By Ken Kobayashi, SanDiego350 Volunteer
The Trump Administration has launched yet another attack on our state’s natural resources. This time, it comes in the guise of an administrative review of California’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), an agreement under which California and the Federal government collaborate to manage our coastal resources. Together, we can build a meaningful mass of opposition. State agencies and environmental groups have submitted comments opposing this, and the Governor has appealed to Californians to “Give the Trump administration an earful.”
The CZMP has been enormously productive and successful. It has allowed California’s economy to thrive while putting in place measures to reduce the risk of environmental damage. It has effectively served California’s interests under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act since 1978, through both Democratic and Republican administrations, and NOAA’s own draft report in 2025 verified successful state compliance with the authorizing legislation.
Destabilizing California’s federally approved coastal management puts local marine ecosystems and our $51 billion coastal economy at risk. We are all familiar with the harm from oil spills and pipeline leaks. Remember Santa Barbara’s 1969 oil spill, Refugio Beach’s 2015 disaster, and Huntington Beach’s 2021 spill? Sea otters, humpback whales, and endangered black abalone that are still recovering years later. These spills, and countless others, came from the aging offshore oil infrastructure that lines our coast.
The situation is critical and I intend to file an opposing comment. I ask that everyone reading this also file a comment, and that you encourage three friends, neighbors, or colleagues to also file comments (comments due by August 22, see specifics below).
What should I write about?
Comments are limited to those addressing “spaceport infrastructure, offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, and undersea cables.” Here is a suggested script that would require NOAA to include our viewpoints:
“My name is ___, and I am a California resident. Pursuant to the Secretary’s instructions to consider all relevant factors under 16USC, Section 1452(2)(A)-(K), I would like to submit the following comment regarding [choose one: offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, undersea cables, desalination, spaceport infrastructure].
[Adding a personal touch is an effective way to humanize the issue for the reader: If you feel comfortable, add a statement about why this is important to you].
I would further like to address the following factor(s): Pick one or more of these “factors,” explicitly stated in the law, (grouped by environmental priority):
Keep fossil fuels in the ground:
- Protecting natural resources,
Protect frontline communities:
- Minimizing loss of life and property caused by improper development and by sea level rise,
- Fisheries development
- Redevelopment of deteriorating urban waterfronts and ports,
- Sensitive preservation and restoration of historic, cultural, and esthetic coastal features,
Ensure polluters, not taxpayers, pay for the costs of pollution:
- Pollution control.
I ask that the original 2024 draft review report be finalized, findings issued based on that document, and that the June 2025 draft review be made public. Thank you.”
Where do I send my comments?
There is no Federal Register docket. Instead, send your comments to NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, at czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov. The subject line should say “Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program.” Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. PT August 22, 2026. Suggest keeping a copy of your email and record of receipt.