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Hey, every month is Earth Month for Heal the Bay. But we’re thankful that many people focus in April on the care and support of our natural resources. Here in Southern California, Santa Monica Bay provides joy to millions each year. So why not take some time this April to give back to our local shorelines that give us so much?

To help you along, Heal the Bay is organizing a series of public Earth Month activities to provide fun, family-friendly opportunities. From volunteer trainings to beach cleanups to hands-on learning experiences at our Aquarium, ocean lovers across the Southland are invited to immerse themselves in a variety of public programs designed to foster deeper engagement with our local environment. The programs will offer advice on the positive steps Angelenos can take in their daily lives to be smarter about water in a time of severe drought.

Aquarium Orientation and Open House

 Thursday, April 9, 6:00-6:45 p.m., Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, 1600 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica

Love fish? Love people? Meet our friendly Aquarium staff and learn about the amazing volunteer and internship opportunities available at Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. RSVP here.

Heal the Bay Volunteer Orientation

Monday, April 13, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Heal the Bay’s main office, 1444 9th Street, Santa Monica

Learn more about Heal the Bay, its mission and the many ways to get involved throughout the year. If you love clean water and clean beaches, become a regular volunteer to help protect our local waterways. RSVP here.

Beach Cleanup and Free Aquarium Day

Saturday April 18, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Santa Monica Beach

Beach Cleanup: 10:00 a.m.-noon, Santa Monica Beach at Ocean Park, 2600 Barnard Way

Free Aquarium Day: 11:00–5:00 p.m., Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, 1600 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica

Join us for a fun day cleaning up Ocean Park Beach and gain free admission to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. Open to all ages, this cleanup the Saturday before Earth Day offers a great opportunity for families and friends to come together for a good cause. Afterward, participants are treated to free admission to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium to enjoy interactive activities and a brand-new, hands-on exhibit. This event typically attracts more than 1,000 beach lovers.

Cleanup volunteers must be 13 years old or accompanied by an adult. As part of Heal the Bay’s Zero Waste initiative, participants are asked to bring their own buckets, gloves and reusable water bottles. RSVP here.



Friends, if you’re reading this, we’re psyched.

You waded through dozens of #GivingTuesday emails and blogs from countless worthy nonprofits and chose to read this one. But why should you go the extra nautical mile and support Heal the Bay?

Because we don’t want your money.

In lieu of cash donations, we’re asking you to honor #GivingTuesday by gifting us with the much-needed supplies we need to do our work: Microscopes, clipboards, giant vats of sunscreen. And with our MyRegistry wish list, it’s super easy to help Heal the Bay in a direct, powerful way—in a way that dollars can’t.

Give and the sea shall receive.

Your #GivingTuesday contribution—whether it’s a truckload of latex gloves or a monthly gift of $10—goes directly to the programs that clean up our watersheds and beaches, immerse our children in marine science and advocate for innovative, sustainable water management policy. We’re particularly excited about our MyRegistry wish list because it helps us get to work right away—instead of shopping for supplies.

Click below to help Heal the Bay this #GivingTuesday:

Heal the Bay's #GivingTuesday MyRegistry wish list

 

 

Industrial-strength hand sanitizer not your style? You’re always welcome to make a traditional donation here.



Off the coast of California, mile-long drift gillnets are left dangling in the ocean for hours as a part of the commercial swordfish and thresher shark fisheries. Unfortunately, these nets also entangle other animals that swim in their path, including endangered whales, white sharks, and sea turtles. The growing amout of so-called bycatch – the incidental entrapment and killing of non-targeted species – is a significant concern for our marine ecosystem. Heal the Bay is urging regulators to end this outdated and wasteful fishing method and support a better solution.

A healthy marine ecosystem is critical, both environmentally and economically in Southern California. Given the indiscriminate nature of this type of fishing gear, the drift gillnet fishery should transition to alternative types of gear that are actively tended. We need to minimize interaction with the myriad species of fish and wildlife that characterize California’s diverse and vibrant marine ecosystem.

Harpoons were the dominant method of fishing for swordfish for most of the 20th century, until California approved the use of drift gillnets in the early 1980s. Leaving mile-long nets to drift in the current for hours at a time – especially in the biologically diverse and rich California Current — results in chronic problems with bycatch.

In March 2014, West Coast fishery managers agreed that it’s time to shift the drift gillnet fleet to more environmentally sustainable types of fishing gear. However, rather than following through and encouraging a transition to less-wasteful alternatives that include harpoon and buoy gear, fishery managers are sliding and discussing allowing the current drift gillnet fishery to continue indefinitely.

