The Trump Administration has put California's coast on notice.
As California marks 50 years of protecting its coast, the Trump Administration is attempting to undermine the very authority that makes it possible. On May 20, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick directed NOAA to conduct a formal review of California's coastal management program — the federal-state partnership that gives California real power to protect its beaches and push back against harmful federal projects along our coast. The stated rationale is to ensure California gives sufficient weight to "economic development" and federal priorities in areas including offshore energy, transportation, infrastructure, and commercial space development. The Trump administration is accusing California's coastal protections are getting in the way.
Outer space and outer waters
When the California Coastal Commission twice voted not to approve SpaceX's plans to dramatically increase rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base – with Surfrider’s support due to inadequate environmental review and other harmful impacts – the Trump Administration took notice. In August 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14335 directing federal agencies to evaluate whether California's coastal review authority was an obstacle to the space industry, and to consider stripping the state of that authority altogether. That review process set the stage for the Commerce Department's broader performance audit of California's entire coastal management program, which is now underway.
The offshore drilling connection makes the stakes even clearer. The same coastal consistency authority targeted by the federal review is California's primary legal tool for objecting to oil and gas drilling in federal waters off its coast. The Trump administration has already taken formal steps toward reopening California's waters to offshore drilling for the first time in decades – an effort Surfrider is fighting – issuing calls for industry nominations on potential lease areas in Southern and Central California, with lease sales proposed as early as 2027. If the Section 312 review succeeds in weakening or revoking California's consistency authority, the state would lose its most powerful mechanism for blocking those leases from moving forward – which is likely the point.
The federal-state partnership behind California's coast
Under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), passed in 1972, states that develop approved coastal management programs earn two major benefits: federal grant funding to support coastal protection work, and – far more importantly – the power of federal consistency review. Federal consistency requires that federal actions with reasonably foreseeable effects on any coastal use or natural resource be consistent with the enforceable policies of a state's federally approved coastal management program.
In California, that means the Coastal Commission can review proposed federal activities and federally licensed, permitted, or financially assisted activities if they affect coastal uses or resources, including offshore oil and gas leasing, Army Corps of Engineers fill permits, military projects, and commercial space launch projects on federal lands.
Often, this leads to valuable state-federal partnerships that result in better protection of the marine environment and beach access rights. Occasionally, the federal consistency requirement serves as a safeguard against harmful projects for the preservation of our beaches.
Federal consistency in action: Trestles
Take, for example, Surfrider’s battle to save Trestles. In 2008, the California Coastal Commission objected to a proposed toll road through San Onofre State Beach, and the U.S. Department of Commerce upheld that objection, finding that the project was neither the only viable option nor necessary for national security. Without a federal consistency override, the project could not proceed, helping protect one of California's most beloved stretches of coastline.
What's at stake now
The review being initiated today uses a different mechanism — a Section 312 "performance evaluation" — but it follows directly from an Executive Order mandating review of states whose coastal management programs include review of space infrastructure and operations. Under Section 312, failure to comply with required program changes can result in suspension of California's CZMA grant funding. More broadly, a hostile federal review is a predicate for challenging or weakening California's consistency authority — the very tool that stopped the Trestles toll road, that allows California to object to offshore oil drilling in federal waters, and that requires federal infrastructure and energy projects to account for coastal impacts before breaking ground.
Secretary Lutnick's framing that NOAA will ensure states give "proper weight to economic development and the nation's priorities" signals the administration's intent clearly. They're not reviewing California's program to strengthen coastal protections — they're reviewing it to find grounds to override them.
Surfrider strongly supports the Coastal Zone Management Act and the core tenets of the legislation that have been the bedrock of state coastal management laws and programs throughout the nation for more than 50 years. After taking office, the Trump Administration signaled its disdain for the California Coastal Commission — and therefore the CZMA — when allies in Congress introduced legislation specifically aimed at stripping the Commission of its federal consistency review powers. While that bill has stalled, this review marks a new tactic by the administration to target California's authority to carefully consider activities impacting its coastal zone — with far-reaching implications for federal-state coastal management partnerships everywhere. While California's beaches are under attack now, this action may very well put all state coastal management programs, and the Coastal Zone Management Act itself, on notice.
What you can do
A public comment period will be part of this review process. When that window opens, Surfrider will alert our supporters, business partners, and coalition members – stay tuned for our action alert so you can make your voice heard.
You can also, right now, take action to help prevent new offshore drilling in California by telling your elected officials to pass AB 1448 (Hart), a bill that closes loopholes in existing law and makes a federal takeover of our coast that much harder.
California's coastal protections weren't handed to us. They were built, defended, and won over decades. We're not about to give them up now.