Miami-Dade County has issued a permit for a 94’ x 26’ concrete artificial reef to be deployed near the South Beach surf area. Surfrider Miami has appealed the permit because no appropriate modeling has been done to ensure that it will not cause harm to the quality or size of the waves.

Please take action to contact the County Environmental Quality Control Board, the board hearing our appeal, to express your concern about the permitting process and the value of this surf break to you.

We are calling on the Board to amend the permit and include appropriate conditions and restrictions to ensure our home break is protected. Use this form to lend your voice to this cause and send an email today.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is considering introducing parking fees at seven parks and sites in San Francisco and Marin to help pay for the costs to provide operations for the growing numbers of visitors at parks. If the fees go into effect, visitors would be charged $3 an hour with a maximum of $10 a day at Baker Beach, Lands End, Sutro Heights, Navy Memorial, China Beach, Rodeo Beach and Fort Cronkhite and Stinson Beach. These fees would be in effect daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The GGNRA is an urban recreation area used by millions of people in the Bay Area, many of whom use these open spaces every single day in order to hike, run, surf, bird watch, board sail, walk their dogs, or simply be outside.

We believe there are other ways to fund needed maintenance and operations and that steep parking fees for visitors is fundamentally the wrong approach.

In particular, we are concerned these parking fees would: 

• Disproportionately impact visitors, especially low income visitors, and would serve as a barrier to coastal access;
• Threaten and damage sensitive habitat and private property when visitors park in unofficial lots or pull-outs in an attempt to avoid fees;
• Increase dangerous pedestrian traffic along roadways;
• Increase traffic congestion, resulting in long lines of idling vehicles, and safety hazards for pedestrians, bikes and cars, and 
• Set a precedent for fees to be enacted without the necessary assessment for the impacts to resources and public access.

The California Coastal Act provides consistent guidance with policies designed to maximize public access. Relevant locations must be appropriately evaluated as to how well access is provided to all visitors and what impacts parking fee changes might have on that access. The public’s right to visit the coast must be protected and, where possible, improved. 

Make your voice heard today! Tell the GGNRA and National Parks Service that these fees are not warranted or consistent with the California Coastal Act. 

The National Park Service is accepting public comments on its proposed parking fee increases through Sept. 26. Submit your comments through this action alert or by emailing goga_business@nps.gov or calling 415-561-4700.

The U.S. Senate recently passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will help spur economic recovery and address the climate change emergency. This legislation is the result of meaningful collaboration across party lines and is an important first step towards addressing key national priorities. 

Yet, the Senate’s package falls short of the bold investments that are needed to protect our coasts and ocean. It provides only a fraction of the funds we need to fix our failing wastewater treatment systems, implement coastal restoration projects and advance environmental justice. Meanwhile, the bill fails to address the root causes of the plastic pollution crisis, such as the proliferation of single-use plastic.

Congress is currently considering additional infrastructure investments as part of the budget reconciliation process. This offers a key opportunity to address critical issues such as clean water, coastal resilience and plastic pollution. Please join the Surfrider Foundation in urging our federal leaders to invest in coastal and ocean stewardship!

On August 11 the Oceanside City Council will consider allocating $1 million towards the design and permitting of a new groin project. Groins have proven to be a flawed, impractical, and shortsighted strategy for sand retention. Join us in opposing this project! Here’s why:  

1.  Groins disrupt sand flow – Groins disrupt the natural north to south flow of sand in this area of San Diego. Groins in Oceanside will essentially ‘steal’ downcoast sand that could have ended up in South Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Del Mar by trapping sand originally destined for other locations in the region.

2.  Groins set bad precedent – Because groins are so disruptive on a regional scale, the California Coastal Commission has not approved a new groin in more than two decades. 

3.  Groins interrupt wave action – Groins have been known to create their own dangerous rip currents and disrupt existing wave action, frequently ruining existing recreational opportunities in the water.

Groins are not the solution for our community. Shrinking beaches and rising seas threaten the future of our public beaches. The loss of public beaches in Oceanside are exacerbated by a history of poor development decisions by the City, waterfront private property, and shoreline structures like seawalls and riprap. With another 1-3 feet of sea level rise expected by 2050, the City must invest in long-term planning to ensure our beaches are preserved for future generations. 

