SECTIONS 35500-35515 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 35500-35515

35500. This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Ocean Protection Act.

35505. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California's coastal and ocean resources are critical to the
state's environmental and economic security, and integral to the
state's high quality of life and culture. A healthy ocean is part of
the state's legacy, and is necessary to support the state's human and
wildlife populations. Each generation of Californians has an
obligation to be good stewards of the ocean, to pass the legacy on to
their children.
(b) The ocean and coastal waters offshore of the state are unique
and valuable natural resources that the state holds in trust for the
people of California. The state of our ocean's health is well
documented. Reports such as the 1997 Resources Agency report,
"California's Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future," the 2003
Pew Oceans Commission report, "America's Living Oceans: Charting a
Course for Sea Change," and the United States Commission on Oceans
Policy's 2004 preliminary report, document degraded ocean values, due
to coastal and ocean development, onshore and offshore pollution,
certain fishing and aquaculture practices, and invasive species,
among other things.
(c) The preservation of the state's ocean resources depends on
healthy, productive, and resilient ocean ecosystems. The governance
of ocean resources should be guided by principles of sustainability,
ecosystem health, precaution, recognition of the interconnectedness
between land and ocean, decisions informed by good science and
improved understanding of coastal and ocean ecosystems, and public
participation in decisionmaking.
(d) Good governance and stewardship of ocean resources necessitate
more efficient and effective use of public funds.
(e) The state needs to coordinate governance and stewardship of
the state's ocean, to identify priorities, bridge existing gaps, and
ensure effective and scientifically sound approaches to protecting
and conserving the most important ocean resources.
(f) The California Ocean Resources Management Act of 1990
(Division 27 (commencing with Section 36000)) establishes the
California Ocean Resources Management Program. The mission of the
program is to ensure comprehensive and coordinated management,
conservation, and enhancement of the state's ocean resources, for
their intrinsic value and the benefit of current and future
generations.
(g) Terrestrial sources of ocean pollution in the state contribute
to significant water quality degradation, causing deleterious
impacts to public health and marine ecosystems, as well as coastal
and recreational economics that are essential to the state's future.

35510. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The coastal waters offshore of the state and the ocean
ecosystems associated with those waters are natural resources that
the state holds in trust for the people of the state.
(b) It is the state's policy that all public agencies shall
consider the following principles in administering the laws
established for the protection and conservation of coastal waters:
(1) State decisions affecting coastal waters and the ocean
environment should be designed and implemented to conserve the health
and diversity of ocean life and ecosystems, allow and encourage
those activities and uses that are sustainable, and recognize the
importance of aesthetic, educational, and recreational uses.
(2) The ocean ecosystem is inextricably linked to activities on
land and all public agencies should consider the impact of activities
on land that may adversely affect the health of the coastal and
ocean environment.
(3) It is the state's policy to incorporate ecosystem perspectives
into the management of coastal and ocean resources, using sound
science, with a priority of protecting, conserving, and restoring
coastal and ocean ecosystems, rather than managing on a single
species or single resource basis.
(4) A goal of all state actions shall be to improve monitoring and
data gathering, and advance scientific understanding, to continually
improve efforts to protect, conserve, restore, and manage coastal
waters and ocean ecosystems.
(5) State and local actions that affect ocean waters or coastal or
ocean resources should be conducted in a manner consistent with
protection, conservation, and maintenance of healthy coastal and
ocean ecosystems and restoration of degraded ocean ecosystems.
(6) Improving the quality of coastal waters and the health of fish
in coastal waters should be a priority for the state.

35515. The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of this
division is to integrate and coordinate the state's laws and
institutions responsible for protecting and conserving ocean
resources, including coastal waters and ocean ecosystems, to
accomplish all of the following objectives:
(a) Provide a set of guiding principles for all state agencies to
follow, consistent with existing law, in protecting the state's
coastal and ocean resources.
(b) Encourage cooperative management with federal agencies, to
protect and conserve representative coastal and ocean habitats and
the ecological processes that support those habitats.
(c) Improve coordination and management of state efforts to
protect and conserve the ocean by establishing a cabinet level
oversight body responsible for identifying more efficient methods of
protecting the ocean at less cost to taxpayers.
(d) Use California's private and charitable resources more
effectively in developing ocean protection and conservation
strategies.
(e) Provide for public access to the ocean and ocean resources,
including to marine protected areas, for recreational use, and
aesthetic, educational, and scientific purposes, consistent with the
sustainable long-term conservation of those resources.
(f) Identify scientific research and planning that is useful for
the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean
ecosystems, and coordinate and assist state agencies in addressing
those needs.