As sea levels creep ever higher, state efforts to address it are surging, with Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signing the first of five ocean-related bills awaiting his consideration.
That bill, SB 1, formally adds rising seas to the list of issues to be addressed by the California Coastal Commission. It also creates a new entity to coordinate sea-adaptation efforts across multiple agencies, and it establishes a mechanism to provide up to $100 million a year in grants for local and regional governments to prepare for higher waters.
Related measures on the governor’s desk include a program to buy homes jeopardized by the rising sea and a bill calling for a study of a possible early warning system for coastal bluff collapses.
“SB 1 puts down a marker,” said Donne Brownsey, vice chairperson of the Coastal Commission. “It’s a starting point. I think we’re going to see a lot more sea-level rise legislation in the future.”
The commission has been addressing issues related to the rising ocean for more than a decade as part of its responsibility to address coastal hazards, but the new law explicitly adds “sea-level rise” to the list of principle responsibilities outlined in the Coastal Act of 1976.
“When they wrote the Coastal Act, nobody was thinking of sea-level rise,” Brownsey said, noting the growing recognition of the threat.
Opponents of the measure, by Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, include the state Association of Realtors, the Building Industry Association, the Orange County chapter of the Association of California Cities, and the cities of Newport Beach and Del Mar.
Members of those groups have complained that the Coastal Commission unnecessarily interfers with coastal development, including restrictions on seawalls. The commission prefers maintaining the beaches, when possible, by allowing them to migrate inland, and has rejected some seawall proposals that would eventually eliminate the sandy recreational spaces.
A joint argument issued by opponents before passage by the Legislature said SB 1 “would give the California Coastal Commission unbridled authority over sea level rise.”
However, Brownsey said there is no new authority given the commission in the new law — that it simply modernizes the list of commission priorities. Susan Jordan of the Coastal Protection Network said the change of language should remove all doubt over the commission’s jurisdiction on the matter.
“What it does is make clear to those who try to assert that the (commission) does not have the authority to address sea-level rise that not only does it have the authority, it has the responsibility,” said Jordan, whose non-profit was one of at least 10 environmental groups to endorse the bill. Additionally, the cities of Carlsbad, Santa Barbara and Alameda backed it, as did the League of California Cities and the San Diego Association of Governments.
SB 1 doesn’t directly allocate money for local and regional ocean-related grants. But it provides the mechanism for distribution for as much as $100 million annually once appropriate funds are available, such as the $612 million aimed at sea-level rise that was part of the $15 billion climate package signed by Newsom on Thursday.
SB 1 also increases from $1.5 million to $2 million the grants available for environmental justice programs to address the effects of sea-level rise on disadvantaged communities, along with an allocation for that program.
The collaborative coordination component of the bill, to be overseen by the Ocean Protection Council, will help avoid duplication of efforts and conflicting strategies employed by the Coastal Commission, the Coastal Conservancy, the state Lands Commission and a host of other state, regional and local entities.
“The coordination role for the Ocean Protection Council is critical in … providing needed resources and support to local, regional and even state agencies responsible for coastal planning and implementing resilience actions,” said Alyssa Mann of The Nature Conservancy.
Threatened homes
The Ocean Protection Council, which provides sea-level rise projections for other agencies to plan by, has set benchmark targets to prepare for 3.5 feet of rise by 2050.
Every dollar spent in pre-disaster preparation can avoid $6 in public and private losses afterward, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But those preparations can be particularly challenging when it comes to moving homes, roads and sewage plants inland. While a 2.8-mile stretch of Highway 1 in north San Luis Obisbo County and a coastal sewage plant in Morro Bay have been moved away from the ocean, such adaptation will be more difficult in urbanized areas.
SB 83 is an attempt to address of homes threatened by the rising sea. The bill by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, establishes a program for the state to loan money to coastal cities to buy such properties from homeowners and rent them out as long as they’re still safe. That rent money would then go back into the loan program.
Dan Jacobson of Environment California called the bill a “smart, innovative idea.”
“We applaud the Legislature for this kind of out-of-the-box thinking,” he said. “These ideas provide a viable exit strategy.”
Among the other sea-level rise bills on the governor’s desk, AB 66, by Tasha Boerner Horvath, D-Encinitas, would have Scripps Institution of Oceanography study coastal cliff collapse in Del Mar and Encinitas, and explore the possibility of developing an early warning system.
AB 63, by Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach, would allow marine restoration in marine-protected areas, which are now off limits to such work. Restoring kelp beds, for instance, can help offset some consequences of sea-level rise by fortifying breeding grounds and reducing ocean storm surges.
AB 72, also by Petrie-Norris, would streamline approval processes and address other bureaucratic hurdles for sea-level rise efforts.
“Time is of the essence as seas continue to rise along our coast, and we cannot waste resources trying to navigate unnecessary green tape,” she said.
Newsom has until Oct. 10 to sign or veto this year’s legislation.
This story was updated Sept. 25, 2021, to correct the Ocean Protection Council’s 2050 planning target for sea-level rise.