Even with stricter limits in place, fishery managers expect that drift gillnets will continue to kill numerous species of marine life every year, including whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, sea turtles, and several species of fish. We need to move away from drift gillnets when better, more selective alternatives exist.

Please act now. Members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council – an agency that oversees 119 species along the U.S. Pacific Coast – need to hear from you. Remind them of their commitment to shift away from drift gill nets to more selective fishing gear. If we are to enjoy abundant and healthy marine wildlife populations in the region, including swordfish, we need to encourage the Council to advance a transition to more sustainable gear in this fishery.

You can make your voice heard by clicking on this action alert.




Trash is accumulating in California’s streams and rivers and on its beaches at an alarming rate.  Many waterbodies throughout the state are so clogged with trash that they are impacting wildlife, aquatic life and public health.  Some 15 trash pollution limits (“TMDLs”) are in place in the Los Angeles Region to help reduce the volume of trash heading to the ocean. And 111 jurisdictions in California have already taken action to pass plastic bag bans, and the State Legislature is currently considering a statewide ban. 

Now the State Water Board is hoping to complement these current efforts with its recently released Trash Policy.  The policy declares a statewide goal of no trash in California’s coastal waters, bays, rivers and lakes.  However, some charged with implementing the new policy are pressuring the State Water Board to weaken its provisions. We need a Trash Policy that holds each city and county responsible for trash reductions. A full overview of the board’s trash efforts can be found here.

We support trash-free streams, rivers and ocean. Let’s put California on the right path! The board will be voting on thew new Trash Policy on Aug. 5. Please submit the following letter by Friday, Aug. 1 to the Members of the State Water Resources Control Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95812-010. You can send a hard copy to the address above or email a copy to 

Dear State Water Board Members,

Thank you for developing a Trash Policy for California that explicitly states the goal of no trash in our waterways and includes a plan for municipalities to achieve this goal. A trash policy is long overdue for California, as millions of pounds of trash are released to our streams, rivers and ocean after each storm event and severely impact wildlife.  In general, I strongly support the Board’s proposed Trash Policy.  

The proposed Trash Policy is an important step forward to reduce the amount of trash in our waterways.  However, I am concerned that the current draft of the Trash Policy may be difficult to enforce. 
The State Water Board should hold municipalities accountable by compelling them to calculate the current amount of trash they release into the water, and then develop a method for calculating their trash reductions annually. 
In sum, I urge you to adopt a final Policy that requires a clear, straightforward path to compliance, and holds municipalities accountable for their trash pollution.  Thank you for your dedication to ensure that California’s waterways are safe from harmful trash pollution.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Heal the Bay appreciates you taking the time to take direct action to protect what you love.



This fact sheet is presented in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation.

Together, we’re committed to protecting Southern California’s waters.


Background:

The City of Hermosa Beach has a moratorium in place that prohibits oil drilling. After years of legal battles, a settlement was reached between E&B Natural Resources and the City of Hermosa Beach that could potentially allow the community to be opened up to oil drilling by putting the moratorium up for reconsideration. Hermosa Beach residents will vote March 3, 2015, on a ballot measure to allow slant-drilling into the Bay. E&B Natural Resources wants to erect an 87-foot drilling rig and up to 34 wells on a 1.3-acre plot in a residential neighborhood, extracting up to 8,000 barrels of oil each day by slant-drilling under the seafloor and surrounding beach communities. E&B had an existing lease arrangement before the current moratorium was put in place.

If voters repeal the existing moratorium, the City would have to pay $3.5 million to E&B, and the company would pursue permitting for the proposed oil drilling operation. If voters uphold the moratorium, drilling would be barred. But the city would have to pay $17.5 million to E&B under a complex settlement brokered by past city councils.

MYTH: This is a relatively small project that only affects a small slice of the Bay and really is an issue for Hermosa Beach to decide.

FACT: Oil spills know no boundaries. With nearly 50 million annual visits to Santa Monica Bay beaches and a coastal economy worth over $10 billion, a spill off Hermosa Beach would be a financial and ecological nightmare for all of Los Angeles.

oil covered plastic bottle on beachSlant-drilling into the Santa Monica Bay from Hermosa poses significant environmental and economic risks throughout Los Angeles County and the entire Bay. This project would also be precedent-setting: There are no drilling projects currently accessing oil under the Bay. Slant-drilling from onshore under offshore waters raises many of the same concerns as any other offshore oil drilling project, in terms of increasing the risk of a coastal oil spill, causing air and water pollution and contributing to global climate change. The proposed drilling operation is only six blocks from the beach. If a spill cannot be contained, oil will ultimately reach the Santa Monica Bay and surrounding communities.

