The Trump administration is intensifying its challenge to what it describes as California’s environmental “extremism,” opening a new federal review of the state’s powerful coastal oversight agencies as tensions rise over offshore oil drilling.
In a public notice issued Friday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick directed officials to examine the California Coastal Commission, the California Coastal Conservancy and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
The action places California’s influential coastal regulators back under heightened federal review. The notice states that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is charged with “approving and overseeing state coastal management programs, including that of the California Coastal Commission.”
“Obstructionist policies that delay critical national infrastructure in the name of environmental extremism are unacceptable,” Lutnick said in a press release.
“NOAA will conduct its reviews consistent with the plain text of the [Coastal Zone Management Act] CZMA, ensuring states give proper weight to economic development and the nation’s priorities.”
According to the announcement, the review will assess whether California’s coastal agencies “have addressed—or failed to address—compatible economic development,” including “offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, undersea cables, and other key priorities of national importance.”
Environmental groups in California sharply condemned the review, warning that it could threaten longstanding coastal protections.
The nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife called it “a clear attempt by the Trump administration to target one of California’s most effective tools for protecting its iconic coastline,” in a statement.
“This unnecessary review sends a clear message to California and other coastal states: challenge the administration’s priorities, and your coastal management program may become the next target,” Stephanie Altman-with the group-added.
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Mark Lubell, an environmental science and policy professor at UC Davis, called it a “blatantly political move.”
“It may be political smoke and mirrors in the long run, but it’s going to take effort to kind of push back on it,” Lubell told KQED.
The review comes after the California Second District Court of Appeal this week dealt a blow to efforts to bring more domestic oil production back online, siding with state regulators in the high-stakes fight over a key pipeline network that connects offshore platforms in Santa Barbara County to refineries outside the region.
The court upheld an injunction obtained by the California Coastal Commission against Sable Offshore Corp., ruling the agency acted within its authority when it issued cease-and-desist orders targeting pipeline work along the Gaviota Coast in 2024 and again in 2025.
In March, Trump initiated the Defense Production Act to allow for the restarting of pumping off the Santa Barbara coastline.
The Houston-based company announced it would restart production at its offshore platform, sending oil through the region’s controversial Santa Ynez pipeline for the first time since 2015.
California filed a lawsuit challenging the order, arguing it “illegally asserts exclusive jurisdiction over two California onshore oil pipelines” and prioritizes “donors over our people and communities.”
Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court upheld an injunction in April against the oil giant, blocking it from restarting pumping at its Santa Ynez offshore pipeline while handing a win to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Sable attorney Jeffrey Dintzer recently told The California Post, “With respect to the production of oil from the federally leased offshore platforms, that will continue, as will the flow of oil through the pipeline to Kern County and ultimately to El Segundo, where it is being purchased by Chevron.”
The public notice about the review stated that NOAA will hold “both an in-person meeting and two virtual public meetings to solicit input for a performance evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program.”
It comes amid heightened focus on energy supplies as war with Iran and California’s anti-oil policies have helped gas prices skyrocket, putting a spotlight on efforts to expand US production rather than restrict it.