Join us in telling the Oceanside City Council to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on ineffective projects, and to start getting serious about long-term planning and preservation.

As Virginia Beach residents, the health of our waterways, beaches, and fisheries is critical to our local economy and our way of life. 

Plastic bags are one of the most common forms of plastic pollution found in beach clean ups and pose a significant threat to our waterways, wildlife, and seafood.  Plastic bags not sent to landfills are often put in recycling bins, where they clog recycling machines and cost recyclers and taxpayers money to remove. 

Virginia Beach can reduce plastic bag pollution by passing an ordinance placing a five cent fee on single use plastic bags at grocery, drug, and convenience stores.  Fees have been used successfully to reduce plastic bag litter in many other cities and states. The State of Virginia passed a law in 2020 granting municipalities the authority to enact such ordinances.

Revenue from this fee can be used to fund environmental education and clean ups, as well as supplying free reusable bags to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) customers.

Help us enact a plastic bag fee in Virginia Beach so we can keep our beautiful natural areas clean of plastic bag litter, reduce tax payer dollars spent on clean ups and recycling, and keep plastic bags from poisoning wildlife and our seafood.

Take a few minutes and send a message to your local elected officials, thank you!

We are calling on our beloved restaurants, festivals, and national parks (+all foodservice venues/events) to reopen with nontoxic reuse. We know that foodservice businesses like restaurants already require strict food safety standards to make sure reusables are sanitized and safe!

As concerned global consumers, we trust the data that shows reusable items are safe for use even during COVID, and we WANT to be served in reusables and NEED a systemic shift towards nontoxic reusables to achieve a sustainable future!

By signing your name, you'll be supporting our goals which include:

• Influencing the CDC to change their foodservice business reopening guidance to be more reusable-friendly
• Giving businesses and consumers greater confidence in the safety of reusables as more restaurants reopen
• Encouraging restaurants / events / National Parks and potentially any establishment which serves food to reopen with non-toxic reusable foodware

Single-use plastics have been falsely promoted as a way to avoid COVID transmission in restaurants. More than 130 public health and medical experts from 20 countries around the world signed a statement (also see here) endorsing the safety of reusables during the pandemic, using principles of basic hygiene.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to underscore that there is no credible evidence of food or food packaging associated with or as a likely source of viral transmission,"

- USDA Secretary Kevin Shea and Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, February 2021

Our single-use plastics crisis has reached a critical tipping point. More than 380 million tons of plastic are produced every year. Without action to reduce consumption, the quantity of plastics production is set to double in the next 20 years. Now is the time to take action.

Spoiler: the real problem isn’t just single-use plastic, it’s “single-use” itself. Disposable foodware contains toxic chemicals. Hundreds of health-threatening chemicals are found in all types of disposable foodware (paper, plastic, fiber). These chemicals can leach into food and beverages, and have been linked to cancer as well as reproductive and developmental harm. We stand behind establishments that choose non-toxic, reusable options.

Reuse is the best choice for a triple bottom line - profit, planet, and people. Reusables are 85% more climate friendly than disposables. Choosing reusables is getting easier as professional reuse and dishwashing services are popping up around the world. Reusables can save restaurants between $3,000 - $21,000 every year. Globally replacing just 20% of single-use plastic packaging with reusable alternatives offers an opportunity worth at least $10 billion - critical savings that can be passed along to support food service workers.

Let’s tell the world. Reopen with reuse.

For more information on reusables, check out the links below:

surfrider.org/ofr

COVID Summer: More People, More Plastic, More Problems for our Coasts

How to Reopen Restaurants While Safely Using Reusables

The Secret to More Sustainable Takeout

Plastic Pollution During the Pandemic: Reusables are Still Safe

Help our New Jersey Chapters pass NJ Bills A4676 and S2515, which would establish minimum postconsumer recycled content levels for the manufacture of particular products, including glass bottles, paper carryout bags, and plastic containers, bottles, and bags. 

Starting January 2024, these items would need to be made with between 15%-35% recycled postconsumer materials, depending on the item. Those percentages would increase over time. The bills also ban EPS foam loose fill packaging, commonly known as “packing peanuts”.

