Hearings Called on Beach Closings

With the water off Huntington Beach once again cleared for swimmers and surfers, two politicians are calling public hearings over a state law that some blame for keeping much of the oceanfront closed for two months this summer.

The law, known as Assembly Bill 411, gives wide discretion to local officials to close beaches at the slightest hint of bad water quality. It was supported by environmentalists.

Republican Assembly leader Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach initially scheduled a hearing for Oct. 6 to focus on the high bacteria levels and recent closures.

In a press release, Baugh said he wants to “focus on science first” and then evaluate “possible changes in the law.”

“If you think the water’s unclear, wait until you see the law,” Baugh said in his release.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Howard Wayne (D-San Diego) who wrote AB 411, also has set an Oct. 6 hearing to discuss the law. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the San Diego County Supervisor’s chambers.

Wayne said he wouldn’t comment on Baugh’s statements until he speaks with the Assembly leader personally. Baugh said Friday that he didn’t know of the scheduling conflict but would be willing to change the date of his hearing.

Baugh’s problem with the 1997 law, which he voted for, is contained in regulations implementing the law. State bureaucrats took nearly two years to set up rules for beach closures, but the rules contain little language on how and when beaches should be reopened, he said in an interview Friday.

Though bacteria levels had receded for several days at Huntington Beach, the beach remained closed, prompting Baugh to question “whether the statute had the necessary guidelines to reopen the beach.”

Environmentalists are concerned about the fate of the law, said Chris Evans, executive director of the Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente.

“If there’s something in AB 411 that needed clarity, it’s not the intent,” Evans said. “The intent they wanted was to put testing of water quality and posting of beaches in the hands of health officers and out of the hands of politicians.”