AB 976: Enforcing the Coastal Act

The California Coastal Commission is charged with implementing the Coastal Act, which was passed in 1976 to protect the state’s 1,100 mile coastline and public access to the coast. But the Commission doesn’t have the power to impose fines on those who intentionally violate the Coastal Act. AB 976 (Atkins), which would have given the Coastal Commission that power, initially passed the Assembly and Senate. However, when it came back to the Assembly for what should have been a routine concurrence vote on amendments, it failed.