Beyond reducing the manufacture of virgin plastics, these bills would help bolster the recycling industry in New Jersey, creating new markets and value for postconsumer plastics that would otherwise be incinerated or go to landfills. When materials have no value, they also end up frequently as litter, which we have seen with the deluge of plastic pollution in New Jersey.

Take a few minutes and send your elected officials a message asking them to support these imports bills! Thank you!

Many consumers lack a clear understanding of what is recyclable or acceptable to put in the curbside “blue bin” and dutifully fill their bins with materials they believe are recyclable, especially when the material displays the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol. However, due to misinformation from producer labeling tactics, most materials have been falsely considered “recyclable” by consumers. This has led to mass confusion and the contamination of the recycling stream which ends up being costly to sort and capture the truly recyclable materials.

Despite consumers dutifully placing their materials in the blue bin, less than 15 percent of single-use plastic is recycled, with the remainder landfilled, incinerated, or dumped into the environment.

Under SB 343, plastics manufacturers would not be allowed to use the chasing arrow symbol unless the material is recyclable in most California communities and is routinely sold back to manufacturers to make new products. SB 343 will reduce contamination in the recycling system, lower the costs for local governments and ratepayers, and empower consumers to make informed purchasing choices based on a product’s recyclability. This will encourage producers to make sustainable packaging choices, and support companies looking for a steady supply of material to invest in recycling and reprocessing facilities in California.

Many of us have a drawer in our house brimming with unused plastic utensils, plastic straws, and condiments. Currently, most restaurants automatically add these items into takeout and delivery food orders. This costs the restaurant money, even though the items are often unwanted. AB 1276 would significantly reduce unnecessary waste and save businesses and local governments money.

During the pandemic, the use of disposable food accessories has contributed to a 250-300% increase in single-use plastics and a 30% increase in waste. California’s local governments and taxpayers spend over $428 million annually in ongoing efforts to clean up and prevent litter in streets, storm drains, parks, and waterways.

Restaurants in the U.S. spend $19 billion purchasing disposable food ware items. California restaurants that have voluntarily made the transition to a combination of by request and reusable food ware have been proven to save between $3,000 and $21,000 per year while reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, reuse creates as many as 30 times more jobs than landfills.

Reducing unnecessary food service ware is a simple solution and a win-win for reducing waste in the first place, saving businesses money, and relieving recyclers, composters, and local governments from the complications and costs associated with it.

Contact your representatives urging them to support AB 1276!

As Surfrider members, we know how important it is to bring your own - including for beverage bottles. But wee need a refillable beverage bottle system for the state and AB 962 will pave the way. Currently, hundreds of thousands of tons of non-CRV products from materials such as glass, aluminum, paperboard, plastic, and plastic-coated paper single-use beverage containers are consumed and disposed of annually. 

AB 962 would create a returnable bottle system in California to preserve bottles so that they can be washed and refilled by beverage producers rather than being crushed for recycling. It would also allow for returnable bottles to flow through the state's Beverage Container Recycling Program (CRV/Bottle Bill). This bill would even the playing field between bottle washers and recyclers by paying the same amount. 

A returnable bottle operation creates new jobs, reduces waste, and is better for our community and environment. Reuse systems can create as many as 30 times more jobs than landfills. Also, according to a report by the Container Recycling Institute, returnable glass bottles use approximately 93% less energy and 47-82% less water, depending on the number of reuses.

Currently exported mixed plastic waste is deemed “recycled” in California, even though it is landfilled, burned, dumped, or otherwise improperly disposed of. Countries that receive plastic waste oftentimes do not have the infrastructure and ability to manage all the waste. This ends up doing more harm to communities and the environment. Simply shipping plastic waste to other countries that lack sufficient waste management infrastructure should not be considered “recycling.”

Exported plastic waste harms poorer communities disproportionately as they often do not have the resources to oppose decisions that bring exported plastic to their communities. These communities do not have the infrastructure to manage the plastic waste and rather than recycling, end up incinerating, landfilling, or dumping the plastic waste. 

Incineration and other forms of waste management releases toxic metals such as lead and mercury, and other toxic substances that can enter the air, water, and soils. Additionally, dumping or open landfilling can lead to pollution in both marine and land based habitats. As plastic then breaks down into microplastics, they concentrate toxic chemicals and contaminate food and drinking water sources. This leads to direct and indirect exposure to these substances for workers and nearby communities. Exposure to these plastics and associated toxins has been linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption, and other serious health problems.