MYTH: Given all the new technology, there’s really very little chance of an oil spill actually happening.

FACT: A revised EIR (Environmental Impact Report) states that there is a 12% chance of an oil spill from the proposed project.

Oil spills have the potential to significantly impact marine life and habitats in the Bay and throughout the Southern California Bight because they can spread rapidly over great distances and can be difficult to detect and clean up. A 12% chance of a spill is simply not worth the risk. An oil spill that originated in El Segundo in the 1990s reached Malibu Lagoon, and the infamous 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill spread along the coast for more than 35 miles. Furthermore, any oil spill is likely to have an impact on tourism and the coastal economy. Our state and local community has made significant investments to protect and enhance marine and coastal habitats in the Bay, such as establishing marine protected areas in Malibu, Palos Verdes and Catalina Island; restoring Malibu Lagoon; Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission’s National Estuary Program; and the planned restoration of Ballona Wetlands. An oil spill would directly undermine these long-term efforts.

MYTH: Hermosa Beach will reap a great deal of economic benefit if drilling moves forward.

FACT: The royalties proposed by E&B Oil may seem attractive in theory, but they are theoretical and wildly speculative.

Oil spill in city street

The final cost benefit analysis (CBA) and supplement added in January 2015 show a significant drop from initial revenue estimates for Hermosa Beach from the proposed project. Projections state that only $25 million to $77 million could go toward the city’s general fund over the 35 year life of the project—less than $1 million per year. And that’s with the price of oil pegged up to $95 per barrel. With current oil prices at about $40-$45 per barrel, revenue to the city’s general fund may only equate to half that income. Additionally, should the project be approved, the CBA estimates that the project will cost the city $19 million to $26 million to relocate the City Yard where the operation would be sited, remove contaminated soil from the site and to displace a revenue-generating storage facility.

In addition to the substantial project costs cited above, the CBA predicts a 10% drop in property values for home near the drilling site should voters approve Measure O.

But there are no guarantees when it comes to oil exploration. No one can accurately predict the productivity of proposed wells. Furthermore, the use of royalty payments is highly restricted, given that the majority of the revenue will come from drilling in the Tidelands. State law blocks vast majority of funding on services like police and street improvements. Despite promises of the project being a boon for local schools, according to the updated supplement to the CBA reflecting current oil barrel prices, the Hermosa Beach City School District is only projected to receive net revenues of approximately $900,000 over the 35-year life of the project. That pencils out to be about $26,000 annually—enough to cover the education costs of less than five Hermosa students. This is a small benefit when weighed against the health risks associated with drilling in a residential area.

MYTH: Hermosa Beach can’t afford to pay a $17.5 million penalty to E&B if voters uphold the moratorium.

FACT: The city has already set aside $6 million for this purpose, and staff is researching other fiscally prudent ways to pay the remainder of the $17.5 million over time that would not put undue hardship on city budgets.

The city’s cost-benefit analysis estimates loan payments to be roughly $750,000 to $800,000 annually (over 30 years). That amount totals about 3% of the City’s annual budget – not an insignificant amount, but certainly not enough to cause severe financial stress. The study also estimates that if a payment plan was based on levying taxpayers, the average cost would be $150 a year on the average home price of $1 million—a modest insurance policy against the almost-incalculable financial burden of an oil spill. However, in a financial presentation provided by City of Hermosa Beach experts at the Hermosa City Council meeting on January 27, 2015, it was clearly stated that the City does not need to raise taxes to pay E&B if Measure O is defeated. In fact, there are compelling indications in the new supplement to the cost-benefit analysis that Measure O’s defeat would actually be less costly than its passage.

MYTH: The drilling operations will pose very few risks to community health.

FACT: Noxious gasses released from the site may cause air pollution and odor issues, which have led to respiratory problems, eye and skin irritation, headaches and other ailments in communities where oil drilling already occurs.

