AB 1938 directs the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to create an application process and objective criteria for naming parts of California’s coastline as state surfing reserves, and allows cities and counties to apply after adopting a formal resolution. Designated reserves must meet criteria that recognize wave quality, cultural and historical importance, environmental characteristics, and management priorities; the OPC must approve and formally designate qualifying areas and may later revoke that designation if the area no longer meets the standard.
The bill ties those designations to California’s 30x30 conservation target by requiring the OPC to count approved surfing reserves toward the state’s goal to conserve 30 percent of coastal waters. The measure is primarily administrative and symbolic—authorizing publicity, signage (subject to legislative appropriation), and donations—while creating a new pathway for local governments to nominate surf spots for recognition and conservation planning.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill requires the Ocean Protection Council to adopt criteria and an application process by July 1, 2027, for designating state surfing reserves. Local governments may apply after passing a formal resolution; the council approves designations that meet the criteria, can publicize and erect signage upon appropriation, may accept donations, and may later revoke a designation if criteria are no longer met.
Who It Affects
Coastal cities and counties that contain surf breaks, the Ocean Protection Council and California Coastal Commission (which the council may consult), surf communities and cultural stakeholders, coastal tourism operators, and agencies involved in meeting the 30x30 target.
Why It Matters
The bill creates a new, state-level recognition tool that merges recreational and cultural values of surfing with area-based conservation planning, potentially adding surf breaks to the state's portfolio of sites counted under 30x30. For planners and local officials it establishes a formal process for nomination, but it leaves funding, management obligations, and enforcement details to later implementation.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 1938 adds a short chapter to the Public Resources Code establishing a state-designation called a “surfing reserve.” The law defines a surfing reserve as a coastal area that showcases waves and surf zones, recognizes their environmental, cultural, and historical importance, and satisfies the Ocean Protection Council’s (OPC) standard for an “other effective area-based conservation measure” under the state’s 30x30 Decision-Making Framework. That linkage means a designation is intended to do more than celebrate a popular wave—it must meet a conservation-oriented threshold the state uses for planning purposes.
The OPC must publish criteria and an application process no later than July 1, 2027. When setting those criteria the council must consider wave quality and consistency, surf culture and history, environmental characteristics, and management priorities; it may also require a recommendation from the California Coastal Commission.
Only local governments—cities, counties, or consolidated city-counties with jurisdiction in the coastal zone—may apply, and applications must be preceded by a formal resolution by the applicant government.Applications must describe the proposed reserve’s exact location and public access, explain its cultural, historical, ecological, and economic value, and state management priorities for the site. If the OPC finds the area meets the established criteria, it will approve the application and formally designate the area a state surfing reserve.
The statute allows the OPC, contingent on an appropriation by the Legislature, to publicize approved reserves and to partner with local governments to erect signage; the council may accept donations to pay for those activities. Finally, the OPC can revoke a designation if the area no longer meets the criteria and must include designated surfing reserves in the state’s accounting toward conserving 30 percent of coastal waters.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Ocean Protection Council must establish criteria and an application process for surfing-reserve designations by July 1, 2027.
Only a local government (city, county, or city–county) can apply for a state surfing reserve—and the application must follow a formal local-government resolution.
Applications must include the precise geographic location and access, plus descriptions of cultural, historical, ecological, and economic value, and explicit management priorities for the site.
To be designated, a surfing reserve must meet the council’s standard as an “other effective area‑based conservation measure” under the 30x30 Decision‑Making Framework and will count toward California’s 30x30 coastal waters goal.
The OPC may publicize and install signage for approved reserves only upon legislative appropriation (but may accept donations), and it retains authority to revoke a reserve if it no longer meets the established criteria.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Why the Legislature wants surfing reserves
The bill opens with findings tying the proposal to California’s 30x30 conservation goal, past statutes recognizing surfing as the state sport, and data about California’s surf culture. Practically, these findings anchor the program in statewide biodiversity and access objectives rather than in purely cultural or tourism goals, which matters because the OPC will evaluate designations using conservation-oriented frameworks.
Definitions: who can apply and what a 'surfing reserve' is
This section limits applicants to local governments with coastal zone jurisdiction and defines a surfing reserve as a place that combines surf features with recognized environmental, cultural, and historical significance, and that meets the OPC’s “other effective area-based conservation measure” standard. The practical effect is to exclude private organizations and individuals from applying directly and to require that designations fit into the state’s conservation accounting.