AB 881 would close the loophole and reclassify exporting of mixed plastic waste as “recyclable” unless it meets two criteria:

• Plastic waste is a mixture of polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyethylene terephthalate and each material will be separated and recycled
• Plastic waste export is not prohibited by any applicable law or treaty of the country of destination and the import of the plastic waste into the country of destination will be conducted following all applicable laws and treaties of the country of destination. 

This law would increase the transparency of plastic waste being shipped out of California and ensure that only truly recyclable materials that are properly recycled will be counted towards the state and local recycling goals. 

It’s time for California to take responsibility and build out infrastructure in the state to handle our plastic waste. This would also create more jobs and provide economic benefits within the state. 

Congressional leaders have introduced legislation to permanently ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters including the Atlantic, Pacific, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Arctic Ocean. Passing these bills is critical to protecting our marine ecosystems, as well as coastal recreation and tourism opportunities across the United States.

Please take action to protect U.S. coastlines from the expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling.

Offshore drilling is a polluting activity that damages our environment and puts human communities at risk. The industry causes grave impacts through every phase of the process - from exploratory seismic blasting that deafens marine mammals to onshore refineries that harm vulnerable communities to the inevitable oil spills. New drilling would also exacerbate the effects of climate change as our nation and world struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For decades, Surfrider and our partners have been fighting to protect U.S. coastlines from oil and gas development. This includes our recent successful campaign to stop the last administration from opening over 90% of U.S. waters to offshore drilling. Now, we have the opportunity to permanently protect our coasts in the current Congress.

Please take action to protect the Atlantic, Pacific, Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean from offshore drilling so that our coastlines will be free from new oil rigs!

Every year, billions of, utensils, napkins, condiment packets, and other accessories are included in take-out and delivery food orders even if customers don’t want or need them. The waste from these unused accessory items pollutes the planet, threatens human health, and means that restaurants are literally throwing money away.

The solution is simple. Customers need to ask for these items! If you need foodware accessories, you can get them. And if you don’t need them, you can prevent the waste by exercising your right to #SkipTheStuff.

Bill Int 1775B asks restaurants, food delivery apps, and online delivery platforms to provide single use utensils, condiments, and napkins only if requested by the customer. This legislation is simple, saves restaurants money, and reduces unnecessary waste.

Take a few minutes and send a message to your Council Member asking them to support this legislation!

Artist credit Instagram: @calvert_ayers

The Surfrider Foundation is working closely with allies in the Capitol to reintroduce bold federal legislation to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. The legislation is entitled the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act. 

Every year, about 11 million metric tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean from coastal nations. The United States generates the most plastic waste per capita of any country in the world and is among the top contributors to plastic pollution in the coastal environment, either illegally dumped in the U.S. or collected in the U.S. for recycling and exported to countries where it was inadequately managed. This bill recognizes that we cannot recycle our way out of this problem and provides a comprehensive approach to reduce plastic pollution, including policies to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging and shift responsibility to producers, as well as to improve recycling infrastructure.

The reintroduced Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act will:

• Require producers of packaging, containers, and food-service products to design, manage, and finance waste and recycling programs.
• Launch a nationwide beverage container refund program to bolster recycling rates.
• Ban certain single-use plastic products that are not recyclable.
• Ban single-use plastic carryout bags and place a fee on the distribution of the remaining carryout bags, which has proven successful at the state level.
• Establish minimum recycled content requirements for beverage containers, packaging, and food-service products.
• Channel massive investments in U.S. domestic recycling and composting infrastructure.
• Prohibit plastic waste from being shipped to developing countries.
• Protect state and local governments that enact more stringent standards.
• Require EPA to partner with the National Academies of Science to conduct a comprehensive study on the environment and cumulative public health impacts of incinerators and plastic chemical recycling facilities.
• Establish a temporary pause on permitting new and expanded plastic production facilities while the EPA creates and, as necessary, updates regulations on plastic production facilities to protect frontline and fenceline communities from direct and cumulative impacts on public health.

