As we are all acutely aware, climate change is making its impacts felt on California’s ocean and coast, and those impacts will only grow over time. If we are to meet the challenge presented by climate change, and ensure an equitable future for California’s coastal communities, timely access to objective, trusted science advice and solutions is essential.
This month the provisions in Senate Bill 1324, authored by Senator Limón, take effect. SB 1324 updates our founding legislation (California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act, CORSA, 2000, updated 2022) to facilitate broad access to scientific analyses, syntheses and recommendations enabling durable and responsible decisions. Increasingly, climate change intersects with the jurisdiction of many different departments and commissions within the California Natural Resources Agency and California Environmental Protection Agency. SB 1324 enables Ocean Science Trust to deliver science services to the agencies and departments with relevant need, thereby implementing our CORSA mandate to encourage coordinated, multiagency, multi-institution approaches to ocean resource science.
We extend our appreciation and thanks to Senator Limón and the Legislature for their leadership in recognising the importance of timely access to relevant science. We are committed to delivering on the promise of CORSA, and the vision for a vibrant relationship between coastal and ocean science and decision-makers in California’s government agencies and Legislature.