CHAPTER 3. Ocean Protection Council [35600. - 35625.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 3.

in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35600. Section 35600.

(a) The Ocean Protection Council is established in state government. The council consists of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Chair of the State Lands Commission, and two members of the public appointed by the Governor. (b) The two public members shall each serve a term of four years, and may each be reappointed to one additional term. The public members of the board shall be appointed on the basis of their educational and professional qualifications and their general knowledge of, interest in, and experience in the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems. One of the public members shall have a scientific professional background and experience in coastal and ocean ecosystems. (c) Except as provided in this section, members of the council shall serve without compensation. A member shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties, and in addition shall be compensated at one hundred dollars ($100) for each day during which the member is engaged in the performance of official duties of the council. Payment for actual and necessary expenses shall be paid only to the extent that those expenses are not provided or payable by another public agency. The total number of days for which a member shall be compensated may not exceed 25 days in any one fiscal year.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35605. Section 35605.

The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall serve as the chairperson of the council, and the Secretary for Environmental Protection shall serve as the vice chairperson of the council. The Assistant Secretary for Coastal Matters at the Natural Resources Agency shall be designated as the Deputy Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for Ocean and Coastal Policy, and the deputy secretary shall also serve as the executive director for the council.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35610. Section 35610.

One Member of the Senate, appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and one Member of the Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, shall meet with the council as nonvoting, ex officio members.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35612. Section 35612.

(a) The council’s meetings shall be open to the public. (b) The council may sponsor conferences, symposia, and other public forums, to seek a broad range of public advice when establishing priorities for ocean resource protection, enhancement, and restoration.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35615. Section 35615.

The council shall do all of the following: (a) (1) Coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems to improve the effectiveness of state efforts to protect ocean resources within existing fiscal limitations, consistent with Sections 35510 and 35515. (2) Establish policies to coordinate the collection, evaluation, and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies. (3) (A) Establish a science advisory team of distinguished scientists to assist the council in meeting the purposes of this division. At the request of the council, the science advisory team may convene to identify, develop, and prioritize subjects and questions for research or investigation, and review and evaluate results of research or investigations to provide information for the council’s activities. (B) The science advisory team shall include scientists from a range of disciplines that are a part of the council’s purview. (C) The science advisory team shall provide an independent and timely analysis of reports and studies, identifying areas of scientific consensus or uncertainty, using the best available science by drawing on state, national, and international experts. (D) Scientists selected as members of the science advisory team shall serve without compensation, except for reimbursement of expenses and subject to the terms of an existing contract with the state. (4) Contract with the California Ocean Science Trust and other nonprofit organizations, ocean science institutes, academic institutions, or others that have experience in conducting the scientific and educational tasks that are required by the council. (5) Transmit the results of research and investigations to state agencies to provide information for policy decisions. (6) Identify and recommend to the Legislature changes in law needed to achieve the goals of this section. (b) (1) Identify changes in federal law and policy necessary to achieve the goals of this division and to improve protection, conservation, and restoration of ocean ecosystems in federal and state waters off the state’s coast. (2) Recommend to the Governor and the Legislature actions the state should take to encourage those changes in federal law and policy.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35616. Section 35616.

(a) Subject to the availability of funding, the council shall develop and implement a coastal climate change adaptation, infrastructure, and readiness program to do all of the following: (1) Recommend best practices and strategies to improve the climate change resiliency of the state’s coastal communities, infrastructure, and habitat. (2) Coordinate with the State Coastal Conservancy, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the San Diego River Conservancy, the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, and other state entities as needed to develop criteria to prioritize the types of projects needed to improve climate change resiliency in the coastal zone. (3) Collaborate with California State University, Long Beach and other universities, scientists, and nongovernmental organizations involved in climate change activities covering areas along the Pacific Rim to facilitate information sharing regarding coastal climate change adaptation, infrastructure, and readiness, including providing information to the Office of Planning and Research to be considered for inclusion into the clearinghouse established pursuant to Sections 71354 and 71360. (b) The council shall use existing staff, resources, databases, and information contained in reports and other documents, including, but not limited to, the “Safeguarding California Plan: 2018 Update” and the Office of Planning and Research Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, to develop and implement the program required under subdivision (a).

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35617. Section 35617.