Surfrider Foundation encourages our members and supporters to contact your federal elected officials and urge them to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act.

There are so many problems with beach replenishment--from creating dangerous swimming beaches, impacting marine life, damaging recreational resources important to fishing and surfing, to just plain washing away. The whole process is simply unsustainable. Furthermore, beach replenishment projects in NJ have made certain beach access issues worse and created others. We can't just keep throwing money at more and more sand, without thinking of different solutions.

This is exactly what NJ State bills S1071 and A639 plan to do. Right now $25 million a year goes into the "Shore Protection Fund" from the NJ Realty Transfer Taxes; these bills would double that amount to $50 million yearly.

We welcome efforts to make beach replenishment better and to address the problems mentioned above. We also want to see some of the "Shore Protection Fund" go towards buyouts and relocations of vulnerable properties in hazardous areas.

Please take action and tell your NJ State elected officials and the Governor that you don't support throwing more money and sand at our sea level rise problem! Tell them NO on S1071 and A639.

Globally, 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the marine environment every year, devastating the world’s oceans. Plastic does not go away, instead it breaks up into smaller pieces that can be mistaken for food by marine life, often with dire consequences.

Expanded polystyrene, often known as StyrofoamTM, is a form of foamed plastic commonly used for food containers and packaging. This disposable packaging is usually thrown away after a single use and often falls apart easily into smaller pieces that are hard to clean up and can persist in the environment indefinitely. Plastic foam is frequently among the 10 most commonly picked up items at beach cleanups. 

Expanded polystyrene is not accepted in curbside recycling and is not easily recycled. We simply cannot recycle our way out of the plastic crisis — only about nine percent of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. 

Portland, Ashland, Eugene, Lincoln City, and Medford have already passed similar ordinances prohibiting polystyrene in food service, and now it’s time for our state legislature to act.

And there’s no time to lose. Without immediate changes to the way we use plastics the total amount of plastic waste generated is expected to double in the next five years.

By passing the Foam Free Oregon Bill (currently HB 2617), Oregon can lead the way in drastically reducing the production and use of harmful and wasteful single-use foodware and ensure we transition towards more sustainable alternatives for the betterment of our environment and our communities.

Kenilworth Park, an area of about 130 acres located right on the border of the Anacostia River. For almost 30 years, this tract of land located in DC’s 7th ward was an open-burn landfill site. The harmful smoke it produced would make its way to the communities that surrounded it, a population mainly made up of BIPOC. The injustice reached a tipping point in the late 1960s, when a young boy named Kelvin Tyrone Mock died after accidently getting trapped in its flames when playing with his friends nearby. After this tragic incident D.C.’s mayor at the time ordered the burning to stop, however dumping continued to be a problem even as recently as the late 1990s.

Shortly after burning was halted, a cap of soil was placed on top of the estimated 4 million tons of raw refuse, incinerator ash, and other burned residue located at the site. Athletic fields currently occupy the northern part of the park while the southern part remains undeveloped. Due to the hazardous nature of what the site was before, it is now classified as a superfund site and as such has been under review process outlined in CERCLA. 

The National Park Service (NPS) is working to create a Proposed Plan for the site, which is open to public comment. The NPS found that that exposure to contaminants in surface soils posed an unacceptable excess lifetime cancer risk (above one in one million) to park visitors, primarily due to arsenic, dieldrin, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Aroclors, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); and that lead exceeded the screening level in select locations in subsurface soil, posing an unacceptable hazard to site workers. Furthermore, there is an unacceptable risk to excavation workers associated with potential for exposure to contaminants in buried waste, methane gas, and the possible presence of buried unexploded ordnance.

There are five options to determine how to clean-up the park, which include (1) No Action, (2) Limited Action/Institutional Controls, (3) Containment/Selective Placement of Clean Soil Barriers & Institutional Controls, (4) Containment/Site-wide Clean Soil Barrier & Institutional Controls, and (5) Removal/Landfill Removal & Shoreline Stabilization. 

Surfrider is advocating for option number 5 to remove waste and restore wetland habitat, but with some caveats. We want to ensure recreational opportunities such as kayaking, hiking, biking, and more and that the National Parks System listens to the local communities that live near the park - for too long they have suffered the impacts of air pollution and should be front and center when developing the restoration plans. 

