Two Tri-Counties legislators are calling for a proposed new marine sanctuary in the region to include an area which isn’t in the government’s current plan.
The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary would provide new protections for coastal and offshore areas from the Gaviota area to around the Monterey County line. The original proposal had the new sanctuary connecting with the Monterey Bay sanctuary.
But, the preferred plan from the agency which oversees the sanctuaries, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has a gap in there. It’s an area where some offshore wind transmission cables would go.
In a letter to NOAA officials, Democratic Congressman Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara and Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley say the power lines and sanctuary can co-exist. They say wording should be added to allow power lines for future wind projects to pass through the sanctuary.