(a) The Ocean Protection Council shall develop and implement a voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program for the state. (b) The program shall consist of all of the following: (1) A protocol to guide entities on how to be independently certified to internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood. The protocol and any substantive amendments or revisions to the protocol shall be developed in a transparent process and adopted by the council in a public meeting. The council shall identify in a public document that the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section 35550 have been met. (2) (A) A marketing assistance program for seafood caught in California that is independently certified to internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood. The council shall consult with the Department of Food and Agriculture in implementing this paragraph. (B) Consistent with subparagraph (A), the marketing assistance program shall consist of competitive grants and loans for discrete and limited activities to benefit participants in the fishing industry in California. (3) A competitive grant and loan program, only in years in which funds are appropriated by the Legislature to the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund, for eligible entities, including, but not limited to, fishery groups and associations, for the purpose of assisting California fisheries in qualifying for certification to internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood. This program may be implemented in coordination with other state and private programs to maximize its effectiveness. (4) The design of a label or labels that may be used exclusively to identify seafood caught in California that is certified to internationally accepted standards as sustainable seafood. (c) Seafood produced through aquaculture or fish farming shall not be certified as sustainable under this division until nationally or internationally accepted sustainability standards have been developed and implemented. (d) The program, each component of the program, and actions taken by the council to implement the program are based upon voluntary actions initiated by entities pursuant to this section and are not regulations as defined in Section 11342.600 of the Government Code.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35620. Section 35620.

(a) Consistent with this chapter, and subject to the availability of funding, the council shall support state agencies’ use and sharing of scientific and geospatial information for coastal- and ocean-relevant decisionmaking, including marine spatial planning, by taking all of the following actions: (1) Assess the needs of California’s public agencies with respect to their abilities to gather, manage, use, and share information and decision-support tools relevant to ecosystem-based management in the coastal and ocean environment. (2) Subject to a determination of need in paragraph (1) and in consultation with the relevant coastal or ocean management agency, increase the amount of baseline scientific and geospatial information that is available to public agencies in a publicly accessible, electronic, and geospatial format with respect to the following aspects of coastal and ocean ecosystems: (A) Ecosystem health, structure, functioning, productivity, resilience, and vulnerability to threats. (B) The effects of climate change. (C) The cumulative effects of human-caused and natural sources of stress. (D) Existing and predicted patterns of human activities, including activities that present conflicting or compatible demands on coastal and ocean ecosystems or those that require the use of a precautionary approach. (E) Social, economic, and cultural values, including the value of coastal and ocean ecosystems for providing ecosystem services. (F) Distinguishing ecological characteristics, including habitat heterogeneity, species abundance, and biodiversity. (G) Other physical, biological, economic, social, and cultural information that the council determines is relevant to marine spatial planning. (3) Support public agencies’ collaborative management and use of scientific and geospatial information relevant to ecosystem-based management. (4) Help identify decision-support tools relevant to ecosystem-based management, and, where appropriate, support the adaptation of those tools or the creation of new tools to serve the state’s needs. (b) Subject to available funding, and consistent with their individual mandates, each agency, board, department, or commission of the state with ocean or coastal management interests or regulatory authority shall cooperate with the council to achieve all of the goals described in subdivision (a).

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35621. Section 35621.

Consistent with the council’s authority and responsibility under this chapter to coordinate activities of state agencies with ocean or coastal management interests or regulatory authority, to improve the effectiveness of state efforts to protect ocean resources, and to establish policies to coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies, the council may award grants, enter into interagency agreements, and provide assistance to public agencies and nonprofit organizations to support this effort, including grants to improve geospatial data collection, interagency data sharing and collaboration, and tools for visualizing and analyzing these data. In allocating grants and assistance, the council shall give preference to public agencies that are meeting the goals described in Section 35620.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 35625. Section 35625.

(a) Under the direction of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the council shall administer its affairs, and provide the staff services that the council needs to carry out this division, including, but not limited to, both of the following: (1) Administering grants and expenditures authorized by the council from the fund or other sources, including, but not limited to, block grants from other state boards, commissions, or departments. (2) Arranging meetings, agendas, and other administrative functions in support of the council. (b) The Legislature may make appropriations to be used for the purposes of this division directly to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, for expenditures authorized by the council. If an expenditure has been approved by the council for the purposes of this division, approval of the secretary is not required, except in the case of block grants provided by the council to be administered by the secretary. (c) Any bond funds received by the State Coastal Conservancy, on or before July 1, 2013, which authorized the use of funds for council programs, shall be transferred to the Natural Resources Agency for use for those programs. (d) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that, on the effective date of the act adding this subdivision during the 2013–14 Regular Session, various contracts and grants will be pending or remain subject to management and control by the State Coastal Conservancy on behalf of the council. On and after that date, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency is hereby designated as the legal successor to the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall assume management and control of those contracts and grants and shall have all of the same powers and duties as the State Coastal Conservancy. (2) In addition to the powers and duties described in paragraph (1), on and after the effective date of the act adding this subdivision during the 2013–14 Regular Session, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall have the following powers and duties on behalf of the council: (A) The management of all contracts and grants, including the completion, modification, and cancellation of those contracts and grants in accordance with existing law. (B) The negotiation and settlement of claims relating to contracts and grants. (C) Responsibility for the completion, maintenance, and disposal of any records relating to the transfer of responsibilities from the State Coastal Conservancy to the Natural Resources Agency.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026