Please send a message to the National Parks Service supporting option number 5 while ensuring that local communities are heard.

To the surprise of many, our nation’s beaches, waterways and ocean are plagued by spills of raw and under-treated sewage. Much of our wastewater infrastructure is outdated and failing, releasing harmful pollution into our waters. Raw sewage threatens public health, coastal ecosystems and tourism-based ocean economies. Years of neglect have left our wastewater infrastructure vulnerable, and sea level rise and increasing coastal hazards associated with climate change will only make the situation worse.

Join Surfrider in calling on congress to authorize and allocate $40 billion ($8 billion annually over 5 years) for the Clean Water SRF.

EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) provides assistance to states and local communities for wastewater infrastructure improvement projects, including green stormwater projects and necessary upgrades. However the Clean Water SRF hasn’t been properly funded for decades, despite the well-established economic returns and stimulus that occur from investing in America’s water infrastructure (every $1 in water infrastructure investment results in $2.40 of economic returns). 

Federal infrastructure packages, such as the House's recently passed INVEST in America Act, provide an important bipartisan opportunity to catch up with the sewage infrastructure needs of our growing communities across the country, enhance infrastructure resilience for the future, better protect clean water for all people, and provide a much needed boost to our local economies.

During 2020, the climate crisis unleashed wildfires, hurricanes, severe rains, oppressive heat waves and unusual weather that caused massive damage across the world. Our global society can no longer ignore the existential threat of climate change, especially as sea level rise and extreme weather continue to devastate coastal communities — taking both an emotional and economic toll. 

That is why citizens across the U.S. are demanding Congress enacts climate change policies that protect the ocean, coasts and local communities before it's too late!

Specifically, we need Congress to pass Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2021 will leverage the ocean in the fight against climate change by improving ocean protection, increasing Blue Carbon Ecosystems, promoting renewable offshore energy, and helping communities adapt to sea level rise.

Please send a message to your representatives and demand that they act on climate change by supporting Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2021. 

Make Water Safety Education an Essential Right for All!

The Rockaway Water Safety Coalition* asks you to please ask your elected officials to support upcoming bills S2207 and A728, which aim to make water safety education mandatory in New York State schools. 

“Requires water safety instruction in schools; provides that such age appropriate instruction shall include, but not be limited to, the proper use of flotation devices, awareness of water conditions, how to respond if caught in a rip current, the proper supervision of swim areas, safe behaviors in and around the water, the importance of pool barriers and fencing, the importance of formal swim lessons, the importance of avoiding alcohol and substance use with water recreation, the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for drowning victims and the importance of the order of administering such aid.”

There are various water safety education and resources available in New York State, but many young people don’t have access to them at all. This inequity of knowledge costs lives - according to the CDC, “one in five people who die from drowning are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries”.

Young people who have access to water safety education learn how to act safely in and around water, giving them confidence and opening up an array of opportunities like jobs, hobbies and social interactions. Providing water safety education in schools lowers barriers, such as socio-economic factors and differing historical backgrounds, to accessing these resources, helping to create a more inclusive recreational water community. 

Let’s save lives! Make Water Safety Education an Essential Right for All!

Tell your electeds to support upcoming bills S2207 and A728

*The Rockaway Water Safety Coalition is organized by many concerned local groups, businesses and community members, including the Laru Beya Collective, Rockaway Beach Civic Association, Rockaway Women for Progress, Fair Harbor, CB 14, The Heart of Rockaway, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Swim Strong Foundation, First Strokes and Surfrider Foundation NYC.

Southern California Edison has been storing 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear waste at the recently decommissioned San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), within 100 feet of the beach. SONGS has always been exposed to the risks of earthquakes, bluff erosion, storm surge, and wave events.  

Each year, SONGS is increasingly threatened by rising sea levels, growing rates of coastal erosion, elevating groundwater tables and likelihood for more frequent and severe storms resulting from climate change. These conditions require that nuclear waste must be removed from the dynamic and vulnerable coastline as soon as possible.  

The federal government is the only entity that has the authority to supply a long-term solution for storage of nuclear waste offsite. You deserve to know that your coastal areas are safe and protected - call upon our federal elected officials to step up and address this important and pressing issue TODAY.

