State Delays Enactment of Coastal Water Protections

State water regulators suddenly are putting the brakes on a long-scheduled proposal to better protect sensitive California coastal areas, angering environmentalists who fear officials are trying to weaken the law to protect major developers and others.

Years in the making, the proposal was meant simply to deal with how the public can nominate important ocean waters for protection under the state Ocean Plan.

But less than two weeks before a key Oct. 4 public hearing, state regulators have recommended a delay so they can develop broad new guidelines for runoff into areas such as Crystal Cove near Laguna Beach in Orange County.

Urban runoff, water containing fertilizer, pesticides, waste oil and other chemicals that washes into the ocean, has received increased attention in recent years as a major cause of water pollution.

Edward Anton, a top state water official, said Tuesday that the delay was prompted in part by a bitter dispute over runoff discharges from Irvine Co. construction sites into pristine Crystal Cove waters below.

Environmentalists who have worked long and hard on the proposal expressed dismay.

“This is a noncontroversial item,” said Linda Sheehan, Pacific region director of the Center for Marine Conservation. “To come in at the last moment . . . is really troubling.”

But state officials counter that the proposal is the logical place to address mounting questions about urban runoff, since it incorporates guidelines for 34 specific biologically sensitive coastal areas protected under the Ocean Plan, including Crystal Cove.

Anton, acting executive director of the state Water Resources Control Board, said staff there want to perform a thorough review of possible runoff into other biologically sensitive marine areas and how that is addressed in the Ocean Plan.

The delay that the staff seeks would have to be approved by the four board members.

“We’re the only ones who can make that call,” said Arthur Baggett, acting chairman of the board.

The move comes as regional regulators prepare to order a halt to runoff discharges from Irvine Co. construction sites into Crystal Cove waters.

Irvine Co. officials say they should not be singled out, since urban runoff might be being discharged into other sensitive areas along the California coast, such as Monterey Bay and Carmel.

The developer is “providing information to the state board and the regional board,” about other such possible discharges, Irvine Co. spokesman Rich Elbaum said.

Stan Martinson, water quality chief at the state board, said existing rules forbidding runoff into sensitive marine areas pose “a very difficult situation” for landowners who are discharging runoff.

“We could say, on a somewhat cavalier note, you can’t do that,” Martinson said. “But it seems to me we have to look at alternatives. . . . We need to have a dialogue. We need to carve out middle ground.” Anton said the regulators may look at whether runoff should be allowed near biologically significant areas if it meets certain water quality standards, whether existing dischargers should be exempted from potentially stricter new rules and other possibilities.

“There are a lot of options,” Anton said.

The Irvine Co., regulators and environmentalists have debated Crystal Cove runoff issues for more than a year. But the latest spate of news stories and meetings came after a local activist crawled into a culvert emptying onto the Crystal Cove state beach, and discovered a lengthy system of 60-inch and 48-inch pipes leading downhill from Irvine Co. home-building sites on the bluffs above.

Both the developer and regulators say that the Irvine Co. obtained all necessary permits for the pipe construction.

But two recent spills from the pipes focused more attention on the runoff.