Laws, Regulations, and Legislative Information

Here is the Coastal Act [1.05 MB in PDF] updated as of January 1, 2006. It includes internal navigational links.

Memorandum Regarding Amendments to the Coastal Act as of 2006 & Other Legislation of Interest

Questions and Answers About the California Coastal Act  is available in PDF.

Workshop on Conflict of Interest, Bias, and Related Issues (PowerPoint presentation given at the California Coastal Commission Meeting on Thursday, June 9, 2005)

See the Permanent Responsibilities of the California Coastal Commission.

To understand how the California Coastal Act is applied to local areas, ascertain if a certified Local Coastal Program has been certified for your area. Contact either the California Coastal Commission District Office or your local city or county government.

See our Public Records Act Guidelines.

California Coastal Act  (section by section)
Chapter 1.	Findings and Declarations and General Provisions
			§§30000-30012
Chapter 2.	Definitions
			§§30100-30122
Chapter 2.5.	Revisions to the Coastal Zone Boundary
			§§30150-30174
Chapter 3.	Coastal Resources Planning and Management Policies
	Article 1.	General	§30200
	Article 2.	Public Access.	§§30210-30214
	Article 3.	Recreation	§§30220-30224
	Article 4.	Marine Environment	§§30230-30237
	Article 5.	Land Resources	§§30240-30244
	Article 6.	Development	§§30250-30255
	Article 7.	Industrial Development	§§30260-30265.5
Chapter 4.	Creation, Membership, and Powers of Commission and Regional Commissions
	Article 1.	Creation, Membership of Commission and Regional Commission	§§30300-30305
	Article 2.	Qualifications and Organization	§§30310-30319.5
	Article 2.5.	Fairness and Due Process	§§30320-30329
	Article 3.	Powers and Duties	§§30330-30344
	Article 4.	Local Coastal Program Implementation Costs	§§30350-30355
Chapter 5.	State Agencies
	Article 1.	General	§§30400-30404
	Article 2.	State Agencies	§§30410-30420
Chapter 6.	Implementation
	Article 1.	Local Coastal Program	§§30500-30504
	Article 2.	Procedure for Preparation, Approval, and Certification of Local Coastal Programs	§§30510-30526
	Article 3.	Coastal Public Access Program	§§30530-30534
Chapter 7.	Development Controls
	Article 1.	General Provisions	§§30600-30614
	Article 2.	Development Control Procedures	§§30620-30627
Chapter 8.	Ports
	Article 1.	Findings and General Provisions	§§30700-30701
	Article 2.	Policies	§§30702-30708
	Article 3.	Implementation; Master Plan	§§30710-30721
Chapter 9.	Judicial Review, Enforcement, and Penalties
	Article 1.	General Provisions	§§30800-30812
	Article 2.	Penalties	§§30820-30824
Chapter 10.	Severability
			§30900

Other Laws and Regulations:

The California Coastal Act is the law; to fully understand how the law is interpreted, please refer to the Administrative Regulations. Citations for these regulations and other pertinent materials and legislation are provided below.

Any law library should have the U.S. Code, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, the California Code (Statutes) and the California Code of Regulations available for viewing.

Documents available either through links or in hard copy in law libraries:

To find the California Coastal Commission Administrative Regulations,
go to the California Code of Regulations.
Click on  Title 14, Natural Resources, then select Division 5.5, California Coastal Commission
You must click down in the tree to go to the section you want.
Additionally, There is a search capability, but you must scroll up to the top of the page to get to it.
(The above link is provided by Office of Administrative Law on Westlaw's web site.)

Coastal Zone Management Act
Title 16, U.S. Code (U.S.C.)
Sections 1451 et seq.
You may also search for this in the U.S. Code.

Coastal Zone Management Act Regulations
Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
Parts 923 and 930
You may search for this citation in  the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations .

State Coastal Conservancy Law
Public Resources Code
Division 21
Sections 31000 et seq.
Go to the California Code to search for this.

McAteer-Petris Act (establishes and governs operations of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission)
Title 7.2, Government Code
Sections 66600 et seq.
You may also search for this in the California Code.

Reports from our Legislative Analyst:

2006: January 2006 February 2006 May 2006

2005: March 2005 April 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005

2004: February 2004 March 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 October 2004

2003: March 2003, April 2003, May 2003, June 2003, August 2003, September 2003, October 2003, November 2003

2002: March 2002, April 2002, May 2002, June 2002, July 2002, September 2002

2001: February 2001, March 2001, April 2001 , June 2001, July 2001, August 2001, September 2001, October 2001, November 2001,

You may also wish to look at at our archived legislative pages for information older than the above.

Additional Links To Legislative Information:

Search for Legislation for Senate or Assembly on the Senate Web

Current Assembly Committee Hearings 

Current Senate Committee Hearings

California Voter Foundation
Internet Guide to the Legislature

Find Your Legislator (by Zip Code)