The safe removal and long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) away from the coast is a national issue, affecting many communities in California and throughout the United States. To date, the U.S. government has failed to produce a solution for the safe, long-term disposal of spent nuclear fuel, despite the millions of pounds currently stored at operating and decommissioned nuclear power plants across the country. Surfrider asks that the federal government take the best course of action to develop federal legislation that includes:

• Long-Term Storage, including a plan for the safe removal of SNF;
• Consent-based Siting, with consent from affected communities for future siting for SNF storage and disposal;
• Federal Accountability, including timeline requirements, incentives for sites to accept SNF, and viable enforcement mechanisms; and
• Environmental Review and Resource Protection, including a grant for states to perform an environmental review over the future transportation, storage and siting of SNF

There are currently an estimated 155 plastics manufacturers and molders in the state of Texas, but current state laws are too weak to prevent them from discharging these plastics into waterways. This has led to extensive plastic pollution in state waters, not the least of which are the millions of plastic pellets discharged by Formosa Plastics into Lavaca Bay.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ("TCEQ") is in the process of revising its surface water quality standards and procedures, and as part of that process the agency is proposing changes to the standards and procedures so that the discharge of pre-production plastics (a.k.a. "nurdles" as well as powders and flakes) becomes specifically regulated.

TCEQ is proposing to establish a prohibition on discharges of plastic as part of stormwater and wastewater permits, meaning no plastic will be allowed to be discharged, and that is a big step forward. However, there are details of the standards and procedures for implementation that need strengthened to ensure that the zero discharge intent is achieved.

Please send a letter to TCEQ administrators to let them know you support a strong set of standards and well-designed implementation procedures to ensure that the intent of the prohibition on the discharge of plastics is upheld.

Help Surfrider's Jersey Shore and South Jersey Chapters pass State legislation (A5553) which would ban the intentional release of balloons in New Jersey! Multiple coastal communities have already passed such legislation, so it makes sense to take the idea statewide.

Most people don't think about what happens to a balloon after it is released, but what goes up, must come down. Often balloons end up in our oceans, where they can choke marine life like turtles and whales who mistake them for food, or animals can get tangled in the ribbon.

We aren't talking about a child accidentally releasing a balloon. We want to ban the act of releasing a bunch of balloons on purpose, which often happens at special events.

Many other states, cities, and counties have banned intentional balloon releases, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee, and multiple municipalities right here in New Jersey including, Asbury Park, Point Pleasant Beach, Long Beach Township, Atlantic City, Brigantine, Cape May, Egg Harbor City, Longport, Margate, North Wildwood, Sea Isle City, Somers Point, Upper Township, Ventnor, Stone Harbor, Belmar, and Avalon.

Please take two minutes and send a message to your elected officials and Governor Murphy. Fill in your information to the right, then click the button that says "Next Step." Then click "Send My Message" on the following page.

Let's stop this senseless littering in our oceans! 

Take a few minutes and send a message to your elected officials explaining that you don't want a dangerous, fracked gas LNG facility to be built on the Delaware River.

We know that we must reduce our usage of fossil fuels to avoid the worst effects of climate change, and this proposed facility will export fracked gas for decades.

The proposal also includes shipping LNG either by truck or rail from Pennsylvania to Gibbstown NJ, a potentially very dangerous situation for communities along the route. The LNG industry has a proven track record of fatal explosive accidents.

This large industrial facility will also be built along the tidal Delaware River, which is sensitive habitat and a recreational driver of the local economy.

Help us stop this poorly thought out and dangerous project!

You have the opportunity to help the City of Los Angeles drastically reduce single-use plastic straws and utensils from the consumer stream.

In the coming weeks, the LA City Council is expected to vote on two important ordinances. The first, authored by Council Members Mitch O'Farrell and Nury Martinez, would require food vendors to provide single-use plastic straws only when a customer requests one. The second ordinance, authored by Councilman Blumenfield, would do the same for single-use plastic utensils. These two plastic pollution reduction ordinances would cover the City of LA's 500 square miles while affecting roughly 5 million consumers.

Sign our Action Alert to encourage LA City Council Members to adopt these important ordinances that offer real upstream solutions to global plastic pollution.