Activist in Hazmat suit at hearing Keep Hermosa Hermosa Campaign to Stop Oil DrillingHermosa Beach is the most densely populated coastal community in California, with about 13,670 people per square mile. It also attracts nearly 4 million visitors annually. The proposed project site lies in close proximity to schools, parks, neighborhoods, trails, businesses, and the beach. Thus, public health impacts are a major concern for Hermosa Beach residents and visitors alike. The Health Impact Report was finalized in September 2014, and other studies of the potential health risks posed by oil drilling operations elsewhere cite heightened rates of respiratory ailments and depression. The H.I.A. identifies a 28% increase in nitrogen dioxide, which is associated with asthma in children. Noise and other quality-of-life issues also pose a community health concern, as drilling operations are proposed to occur day and night. Seniors, children, and people with existing medical conditions represent the populations most vulnerable to these health threats.

MYTH: The proposed drilling operation raises few safety concerns.

FACT: Nearly half of Hermosa Beach residents live within a half mile of the proposed drilling site. The project would have significant negative impacts on safety, aesthetics, odors, wildlife, water quality and noise.

Drilling would occur within 100 feet of homes, businesses, and widely used greenspace, which raises serious health and safety concerns. For comparison’s sake, homes, businesses, and schools in Dallas are protected from oil drilling by a 1,500-foot setback requirement. Oil drilling operations can also be dangerous and have caused blowouts and hazardous spills in other communities. The Environmental Impact Report asserts that the project would have significant unavoidable impacts in 9 areas: aesthetics, air quality (odors), biological resources (wildlife), water quality (spills into subsurface soils/or ocean through storm drains), land use (open and residential spaces), noise, recreation, safety and risk of upset (e.g. blowout during drilling). The project also has the potential to threaten the municipal water supply, exacerbate seismic instability, and cause subsidence (caving in or sinking of land from drilling activities).

MYTH: The drilling operations will not affect the aesthetics and livability of surrounding neighborhoods

FACT: The proposed slant drilling operation introduces a major industrial use that raises compatibility concerns with Hermosa Beach’s family-friendly and artistic community character.

Surfer covered in oilThe oil project would occur within 10 feet of heavily trafficked Valley Drive, and less than 100 feet from homes, businesses, and the Hermosa Valley Greenbelt. The 87-foot drill rig and associated 110-foot work over rig will introduce a visually dominant, industrial feature to the community of Hermosa Beach. And, although they will not be permanent features, E&B proposes to use them for drilling and redrilling efforts over the 35-year lifespan of the project. A 35-foot wall will permanently surround the site in attempt to buffer noise impacts. Additionally, traffic is a major community concern. E&B estimates an additional 10,500 miles of heavy truck traffic during the first 10 months of construction alone, and 32 truck trips daily during subsequent phases of the project.

MYTH: Los Angeles County already has numerous oil wells, so there is precedent of safe drilling in the region.

FACT: Although there are many oil wells throughout Los Angeles County, safety remains a concern with all forms of oil drilling in densely populated regions.

10,000-gallon crude oil spill in Atwater Village looked 'like a lake'On May 15, 2014, 10,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in Atwater Village, Glendale, when an above-ground pipeline burst, sending a geyser 20 to 50 feet into the air. In March, Wilmington had crude oil running down its residential streets due to a ruptured pipe. Communities elsewhere along the California coast, like Goleta and Carpinteria, have successfully fought slant-drilling proposals. Most recently, the City of Carson rejected a bid by Occidental Petroleum to drill within city limits. The proposed operation in Hermosa Beach poses great risk to the economic, environmental and community health of the Santa Monica Bay and the greater Los Angeles region. Allowing drilling to take place underneath the seafloor in Hermosa Beach would set a terrible precedent for future protection of Santa Monica Bay. It opens the door for further exploitation of one of our region’s greatest natural resources and recreational havens.


What can you do to prevent oil drilling from taking place in Santa Monica Bay?

Check out our Hermosa Activist’s Toolkit.

Looking for citations? Contact us.



Staff scientist Dana Roeber Murray provides an update on proposed oil drilling under the Hermosa Beach seafloor. She’s read the 1,000-page EIR and there’s much to be concerned about.

Imagine a sunny spring day on your favorite South Bay beach.  Maybe you’re playing volleyball on the warm sand, breathing in the salty sea air. You watch little shorebirds run along the shoreline as the waves ebb and flow. Your small children dig a moat in the sand.  It sounds like a typical beach day in Santa Monica Bay. We love this lifestyle. This is why we live in coastal Southern California.

Now picture a different type of day, after a community decision to allow oil drilling just a handful of blocks from the very same beach.

