AB 226: Coastal Commission: still hamstrung

The California Coastal Commission is charged with the enforcement of the Coastal Act. Imposing civil or criminal remedies for minor transgressions through the courts is time-consuming and expensive for all parties involved. AB 226 (Ruskin) would have granted the commission the same administrative civil penalty authority that is exercised by many other state regulatory agencies. To safeguard against possible abuse, penalties could only be imposed after a majority vote of the commission and violators could not be subject to monetary penalties imposed by both the commission and the superior court.