Meeting

2021/October

From ActCoastal

Year 2021
Month October
Location Virtual
Description The Coastal Commission’s October meeting took place on Wednesday, October 13 and Friday, October 15. Thursday’s meeting was scheduled for the Hollister Ranch Public Access Workshop but was postponed due to the Alisal Fire. The meeting contained several important informational updates including the Orange County oil spill in the Executive Director’s report and the state’s sea level rise education campaign - The Ocean is Moving In. The Commission also approved the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s two year mitigation monitoring program work plan as well as the proposed Ocean Rainforest pilot kelp aquaculture farm near Santa Barbara. The meeting resulted in one vote chart for the Ocean Rainforest.

Issues voted on at this Meeting

Click on an issue to read full description


Issue Summary Outcome
Ocean Rainforest Ocean Rainforest, Inc. submitted a consistency certification request to temporarily install and operate a demonstration seaweed aquaculture facility on an 86-acre site in federal waters approximately 4.4 nautical miles offshore of Santa Barbara. The facility would consist of a variety of ropes, lines, buoys, and cultivation equipment that would be anchored to the seafloor and held submerged below the ocean surface. The facility would be in place for two years and expects to harvest kelp every 3 to 4 months over the lifespan of the project. At the end of two years, Ocean Rainforest would fully remove the aquaculture facility and all associated anchors, buoys, cultivation lines and kelp.

Environmental groups including Defenders of Wildlife requested that the special conditions be modified to ensure the removal plan is complete prior to construction of the operation, rather than prior to completion of the permit as originally stated in the staff recommendation. Those changes were incorporated into the addendum. The staff special conditions also include wildlife entanglement monitoring plan and a letter of credit to ensure funding is available for removal of the operations.

Green Dot.png


Vote Chart for this Meeting

Coastal Commission Vote Chart

October 2021 Meeting


Green Dot.png = Positive Conservation Vote         Red Dot.png = Negative Conservation Vote

Commissioner Ocean Rainforest
CaroleGroom 2012.jpg Carole Groom Good Vote
Nl12c hart.jpg Caryl Hart Good Vote
DBochco.jpg Dayna Bochco Absent for Vote
Donne.gif Donne Brownsey Good Vote
EffieT-S.png Effie Turnbull-Sanders Good Vote by Alternate
Rice.jpg Katie Rice Good Vote
Escalante.jpg Linda Escalante Good Vote
MeaganHarmon 2020 0116 color corrected.png Meagan Harmon Absent for Vote
Mikewilson.png Mike Wilson Good Vote
RU.jpg Roberto Uranga Absent for Vote
Saraa.jpg Sara Aminzadeh Absent for Vote
200px-Steve Padilla1.jpg Steve Padilla Good Vote