SECTIONS 36970-36973 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 36970-36973

36970. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act of 2000 (CORSA).

36971. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Pacific Ocean and its rich and varied resources provide
great environmental, economic, aesthetic, recreational, educational,
and scientific benefits to the people of California and the nation.
The state's ocean resources contribute greatly to the economy and the
quality of life of its residents, and California's growing
population increasingly lives, works, and recreates on or near the
coast. Ocean and coast-dependent industries contributed over $17
billion to the state's economy and supported over 500,000 jobs in
1999, and ocean and coastal tourism and recreational activities,
which are increasing rapidly in popularity and economic value,
contributed nearly $10 billion to the state's economy. Port activity
and ship building also contributed an additional $6 billion, and
recreational and commercial fishing and marine aquaculture added
nearly $1 billion to the state's economy. In addition, activities of
the United States Department of the Navy that depend on continued
access to California's coastal resources add a direct annual economic
contribution of more than $19 billion.
(b) Much of the quality of life and economic vibrancy supported by
the state's ocean resources depends on successful management of
those resources, and successful management depends on an adequate
understanding of the natural, ecological, oceanographic, and coastal
processes and their interactions with varied human activities.
(c) The state is working to maintain and increase the benefits of
its ocean resources to the public; a goal that increases the need for
sound management and greater practical understanding of the state's
ocean and coastal resources.
(d) Although California is making progress in ocean management
efforts, unsolved existing challenges also point to the need for
greater improvements in management and the basic information needed
for sound management. Examples of existing challenges include
depressed populations of many species that are the targets of state
and federally managed fisheries, pollution that results in beach and
fishery closures, dredging and dredge spoils disposal necessary to
keep the state's ports competitive, and coastal erosion that
threatens structures and reduces the quality of beaches.
(e) State and federal agencies with ocean and coastal resource
management responsibility often lack basic information on which to
base decisions, and many management issues are broader than the
mandates of individual agencies, and existing means for coordinating
agency efforts need to be improved. The result can be ad hoc,
short-term management decisions based on inadequate information.
(f) California has a wealth of outstanding public and private
marine science institutions that have increased their commitments to
excellence in applied ocean resource science. Approximately one
hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in current, recent, or planned
marine science projects funded by the federal government,
foundations, the University of California and California State
University systems, and private institutions could be of great
benefit to the state's coastal and ocean resource management
agencies.
(g) The obstacles to collaborative efforts involving those
institutions and agencies include all of the following:
(1) Inadequate coordination among marine science institutions.
(2) Inadequate guidance from management agencies about information
needs for management.
(3) Important gaps in information, duplication of effort, missed
opportunities, and unusable information due to the lack of
standardized and coordinated information management techniques. The
circumstances and needs identified in the findings in this section
are among those recognized in this chapter and in the 1997 report
prepared by the Resources Agency entitled "California's Ocean
Resources: An Agenda for the Future." This chapter is intended to
address some of the basic objectives of that report.

36972. The Legislature further finds that it is the policy of the
state to do all of the following:
(a) Ensure adequate coordination of ocean resources management
science among state, regional, and federal agencies and marine
science institutions.
(b) Ensure the most efficient and effective use of state resources
devoted to ocean resource management science and encourage the
contribution of federal and nongovernmental resources.
(c) Advance applied ocean science, graduate-level education, and
technology development to meet current and future California ocean
resource management needs.

36973. (a) No authority is established by this chapter, nor shall
any of its purposes or provisions be used by any public or private
agency or person, to delay or deny any existing or future project or
activity.
(b) No authority is established by this chapter to supersede
current state agency statutory authority.