Press Releases

Today, Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) hailed the release of the Biden-Harris Administration's environmental impact study for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, the final step that puts the decades-long push for this federal designation on track to be finalized by the end of this year.

“The Central Coast has pursued this sanctuary designation for decades, and as someone who's been helping push for it in Washington since I first got to Congress I am so pleased to see us passing the final checkpoint on our way to seeing the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary made official before the end of this year," said Congressman Salud Carbajal. "This historic designation will come not a moment too soon. Our oceans and our communities are facing unprecedented challenges from a changing marine environment, this new sanctuary comes at a critical time for our region. I look forward to working with our tribal and local stakeholders and federal partners to finalize these boundaries – which will nearly double the coastline protected along the Central Coast – and build on them to protect every coastal community and ecosystem in our region."

“Today’s announcement represents a critical step forward and one of the final hurdles before the long-awaited designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The proposed designation would be a major victory for the Chumash people, environmental conservation, and the responsible development of offshore wind to help meet our ambitious offshore wind energy goals,” said Senator Padilla. “I look forward to collaborating with NOAA officials, my House colleagues, Tribal leaders, and local stakeholders to push forward the final designation for this vital marine ecosystem across the finish line.”

“As the representative of California’s 26th Congressional District, I know how important the establishment of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is to my constituents who live along the Central Coast. Not only will designation of the sanctuary help honor our region’s rich Native American heritage, but it will also protect vulnerable marine wildlife and our coastal areas, which are hubs for economic activity including our fisheries industry and recreation and tourism industry. I look forward to continuing to work with tribal leaders, regional and national stakeholders, and the U.S. Department of Commerce as we move forward with the designation,” said Rep. Brownley.

“I commend NOAA for engaging with Congress and listening to feedback from all sides including local tribal, environmental, and industry leaders to thoughtfully balance our conservation and clean energy goals in the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary,” said Congressman Panetta.  “The release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement brings us another step closer to protecting more than four thousand miles of biologically diverse marine ecosystem.  NOAA’s Final Preferred Alternative Boundary is a thoughtful, pragmatic approach that will help us in our goals to deploy over three gigawatts of clean energy to the grid while protecting the beauty and heritage of the Central Coast.”

The boundary released in the environmental impact study will be 4,543 square miles off the Central Coast from Gaviota and Point Conception to Pismo Beach and southern San Luis Obispo County. The proposed sanctuary will cover 116 miles of coastline, entirely within California’s 24^th Congressional District.

The final proposed boundary will be the nation’s 3^rd largest marine sanctuary, and is the first ever to be nominated by a local tribe.

The plan released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today also lays the groundwork for a later expansion of the marine sanctuary boundaries to cover Avila Beach and Morro Bay, connecting the new sanctuary with the southern-most border of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This framework mirrors the approach endorsed earlier this year by local tribes and the leaseholders of the proposed offshore wind sites off Morro Bay, as well as Carbajal, Brownley, Padilla and other local leaders.

Rep. Carbajal has been a consistent advocate for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary since coming to Congress in 2017.

In 2020, Carbajal and California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris successfully secured an extension of the proposed sanctuary from the Trump Administration, keeping the process alive for enough time for the Biden-Harris Administration to move forward with the designation process in 2021 without needing to review a new proposal.

The proposed sanctuary moved into the designation phase in November 2021.

Rep. Carbajal has also advocated balancing this sanctuary with the development of floating offshore wind off the Central Coast.

As a result of lobbying efforts by Rep. Carbajal and other local stakeholders and officials, including through Rep. Carbajal’s Offshore Wind Working Group, Carbajal and Biden Administration leaders unveiled an agreement in May 2021 to allow offshore wind development off the coast of Morro Bay.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s environmental review of the proposed offshore wind leases in Morro Bay found no significant potential impacts on Central Coast ecosystems.