Ahhh … take a deep breath and inhale diesel exhaust and the nauseating aroma of oil hydrocarbons wafting in the air. Listen to the sound of your kid coughing as you walk about the neighborhood greenbelt trails, which sit just across from the new corporate oil drilling site in town. Now imagine the unthinkable  — an oil spill emanating from the supposedly safe facility. Inky, stinky, thick black oil runs down your street and into the storm drains that lead to the ocean.

This isn’t the stuff of fantasy. This nightmare scenario could well play out in Hermosa Beach if a controversial oil drilling plan is approved in the coming months.

The city is now reviewing an active proposal from E&B Oil to develop an onshore drilling and production facility that would access offshore oil reserves in Santa Monica Bay. Under a complex legal settlement, voters in Hermosa Beach will weigh in on a ballot measure to repeal an existing moratorium on oil drilling within city limits, likely this November.

Heal the Bay and a coalition of other environmental and community groups have spent the past few weeks reviewing a draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed slant drilling operation.The draft lays out numerous unavoidable and significant impacts to the community and environment, should the project go forward. Our staff scientists reviewed and prepared comments on the Biological Resources, Geological Resources/Soils, Water Quality, and Water Resources sections of the EIR in a 38-page letter.

Oil rigs line Huntington Beach by J. Baylor RobertsAt a recent Hermosa Beach city council meeting convened to discuss the draft EIR, a room packed with project opponents shared many of their concerns.

According to the draft EIR, there’s a 34% chance of an oil spill from the proposed facility pipelines. So an oil spill in Hermosa really isn’t a far off notion. In fact, the report states that “spills and ruptures from the installed Pipelines could result due to geologic hazards, mechanical failure, structural failure, corrosion, or human error during operations.”

You probably don’t need to be reminded about the impacts of an oil spill. We’re now remembering the 45th anniversary of the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill, which helped kick off California’s coastal environmental movement. More recently, wildlife still suffer from the disastrous effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and explosion disaster in Louisiana. History and experience tell us that the long-term impacts of oil spills are felt decades later. Significant, adverse effects on native species and habitats, whales ingesting toxins, pelicans smothered with oil, accumulation of oil toxins in the food chain for years to come … these are realistic possibilities.

Dozens of threats are identified in the draft. The words significant and unavoidable are routinely used throughout the report to describe the risks of the proposed drilling operation. Sure doesn’t sound safe to me.

Listening to speakers at the city council meeting, it became clear that the idea of this project makes many residents sick. If just the idea of this project makes people sick now, can you imagine how sick people may get living next door to a project like this?

We’ve heard many concerns from South Bay residents about the geologic stability under homes, streets, and community infrastructure if this project moves forward. Hermosa Beach is a geologically complex and seismically active region that is subject to earthquakes and potentially strong ground shaking. So seismically-induced soil collapse, onshore subsidence, and sinkholes could occur. The area proposed for drilling is underlain by loose dune sands and similarly loose fill material. According to the EIR, these soils would be subject to sloughing and caving during excavations and could potentially destabilize offsite structures located immediately to the north. The impacts are considered significant.

Activist in Hazmat suit at hearing Keep Hermosa Hermosa Campaign to Stop Oil DrillingWhat about our local water quality? As stated in the EIR, “although mitigation measures would reduce potential water quality impacts associated with a large spills, the residual impacts to water quality would remain significant and unavoidable, based on the severity of impacts.”  We’re talking about groundwater contamination, polluted oceans, and poor beach water quality. Is this really the vision for the South Bay? Is this our future? Our legacy to future generations?

The draft is 1,000+ pages filled with facts outlining the real environmental risks of oil drilling in a small beach community. I don’t expect most people to read it. It’s technical and very depressing.

But, you can rest assured that environmental scientists at Heal the Bay have gone over this EIR with a fine-toothed comb and are well-versed in the “significant” and “unavoidable” impacts associated with drilling along Santa Monica Bay. We are prepared to fight Big Oil along with our community and NGO partners and keep oil drilling out of our Bay.

The city of Hermosa Beach is expected to issue a final EIR later this summer, which will incorporate the feedback given at the public meeting and formal comments from stakeholders.  It’s still unclear exactly when voters in Hermosa will be asked whether they want to repeal the existing moratorium. We are still operating under the assumption it will be on November ballot. (Update: The election is now scheduled for March 3, 2015.)