Council must set criteria and may consult the Coastal Commission
The OPC has a hard deadline—July 1, 2027—to publish designation criteria and an application process. When crafting criteria the council must consider wave quality, surf culture/history, environmental traits, and management priorities, and it can request a recommendation from the California Coastal Commission. That gives the OPC discretion to build scientific, cultural, and public-access elements into the test for designation and to involve the Coastal Commission as a technical or jurisdictional check.
How local governments apply and what happens after approval
A local government must adopt a formal resolution before submitting an application that lays out the location, coastal access, value statements (cultural, ecological, economic), and management priorities. The council must approve applications that meet its criteria and then formally designate the area. The provision creates a government-to-government pathway for recognition and places management planning—rather than ceremonial naming—at the center of the application.
Publicity, funding, revocation, and counting toward 30x30
The OPC may, subject to legislative appropriation, publicize designated reserves and partner with local governments on signage; it also may accept donations to pay for those activities. The council retains authority to revoke a designation if the area no longer satisfies the criteria. Separately, the statute requires the OPC to include designated surfing reserves in the state’s accounting toward conserving 30 percent of coastal waters, explicitly linking the program to broader conservation targets and planning exercises.
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Explore Environment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Local surf communities and heritage groups — the designation provides formal recognition of cultural and historical significance and can unlock conservation planning attention and state-level visibility.
- Coastal planners and conservation managers — surfing reserves offer a new category of area-based conservation measure to incorporate into 30x30 planning and may help integrate recreational-use considerations into marine conservation strategies.
- Tourism-dependent local businesses — approved reserves can be used in marketing and place-branding, potentially increasing visitation and economic activity tied to well-known surf breaks.
- Ocean Protection Council — the OPC gains a targeted, discretionary tool to align recreation, culture, and conservation in coastal waters without creating a new regulatory program.
- Nonprofits and donors focused on coastal protection — the statute authorizes donations for publicity and signage, creating a channel for private funding to support designated sites.
Who Bears the Cost
- Local governments applying for designation — they must prepare the application materials, pass a formal resolution, and potentially adopt management priorities, which consumes staff time and local funds.
- Ocean Protection Council — the OPC must design criteria, administer applications, monitor compliance with criteria, and potentially coordinate signage and publicity (subject to appropriation), increasing its administrative workload.
- State Legislature/General Fund — if the Legislature chooses to fund signage, interpretation, or outreach, that requires appropriations; absent funding, the program’s visible elements may be limited.
- California Coastal Commission — if the OPC requires or solicits recommendations, the Coastal Commission could face additional review or advisory work without dedicated funding.
- Property owners and managers adjacent to designated reserves — although the bill does not itself impose land-use controls, designation and consequent publicity could increase visitation and pressure on nearby infrastructure and private lands.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is whether designating surf breaks as conservation 'reserves' will meaningfully protect ecological and cultural values or simply serve as symbolic recognition that increases visitation and local pressure; the bill tries to thread the needle by requiring conservation-oriented criteria but leaves funding, monitoring, and enforcement decisions to later implementation, forcing a trade-off between rapid, flexible recognition and the resources needed to make those recognitions durable.
The statute creates recognition and planning pathways but leaves several implementation choices open—and those choices will determine whether designations produce conservation outcomes or remain symbolic. The term “other effective area-based conservation measure” imports a conservation standard used in 30x30 accounting, but the bill does not specify monitoring, performance metrics, or baseline conditions that would demonstrate continued qualification.
That gap raises questions about how the OPC will measure whether a surfing reserve still “meets the criteria” and when to invoke revocation.
Funding is another unresolved issue. The bill conditions publicity and signage on legislative appropriation but permits donations, which could lead to uneven implementation: well-resourced communities may get signs and outreach while others do not.
The requirement that only local governments may apply simplifies administration but excludes community groups and tribes from directly initiating nominations; it also shifts the burden of preparing technical and cultural documentation to municipal staff. Finally, the interplay with the Coastal Act and Coastal Commission authority is ambiguous—while the bill allows the OPC to request a recommendation from the Coastal Commission, it does not define how competing priorities (public access, development pressure, habitat protection) will be reconciled in areas where surf culture, private interests, and conservation aims collide.
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