Coastal Restoration

"Environmentalists call it a “safe harbor provision” – an easy shortcut to compliance – where even after receiving a water quality violation, county officials could draw up a plan for the issue, which would then shield them from any enforcement action while doing that additional planning. “Basically, what we’re seeing is the foundation laid for the forthcoming region-wide permit to allow continuous loops of iterative planning processes without ultimately achieving water quality improvements,” said Lauren Chase, a senior staff attorney with OC Coastkeeper."