“What’s on the line is California’s voice on these projects that could have very real effects on our communities and coastline,” said Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the Coastal Commission, at a recent forum on the federal probe.

Next week, as part of the review, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scheduled to hold three days of public meetings on California’s coastal management program, the policy that establishes how the state and federal government coordinate on coastal planning. The meetings, in Santa Monica on Monday and online-only on Tuesday and Wednesday, are intended to inform changes federal officials might make to the state’s coastal powers under federal law.

Over the past five decades, the Coastal Zone Management Act has allowed California to weigh in on thousands of federal or federally regulated activities along its 840-mile shoreline. The undertakings run the gamut, from oil drilling and undersea pipeline construction to desalination and wastewater discharge to Navy sonar tests and space launches.

The law, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1972, was celebrated as a way to ensure that state and federal governments work together and communicate on coastal development and other matters. While the federal government can generally overrule any objections a state might raise to a federal or federally regulated action, the law has provided an avenue for the two sides to resolve their differences.

Federal reviews of state coastal management programs are routine, as are minor modifications to them. However, because California’s program was just reviewed during the Biden administration, with the final paperwork pending, and because Trump officials have been openly critical of the Coastal Commission, many in the state believe big changes may be in the works.

“California recently went through its regular review and got high marks from the federal government,” said state Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “Under this administration, they’ve initiated a new review. That has us very concerned about the potential removal of our coastal management program…”