CALCOAST Restoring California's Coast and Watersheds
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Issue: 052016May 20, 2016



California is in a drought emergency. Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.






 
 






 

You have received this e-newsletter from the California Coastal Coalition (CalCoast™), a non-profit advocacy group comprised of 35 coastal cities; five counties; SANDAG, BEACON and SCAG; private sector partners and NGO's, committed to protecting and restoring California's coastline through beach sand restoration, increasing the flow of natural sediment, wetlands recovery, improved water quality, watershed management and the reduction of marine debris and plastic pollution. When possible, we try to post articles that are not protected by pay walls.  

Editor's Notes
Unintended Consequences - Who Really Benefits if Ex Parte Communications with the CCC Are Banned?

Last week that the Coastal Commission (CCC) voted by a narrow margin (6-5) to support SB 1190 (Jackson), which would bar commissioners from having private meetings and/or discussions called ex parte communications with those who have business before the state agency's 12-member appointed commission. SB 1190 is expected to pass in the Senate next week.  As posted below under coastal news, The Los Angeles Times has endorsed SB 1190, opining that "Ex parte communications are inherently unfair because ... lobbyists with the time and money to travel up and down the state to meet with commissioners who reap the advantages of this special relationship."

But do CCC "lobbyists" really have more sway over the CCC than NGOs and the public? Attend a CCC meeting or watch it online. In most cases, for every applicant there are dozens of NGOs and project opponents who speak against projects they don't like - wherever along the coast the CCC is meeting. NGOs and the public hold demonstrations and press conferences outside of CCC meetings to make their points. They convinced editorial boards up and down the state that the firing of the CCC's ED in February was a power play by developers and lobbyists (even though commissioners, including the chairman, said that claim was unfounded) and NGOs that routinely participate in CCC meetings helped draft the CCC's RFP for a search firm to hire an executive director.

In addition, NGOs have demanded - successfully - that they be involved in the ED selection process and there is an NGO website that posts "report cards," grading each commissioner after each CCC meeting according to how she/he voted on projects. So who really holds the most power over the CCC? We're a coastal NGO, and we're not criticizing other coastal NGOs for being active in CCC affairs, but as SB 1190 makes its way through the Legislature, we think it's time to have an honest conversation about who really holds power over the CCC and whether SB 1190 levels the playing field or tips it toward groups and persons who routinely oppose projects before the CCC.

Could CCC Decisions Be Overturned Due to Ethical Violations and Unreported Ex Parte Communications?

The CCC has been in the news almost daily since it met last week and we have posted a number of articles under our coastal section below. Some of the articles report on ethics probes against four commissioners and others discuss unfiled ex parte communications. Intrigue surrounding the CCC could result in some decisions being overturned or at least appealed. Chairman Kinsey said this week that he will not participate in the Banning Ranch deliberations this summer for failing to file forms for two ex parte communications (including a site visit and memo that resulted in staff changing its recommendation against the project), but, regardless of the outcome, the prevailing party can expect a challenge due to the background of the case.     
Legislative, Policy & Political News  StateLeg
Drought, Water & Wetlands News Water_Wetlands  
 
Beach & Coastal News  BeachNews  
  

Final decision on Phillips 66 oil train project delayed until at least September

Banning Ranch: Proposed wildlife support area scaled back amid debate over 'sensitive habitat'


6 things to consider before buying a beach home in Los Angeles

Local Government News Local_Gov_News
Climate Change News ClimateChange
Announcements Announcements
ASBPA Seeks Help with Coastal Research Project
 
The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) requests your help by taking 5 minutes to submit your ongoing nearshore research projects in the focus areas below (identified within The Future of Nearshore Processes Research, Winter 2015. Shore & Beach, Vol. 83, No.1; "nearshore report"):
 
1.     Long-term Coastal Evolution due to Natural and Anthropogenic Processes
2.     Extreme Events: Flooding, erosion, and the subsequent recovery
3.     Physical, biological and chemical processes impacting human and ecosystem health
 
We are collecting this information to identify potential collaborations and research gaps, and to help leverage future funding for nearshore research.  ASBPA has long supported increased investment in U.S. academic coastal engineering & science programs.  
 
The goal of this effort, and a key recommendation from the nearshore report, is to create an integrated U.S. nearshore research program.  The first step is this inventory of ongoing federal and non-federal nearshore research.  Our federal partners, listed below, have already identified over 260 research projects in a master nearshore federal research spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet will become a living online tool feeding an annually-updated U.S. nearshore research plan to foster collaboration amongst federal and non-federal research entities. 
 
Please become ASBPA's partner in this initiative by completing the PARTNER TEMPLATE and returning it to [email protected] by   Friday, May 27, 2016.  We will combine the non-federal research projects (conducted by academics, states, NGOs, industry, and communities) with the federal effort. Although we realize there will be some overlap in projects listed by non-federal and federal agencies, input from both will ensure the list is comprehensive and that your projects are included. The resulting information will be compiled into the initial U.S. nearshore research plan & showcased at ASBPA's 90th Anniversary Conference in New Jersey on October 25-28, 2016.
 
Federal Partners: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Office of Naval Research (ONR), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Upcoming Events Events
For more information about each of these events, visit CalCoast's Events webpage.
 
H2O Trash Patrol CleanUp: La Jolla Shores 
Sunday, May 22nd 
9:00am-12:00pm

Family-friendly beach cleanup! THIS SUNDAY you can participate in a beach cleanup with the San Diego Surf Film Festival crew and patrons! For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Coast Side Sea Rise Forum
 
On Tuesday, May 24, 2016 the USGS (Dan Hoover), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (John Dingler, Oceanographer; and James Zoulos, Civil Engineer) and ESA (Bob Battalio, Principal and Engineer), will hold a forum on coast side sea rise at 6:00pm (presentations start at 6:30 pm) at Douglas Beach House, 311 Mirada Road, Miramar, CA 94019.
 

PORTS Conference
New Orleans,
June 12-15, 2016

Continuing a long tradition of excellence as the premier port engineering conference series in North America, Ports'16 is the 14th in a series of international port and harbor development specialty conferences held every three years since 1977. For more information, click here.  
Employment Opportunities Jobs
For more information about positions listed here and positions listed in previous editions of the WAVE, visit CalCoast's Employment webpage.

SD County Seeks Civil Engineer (Closes May 26th)
 
Civil Engineers in County Construction Programs have professional responsibility for a wide variety of engineering projects and perform construction management and inspections on private and capital projects; perform contract administration, stormwater permit monitoring and inspections, technical and financial analysis, complex engineering calculations, reviews and research, interpret and implement construction plans and specifications, prepare a variety of reports; and perform other related duties as assigned. Civil Engineers may lead groups of professionals and supervise technical staff.
 
CalCoast™ distributes The CalCoast™ WAVE as a service to its members and more than 5,000 subscribers up and down the coast and around the world. 

WAVE subscribers are from federal, state and local governments as well as NGOs, coastal consultants and academia. 

We encourage readers to forward the WAVE to friends and colleagues. We welcome your comments and any news tips or announcements that may be of interest to our subscribers. 
 

Please add  [email protected] to your address book so the WAVE does not end up in a Junk Mail folder.

 

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Thank you for your interest in CalCoast™ and The CalCoast™ WAVE.

 

 

Steven Aceti, JD
Executive Director 

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CALIFORNIA COASTAL COALITION  |  www.calcoast.org
3110 Hataca Road | Carlsbad, CA 92009  
mobile: (760) 612-3564 / fax: (760) 436-7158