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Inventory of the California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission and the California Coastal Commission Records
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Title: California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission and California Coastal Commission Records
Dates: 1969-1986
Collection number: See series description
Creator:
California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission
California Coastal Commission
Collection Size:
37 cubic feet.
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: In November 1972, the People of California approved Proposition 20, the Coastal Zone Conservation Act, which created the California
Coastal Zone Conservation Commission (CCZCC). The CCZCC was mandated with the responsibility for the preservation and protection
of California's environmentally and ecologically diverse coastal resources within the coastal zone. The successor agency to
the CCZCC was the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The records of the CCZCC and the CCC reflect the work of the executive
director, various divisions, and two regional commissions. Files contain primarily correspondence, minutes, reports, and
news articles. Strengths of the collection include records associated with offshore oil drilling in the Outer Continental
Shelf, budget related issues, the Sea Ranch development project, and the Local Coastal Program.
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission and California Coastal Commission Records, Box [number]/[folder
number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
In November of 1972, the people of the State of California voted and approved of Proposition 20, the Coastal Zone Conservation
Act, which created the temporary California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission (CCZCC). Members to the State Commission
consisted of one member chosen by the each of the six regional commissions and six public representatives of which two were
appointed by the Governor, two by the Senate Rules Committee, and two by the Speaker of the Assembly. In an effort to maximize
local participation and to maintain communication with county and city governments within the coastal zone, six district offices
were opened. The six regional commissions formed by Proposition 20 included: the North Coast Regional Commission (Del Norte,
Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties); the North Central Coast Regional Commission (Sonoma, Marin, and San Francisco Counties);
the Central Coast Regional Commission (San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties); the South Central Regional Commission
(San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties); the South Regional Commission (Los Angeles, and Orange Counties);
and the San Diego Regional Commission (San Diego County). Proposition 20 stipulated that the membership of each of the six
regional commissions come from an equal number of locally -elected officials (such as council members, mayors, county supervisors)
and public representatives of which one-third was to be appointed by the Governor, one-third by the Senate Rules Committee,
and one-third by the Speaker of the Assembly.
The CCZCC was mandated with the responsibility for the preservation and protection of California's environmentally and ecologically
diverse coastal resources within the established coastal zone. Specifically, Proposition 20 required the CCZCC to study resources
within the coastal zone, establish guidelines and review procedures for the approval or denial of development permits within
the coastal zone beginning in 1973, and to prepare a statewide coastal plan for the long term conservation and management
of California's coastal resources for future generations. In December of 1975, the CCZCC delivered its statewide plan to
the Legislature. The plan was based on nine elements: the marine environment, coastal land development, appearance and design
of coastal development, intensity of development, geology of the coastal zone, energy development and facility siting , transportation,
recreation/access to the coast, and the powers, funding, and organizational authority necessary to carry out the coastal plan.
The Coastal Zone Conservation Act did not authorize the establishment of a permanent governmental agency. Prior to its expiration
date in 1976, Senator Jerry Smith (D- Santa Clara) introduced legislation (SB1227) to extend the Coastal Zone Conservation
Act until January of 1981. Known as the California Coastal Act (Chapter 1330 of Statutes of 1976) it named the successor
agency to the CCZCC as the California Coastal Commission (CCC). In addition to maintaining the obligations, powers, duties,
and responsibilities of the CCZCC, the Coastal Act required the Coastal Commission to implement the Local Coastal Program
(LCP). As part of the LCP, each local government within the coastal zone was to prepare a coastal development program based
on the principles of Coastal Act no later than July 1, 1980. Upon approval of the LCP by the CCC, the CCC was authorized
to close the regional commission offices and theoretically assume any and all regional commission obligations, powers, duties,
responsibilities, benefits, and legal interests.
Similar to the CCZCC, representatives to the CCC consist of appointees from the Governor and from the Legislature. Commission
members include sixteen independent members with twelve voting and four non-voting members. The Governor, the Senate Rules
Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly with the confirmation of the Assembly Rules Committee select two public and two
locally-elected officials as representatives to the CCC. In an effort to minimize duplication and conflicts among existing
state agencies, the Coastal Act stipulated that the four non-voting members include the Secretary for Resources, Secretary
for Business, Transportation, and Housing, Secretary for Trade and Commerce, and the Chairperson of the State Lands Commission.
The commission and each regional commission were given the responsibility of appointing the executive director. In addition
to having the responsibility of hiring senior staff, the executive director was given broad supervisory powers. The executive
director was to assist local governments in implementing the LCP, oversee the CCC budget, coordinate planning and regulatory
procedures with existing state agencies within the coastal zone, and to balance the energy interests of the nation (primarily
along the Outer Continental Shelf) with the California Coastal Act.
Unable to certify a significant portion of city and county LCP by the deadline of July 1, 1980, the legislature granted yet
another extension to the CCC in 1981 (Chapter 1173, Statutes of 1981). Since 1981 the primary constituents of the CCC are
local governments, industrial ports, development interests needing coastal permits, community organizations, and utility and
other related energy interests along California's coastline.
The records of the California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission (CCZCC) and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) comprise
of 37 cubic feet of primarily textual records reflecting the work of the executive director, the various divisions, and a
selection of records from two regional commissions. Although the files are separated according to office of origin, in many
instances files overlap between the CCZCC and the CCC. Found within the files are primarily copies of correspondence and
memorandum from the executive director, minutes, drafts of reports, final reports, and copies of news articles. The records
cover the period from 1973 through 1986, when the CCC had in essence completed the mandate of Proposition 20 (1972). However,
the bulk of the material covers the period of 1976 through 1984, eight years that were particularly difficult and challenging
to the CCC. Strengths of the collection include the records associated with offshore oil drilling in the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS), budget related issues, the Sea Ranch development project, and the Local Coastal Program (LCP). These records
reflect both the major responsibilities of the CCC to protect and preserve the coastal environment as well as the major challenges
from local and federal government to the regulatory authority of the CCC inside of the coastal zone. In general, the records
mirror the growth of state government under former California Governor Edmund Brown, Jr. Furthermore, the records of the
CCC may provide a means to measure the environmental movement in California during the 1970s and early 1980s versus the growing
national interests in becoming more self sufficient with regards to oil and fuel production following the oil embargoes during
the early and mid 1970s.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California Coastal Commission
California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission
Coastal zone management