ll be submitting our own comments and encourage our 30,000-plus California members and supporters to do the same.
Outer space and outer waters
When the California Coastal Commission twice voted not to approve SpaceX’s plans to dramatically increase rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base – with Surfrider’s support due to inadequate environmental review and other harmful impacts – the Trump administration took notice. In August 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14335 directing federal agencies to evaluate whether California’s coastal review authority was an obstacle to the space industry, and to consider stripping the state of that authority altogether. That review process set the stage for the Commerce Department’s broader performance audit of California’s entire coastal management program, which is now underway.
The offshore drilling connection makes the stakes even clearer. The same coastal consistency authority targeted by the federal review is California’s primary legal tool for objecting to oil and gas drilling in federal waters off its coast. The Trump administration has already taken formal steps toward reopening California’s waters to offshore drilling for the first time in decades — an effort Surfrider is fighting — issuing calls for industry nominations on potential lease areas in Southern and Central California, with lease sales proposed as early as 2027. If the Section 312 review succeeds in weakening or revoking California’s consistency authority, the state would lose its most powerful mechanism for blocking those leases from moving forward — which is likely the point.
The federal-state partnership behind California’s coast
Under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), passed in 1972, states that develop approved coastal management programs earn two major benefits: federal grant funding to support coastal protection work, and — far more importantly — the power of federal consistency review. Federal consistency requires that federal actions with reasonably foreseeable effects on any coastal use or natural resource be consistent with the enforceable policies of a state’s federally approved coastal management program.
In California, that means the Coastal Commission can review proposed federal activities and federally licensed, permitted, or financially assisted activities if they affect coastal uses or resources, including offshore oil and gas leasing, Army Corps of Engineers fill permits, military projects, and commercial space launch projects on federal lands.
Often, this leads to valuable state-federal partnerships that result in better protection of the marine environment and beach access rights. Occasionally, the federal consistency requirement serves as a safeguard against harmful projects for the preservation of our beaches.
Federal consistency in action: Trestles
Take, for example, Surfrider’s battle to save Trestles. In 2008, the California Coastal Commission objected to a proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach, and the U.S. Department of Commerce upheld that objection, finding that the project was neither the only viable option nor necessary for national security. Without a federal consistency override, the project could not proceed, helping protect one of California’s most beloved stretches of coastline.
What’s at stake now
The review being initiated today uses a different mechanism — a Section 312 “performance evaluation” — but it follows directly from an Executive Order mandating review of states whose coastal management programs include review of space infrastructure and operations. Under Section 312, failure to comply with required program changes can result in suspension of California’s CZMA grant funding. More broadly, a hostile federal review is a predicate for challenging or weakening California’s consistency authority — the very tool that stopped the Trestles toll road, that allows California to object to offshore oil drilling in federal waters, and that requires federal infrastructure and energy projects to account for coastal impacts before breaking ground.
Secretary Lutnick’s framing that NOAA will ensure states give “proper weight to economic development and the nation’s priorities” signals the administration’s intent clearly. They’re not reviewing California’s program to strengthen coastal protections — they’re reviewing it to find grounds to override them.
Surfrider strongly supports the Coastal Zone Management Act and the core tenets of the legislation that have been the bedrock of state coastal management laws and programs throughout the nation for more than 50 years. After taking office, the Trump administration signaled its disdain for the California Coastal Commission — and therefore the CZMA — when allies in Congress introduced legislation specifically aimed at stripping the Commission of its federal consistency review powers. While that bill has stalled, this review marks a new tactic by the administration to target California’s authority to carefully consider activities impacting its coastal zone — with far-reaching implications for federal-state coastal management partnerships everywhere. While California’s beaches are under attack now, this action may very well put all state coastal management programs, and the Coastal Zone Management Act itself, at risk.
California’s coastal protections weren’t handed to us. They were built, defended, and won over decades. We’re not about to give them up now.”
By Jennifer Savage
As California Policy Associate Director, Jennifer advocates at the legislature and in front of state agencies to ensure protection of the Golden State’s 1,100 miles of coastline. Based in Humboldt County, she supports California’s 20 chapters on regional ocean protection efforts.
Original Source Document
The Federal Register; The Daily Journal of the US Government.
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Office for Coastal Management will hold both an in-person meeting and two virtual public meetings to solicit input for a performance evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program. These meetings are intended to provide the public with the opportunity to add to the input obtained from the previous public meeting held in August 2024. In particular, NOAA seeks any new input from relevant stakeholders regarding spaceport infrastructure, offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, and undersea cables”
Original Source Document
California Coastal Commission response from Executive Director, Kate Huckelbridge regarding California’s Coastal Management Program (CCMP) performance evaluation by the federal government.
Video
Start watching at 38.46
Author: mdrag
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