Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary gets close to potential designation 

The first tribally nominated national marine sanctuary is nearer than ever to being officially designated.

On Sept. 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the release of the final environmental impact statement for designation of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The mammoth statement is split into two volumes, totaling more than 700 pages. It analyzes the environmental effects of the proposed action and a range of alternatives for sanctuary designation.

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• Map Taken From The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Website
• ROOM TO GROW Even though NOAA's final preferred boundary alternative is smaller than what the public envisioned, the proposed Chumash marine sanctuary's final environmental impact statement contains a boundary adjustment action plan that outlines the potential to create an unfragmented protected space.

"But what it doesn't have in it is the exact language for the final management plan, and it does not have the exact language for the final rule and regulations, so those will come out after the 30 days is up," Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter Coordinator Gianna Patchen said.

Now NOAA is in what community partners like the Sierra Club are calling a "cooling off period." It's a 30-day waiting stage after the publication of the final environmental impact statement before the agency makes a concrete decision about designation. NOAA can release the final management plans and regulation layout in October if it chooses to designate the sanctuary. Following that checkpoint, a 45-day state and congressional review period must pass before the marine sanctuary receives the anticipated finalized designation around December 2024/January 2025.

With more than 10 years of campaign work and a record level of support from more than 110,000 comments during the public comment period under its belt, the marine sanctuary's designation is on a timeline to be finalized during President Joe Biden's time in office, which, according to Patchen, is significant.

"If designated, the proposed sanctuary would be the 17th in the National Marine Sanctuary System and contribute to the goals of the Biden-Harris administration's America the Beautiful initiative, which supports locally led collaborative conservation efforts with a goal to conserve and restore at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030," a NOAA press release read.

The 2023 public comment period for the designation produced a clarion call from the public and officials alike that urged NOAA to adopt sanctuary boundaries that covered 7,600 miles across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties coast and connect with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to create a contiguous protected space. During the public comment phase, NOAA preferred a boundary that's 2,000 miles smaller, starting from Point Buchon and winding down farther south than the initial boundary to cover more of the Gaviota Coast. But it cut out the waters off Cambria and Morro Bay, the Morro Bay Estuary, and Morro Rock.

The release of the final environmental impact statement for designation showed that NOAA's final preferred alternative shrunk further. It excludes Point Buchon and starts from the waters off Diablo Canyon Power Plant.

Still, some wiggle room exists.

"We were really excited to see in the release of the final EIS [environmental impact statement], a boundary adjustment action plan which outlines the potential for expanding the boundary to meet the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's southern boundary," Patchen said. "So, that was wonderful reassurance that this is not the end. ... We will be working to make sure that we get the entire nominated boundaries with this boundary adjustment action plan in the not too distant future." Δ