Feds revise plans for expanding Sonoma Coast protections

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has released revised management plans as well as the final environmental impact study for the proposed expansion of the adjoining Gulf of the Farallones/Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries - a long-sought move that would put the Sonoma Coast off-limits to oil exploration and energy production.

The publication of the documents - nearly 1,000 pages’ worth - triggers a 30-day circulation period that should precede a release of federal rules Jan. 20 extending federal protections and conservation measures across 2,769 square miles of ocean, Gulf of the Farallones sanctuary Superintendent Maria Brown said.

The regulation would not take effect until after a 45-day “cooling off period” for review of the plan by Congress and California’s governor, Brown said.

The expansion plan is driven by a desire to steward and preserve diverse marine wildlife and habitats off the North Coast in nutrient-rich waters fed by the Point Arena upwelling.

The expansion proposal would more than double the combined footprints of the existing sanctuaries, extending marine protections from Bodega Bay to Manchester Beach in southwest Mendocino County. It would create a 350-mile band of coastal waters under federal watch, when the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is taken into account.

Government agencies and the public already have had months to consider the proposal, for which a draft environmental report was circulated early last year.

Four public hearings held in coastal communities revealed significant support for the overall proposal, though specific provisions generated some controversy, including one that would have allowed the superintendent of either sanctuary to authorize otherwise prohibited activity within the boundaries of their jurisdiction.

Also disputed was a plan to designate certain areas for use of personal motorized watercraft. Both provisions have been removed from the revised proposal but are to be taken up for discussion at a later point, Brown told her advisory council last month.

The newly published plan also took into account other concerns expressed during public review - strengthening language banning mineral exploration or extraction, for instance - though pleas to include several sensitive river estuaries within the sanctuary boundaries went unheeded. Expanding the boundaries beyond those articulated in the initial environmental impact report would have necessitated starting all over with environmental and public review, Brown said.

Major issues raised in the next 30 days could still slow or disrupt the process, as could the newly elected Congress being sworn in next month, though there are no indications of a problem, officials said.

“We haven’t heard any feedback from Congress,” Brown said, “and since there will be a lot of new members, we just don’t know. It might be an action that just doesn’t warrant their attention at this time.”