Support Sea Level Rise Plans for the Entire California Coast

SB 272 (Laird) has been signed by Governor Newsom and now requires all coastal California areas to have Local Coastal Programs that account for sea level rise within ten years.

Such a mandate allows for the use of best science, equitable community engagement and transparent decision making for sea level rise planning. When it comes to anticipating sea level rise, failing to plan is planning to fail.

The coastal storms of January 2023 gave Californians an idea of how sea level rise will chip away at the coastline. The Local Coastal Program (LCP) Update process is the planning avenue that local governments use to plan for sea level rise, but only 22% of coastal jurisdictions currently have LCPs that consider sea level rise.

SB 272 requires communities to make coastal development decisions that acknowledge how sea level rise will affect their communities.