Coastal recreation: designated state surfing reserves.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on how much funding will be allocated for signs or the exact process if a local government fails to remove signage after revocation.

Designating State Surfing Reserves in California

This law requires the Ocean Protection Council to establish criteria and an application process for local governments to designate areas of coastline as state surfing reserves by July 1, 2027.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Ocean Protection Council to set rules and a way for local governments to apply to make parts of the coast into state surfing reserves by July 1, 2027.
• Allows local governments to ask the council to designate an area as a state surfing reserve if they follow certain steps.
• Needs local governments to describe their proposed surfing reserve when applying.
• Requires the Ocean Protection Council to approve applications if the areas meet the set rules.
• Makes the council responsible for putting up signs and telling people about approved surfing reserves with help from local governments.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Ocean Protection Council
• Local governments in California
• Surfers who use coastal areas

Terms To Know

Ocean Protection Council

A group that works to protect and conserve ocean resources in California.

State surfing reserve

An area of coastline set aside for surfing by the Ocean Protection Council based on local government applications.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much money will be used to make and maintain signs.
• It is unclear if all areas that meet criteria will automatically become state surfing reserves or if there are limits.
• The bill does not explain what happens if a local government does not remove signs after the council revokes a reserve's status.

Official Summary Text

AB 1938, as amended, Irwin.
Coastal recreation: designated state surfing reserves.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 requires oceanfront land suitable for recreational use to be protected for recreational use and development unless present and foreseeable future demand for public or commercial recreational activities that could be accommodated on the property is already adequately provided for in the area. Existing law, the California Ocean Protection Act, establishes the Ocean Protection Council and provides that the purpose of the act 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 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, among other
objectives. Existing law establishes surfing as the official state sport.
This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the council to establish criteria and an application process for purposes of designating an area of the coastline as a state surfing reserve, as defined. The bill would authorize a local government to, after adopting a formal resolution, apply to the council for purposes of designating an area of the coastline within the jurisdiction of the local government as a state surfing reserve. The bill would require the local government to include in its application, among other things, a description of the proposed surfing reserve. The bill would require the council to approve the application if the area of the coastline meets the established
criteria. The bill
criteria and
would require, once the application is approved, the council to designate the area as a state surfing reserve.
The bill would require the council to, upon appropriation, publicize the state
surfing reserve and partner with local governments to erect signs designating an approved surfing reserve, and would authorize the council to accept donations for these purposes. The bill would authorize the council to revoke the designation if the surfing reserve no longer meets the established criteria. The bill would require the council to include designated surfing reserves in the state’s 30x30 goal.
The bill would authorize the council to revoke its designation as a state surfing reserve if the council determines that the designated state surfing reserve no longer meets specified criteria and would require a local government to remove any signage used to identify a surfing reserve upon this revocation.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF