Governor signs ocean protection bills

Governor signs bills opposed by gun lobby, others on the right

Dave Downey
North County Times
10/15/2007

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sign a bill into law that encourages prompt reporting of sewage spills without penalty. An April spill contaminated waters along the coast near the Buena Vista Lagoon outflow in Carlsbad. In a flurry of activity leading up to today's deadline for signing legislation passed this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week put his signature on several bills that boost protection of the Pacific Ocean.

Schwarzenegger signed bills designed to prevent commercial ships from inadvertently carrying invasive marine species to California harbors, to beef up management of ocean fisheries, and to establish a team of scientists to conduct research for the state's new Ocean Protection Council. The council was created by the California Ocean Protection Act, a law passed in 2005 that stipulated the conservation of ocean habitat and animals.

One of the bills seeks to encourage prompt reporting of sewage spills by creating a system in which people are not held criminally liable when they report spills, said Gabriel Solmer, legal director for the conservation group San Diego Coastkeeper.

"The idea is to get these spills cleaned up as quickly as possible. That's our first priority," Solmer said. "We want these to be reported before they become disasters."

Solmer said her group welcomes all the new laws.

"In general, they are important steps on the path to a healthy ocean and coastline," she said.

In a statement, Schwarzenegger said, "California's coastline is magnificent. ... These bills will allow California to continue on the path as a world leader in the preservation and protection of our ocean resources."

Stopping hitchhikers

Some local lawmakers say some of the legislation was not needed and could create unwanted, unintended side effects.

For example, the bill that targets nonnative species is likely to increase costs for international shippers, leading some to move products through West Coast ports outside California, said Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad, in a telephone interview Friday.

"We don't want to lose any business," Garrick said, noting that ports such as those in Los Angeles and San Diego are major employers. "It is a competitive world out there."

Garrick said federal laws already address the problem.

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Oceanside, also voted against the shipping bill.

"Small shipping companies who would not be able to absorb additional hull cleaning costs would be particularly discouraged from entering California ports," Walters said. "Instead, these and other shippers would choose to use ports in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, or even Canada and Mexico."

Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who wrote the legislation, dismisses those concerns.

"It's not going to drive them away from California," he said. "It's just going to make California's waters safer."

Laird said the legislation, Assembly Bill 740, targets the problem of ship-hitchhiking nonnative species such as mussels and barnacles that, if they become established, prey on native fish and rob them of their food supply. The bill requires operators to thoroughly clean ship hulls and ballast water before they reach California and to keep detailed records of such activities.

"Right now there is no real requirement for any regular cleaning or maintenance," Laird said by telephone. "This now will set up a framework for ships to better clean and maintain their hulls in a way that prevents invasive species from entering California waters."

With more than 20 miles of coastline, North County has a huge stake in a healthy ocean. According to a recent study by the state Department of Boating and Waterways, 8 million people a year visit beaches from Del Mar to Oceanside, doubling the number of annual visitors at Yosemite National Park. Coastal recreational activities pump $6 billion a year into the regional economy.

Reporting without fear

Schwarzenegger also signed the following legislation:

# Assembly Bill 800 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance. This bill obligates a person with knowledge of a waste spill to immediately notify the local health officer without fear of having the information used against him or her in a criminal case. The legislation was triggered by a troubling revelation that numerous recent sewage spills into Santa Monica Bay near Los Angeles went unreported. The failure to report a spill could result in a fine of up to $20,000 and a jail term of up to one year.

# Assembly Bill 1056 by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. It authorizes the Ocean Protection Council to establish a team of scientists to conduct research and to advise the council on projects. The bill allocates $90 million from Proposition 84, a water bond passed by California voters in November 2006, to the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund. The council distributes money from the fund for projects that shore up ocean habitat.

# Assembly Bill 1396 by Laird. It obligates the Department of Transportation to prepare an inventory of surplus property it owns along the coast, with an eye toward making those lands available for the Coastal Trail. The inventory is intended to boost plans to deliver a continuous public path along California's coastline, something that is only 40 percent complete.

# Assembly Bill 1280 by Laird. This opens the way for California Ocean Protection Trust Fund money to pay for fishery management plans.

# Assembly bill 1220 by Laird. It makes technical changes to California's oil spill cleanup laws.

Waiting on plastic pellet bill

Tony Haymet, director of UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a trustee with the California Ocean Science Trust, praised the governor and Legislature. Haymet said the bills "demonstrate the commitment of our state's leadership to broad and forward-thinking ocean protection policies."

Solmer, of San Diego Coastkeeper, said it is crucial for the state to do whatever it can to keep nonnative marine species out of California waters.

"It is much easier and cheaper to prevent the problem before it starts than it is to remove those hitchhikers after they get here," she said.

Meanwhile, Solmer said, conservationists are eagerly waiting to see whether the governor will sign Assembly Bill 258 by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, which targets the pellets used to make plastic products. That was the only bill out of a half-dozen targeting ocean trash that passed this year.

AB 258 would ask the state's water quality boards, by January 2009, to require plastic manufacturers to take significant measures to ensure that no pellets escape from their plants and wash into waterways. Called nurdles, the pellets are a concern because they are often eaten by birds, fish and turtles who think they are fish eggs.

"Nurdles, aside from the funny name, are no laughing matter," Solmer said.