California Policy and Environment

The National Park Service has opened a public‑comment process on whether a stretch of Los Angeles County’s coastline from Will Rogers State Beach to Torrance Beach, including the San Pedro shoreline, should become a national park or other NPS unit. The "Los Angeles Coastal Area Special Resource Study," ordered by Congress in 2022, will evaluate the area’s national significance, suitability, feasibility and the need for NPS management, with comments accepted through April 6 before NPS completes a report to Congress in 2027. Any eventual designation would still require an act of Congress but could shift long‑term management, funding and public‑access rules on some of the most heavily used urban beaches in the country. LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn says she is waiting for the study’s findings, citing questions around public access, local decision‑making and coastal protection.