The Trump administration has announced it will review the powers of the California Coastal Commission, the 12-member body that regulates development along 840 miles of shoreline and has long been a target of the president and his allies. The review, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will examine the state’s decades-old coastal management program, a voluntary federal-state partnership established under the Coastal Zone Management Act. That law applies to coastal and Great Lakes areas and gives states the ability to review, regulate, and provide input on federal projects that affect their coastlines, though it does not grant them broad veto power. California’s program is implemented by the coastal commission, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission in partnership with NOAA. The federal government provides only about 10 percent of the coastal commission’s $35 million budget. But by reviewing California’s federally approved coastal management program—and the agencies charged with enforcing it—the administration is nevertheless raising the possibility of weakening the state’s influence over federal projects along the coast. Such evaluations occur regularly. This one, however, comes shortly after the Biden administration completed its own review, and as the Trump administration pursues an agenda with potentially far-reaching consequences for California, including expanded offshore drilling and increased rocket launches. The review “could fundamentally undermine the power of the commission to stop offshore drilling and those kinds of projects,” said Chris Desser, a former coastal commissioner who lives in Point Reyes Station. Ms. Desser called the probe a blatant political ploy to force open the door to federal projects that align with the administration’s priorities and run counter to the state’s environmental goals. In May, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered the inquiry in a letter to Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, accusing California of “environmental terrorism” and saying it had obstructed the development of spaceports and offshore oil and gas drilling. NOAA said it will examine how the state has “addressed or failed to address… federal priorities related to spaceport infrastructure, offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, undersea cables, and other key priorities of national importance.” Last summer, the coastal commission declined to approve a U.S. Space Force request to increase the number of SpaceX rockets it could launch from a base just south of Pismo Beach. Elon Musk later sued. According to the coastal commission, only two space launch projects out of 135 have been rejected since 1980; both were associated with Mr. Musk. NOAA will hold one in-person hearing and two virtual hearings as part of the review. The in-person meeting will take place Aug. 10 in Santa Monica, and virtual meetings will be held Aug. 11 and 12. Public comments may be submitted through Aug. 22. California’s secretary for natural resources, Wade Crowfoot, said the review amounted to an unprecedented challenge to the state’s coastal protections. “For decades, coastal states and the federal government have worked together to effectively manage our coastlines, advancing federal and state priorities while giving local communities a critical voice in decision-making,” he said in a statement sent to The Light. “Now the Trump administration is launching a new attack on that collaborative relationship—just as the federal government is already working to open California’s coast to new offshore drilling.” For more information and to comment, email [email protected].