In the meantime, please join the fight and make your voice heard. You can sign up for updates and action alerts from Heal the Bay on this topic. And please join hundreds of your fellow ocean lovers at Heal the Bay’s Nothin’ But Sand beach cleanup, to be held May 17. We will be asking participants to stand together in opposition to oil drilling anywhere in our Bay.



Since its adoption 40 years ago, the Clean Water Act has made incredible inroads in protecting and improving our nation’s water quality.  However, after a series of complex Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006, regulatory confusion led to dischargers being able to pollute or even destroy some streams and wetlands without consequences.  Because of a loophole, many wetlands and small streams throughout the country have been vulnerable to being buried and destroyed.

Streams and wetlands recharge groundwater supplies, handle floodwaters, remove pollution, and provide habitat for fish and wildlife.  Roughly 60% of U.S. stream miles only flow seasonally or after rain, but these waterways provide a critical function and support beneficial uses.

This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule to clarify protection under the Clean Water Act for streams and wetlands.  This act would protect millions of miles of threatened streams and millions of wetland acres. 

Our colleagues at the Natural Resources Defense Council have been advocating for this clarification for many years.   Please take a moment to send your support of this important proposal through the NRDC’s action alert.



Industrial facilities can be a major source of toxic stormwater pollution.  Runoff from over 10,000 industrial sites statewide – landfills, oil refineries, metal recycling facilities – can pollute our rivers and oceans, if left un-checked.  As an extreme example, DDT and PCB -laden runoff and wastewater discharged from the Montrose Chemical Corporation and other industries in Torrance, CA have resulted in a large EPA Superfund Clean-up site off of Palos Verdes.

California’s State Water Board has recently issued a Final Draft of their update to the 15-year old Industrial General Stormwater Permit.  This is the permit that regulates the thousands of industrial sites statewide.  Intense pressure from the industrial community has led to weakening of the proposed permit.   In fact, after nearly three years of work, the current Draft Permit fails to make necessary improvements, and in several respects, weakens industrial pollution controls. 

Too many California beaches, coastal areas, and rivers are plagued by pollution from industrial facilities. Please tell the State Water Board to develop a strong Industrial Stormwater Permit and require everyone to do their part to protect California’s waters. 

Take Action



Heal the Bay is urging all California voters to take a stand on two initiatives on the November 2, 2010 ballot that have significant impacts on the ongoing environmental well-being of the state.

We urge a YES vote on Prop. 21 and a NO vote on Prop. 23.

Proposition 21 – Vote YES to Protect State Parks and Conserve Wildlife

We support Prop. 21., which will appear on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot. The measure provides a stable and adequate funding source to keep our 278 state parks and beaches open, and ensure they are properly maintained.

Prop. 21 will protect state parks and conserve wildlife by establishing a Trust Fund in the state treasury that could only be spent on state parks, urban river parkways, wildlife, natural lands and ocean conservation programs.

Funding will come from an $18 annual State Park Access Pass surcharge on all California vehicles, including motorcycles and recreational vehicles. Larger commercial vehicles, mobile homes and permanent trailers will be exempt. California vehicles will receive free, year-round, day-use admission to California’s state parks and beaches, in exchange for a new $18 annual fee that will support state parks and wildlife conservation

Chronic underfunding of state parks has caused them to accumulate a $1.3 billion backlog in needed maintenance and repairs. Twice in the past two years, state parks were on the brink of being shut down. Last year, nearly 150 state parks were shut down part-time or suffered deep service reductions because of budget cuts, and more park closure proposals and budget cuts are expected this year. Thousands of scenic acres are closed to the public because of reductions in park rangers.

More information:  www.YesForStateParks.com

Proposition 23 – Vote NO and Keep CA Environment Laws in Place

Separately, Heal the Bay is concerned about the potential long-term impacts of Prop. 23, a measure that would “suspend” California’s air pollution and clean energy standards until the state economy improves and unemployment is lessened.

Four years ago, California passed a clean air law (AB 32) that holds polluters accountable and requires them to reduce air pollution that threatens human health and contributes to global climate change. This law has launched California to the forefront of the clean technology industry, sparking innovation and clean energy businesses that are creating hundreds of thousands of new California jobs.

The tragic oil spill in the Gulf—which has potentially harmed marine ecosystems for generations — reinforces the urgent need to reduce our dependence on costly, dangerous oil. But Prop. 23. backed by the oil industry, would allow polluters to avoid our state’s clean energy standards. It would kill competition and jobs from California’s clean technology companies, and keep us addicted to non-renewable sources of energy

More information: www.stopdirtyenergyprop.com