FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12
  

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Rent Stabilization Forum

Friday, December 12
5:30pm-7pm

MESSAGE FROM CAUSE

As the holidays creep closer and we all rush to finish our last-minute shopping, we’re reminded that many in our community are facing difficult choices- between buying a small gift for a loved one or making sure there’s enough left for rent. Every week that passes without a strong Rent Stabilization Ordinance is another week families inch closer to displacement because of our current housing affordability crisis.

Your organization’s continued support for strong tenant protections is needed now more than ever. The City of Santa Barbara will be releasing the Rent Stabilization Work Plan on Thursday, and it’s critical that our community’s voice is heard throughout this process for a public, transparent program that ensures safe, habitable, and affordable homes for all renters.

We invite you to join us for our Rent Stabilization Forum this Friday:

📅 Friday 12/12/25, 5:30–7:00 PM

📍 CEC’s Environmental Hub — 1219 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

At the forum, we will:

  • Review the Rent Stabilization work plan
  • Provide space for discussion and concerns 
  • Outline next action steps
  • And at the end, there will be space for brief announcements and upcoming events from your organizations.

Thank you again for your ongoing commitment to housing justice. We hope to see you there!

Ana Arce

Santa Barbara County 

Policy Advocate

c: (805) 419.5024

w: http://www.causenow.org 

 e: [email protected] 

pronouns: she/ her/ella 

 

CALENDAR

 

  

SPECIAL EVENTS

  
Fri
Dec 12		 530pm - 7pm Rent Stabilization Forum SB
Tues
Dec 16 		  Support BOS re Sable SM
Online
       
   

CALLS TO ACTION

  

Now -
Dec 16

  

Ask State Lands Commission to continue item on Chevron decommissioning to a future date

 Email

Now -
Jan 5

  

Urge EPA to restore clean water protections

 Online

Now -
Jan 6

  

DEIR for Shelby Residential Project

 Online
Goleta

Now -
Jan 23

  

Oppose new oil and gas lease sales off California coast

 Online
       
   

WEEKLY EVENTS

  
Every Monday 4pm-
530pm

Support Palestinians

 SM
Every Thursday 4pm

Culture of Protest
remembering: John Lennon, Rosa Parks, Phil Ochs 

 Online
       

Items in red are new since our last action alert.
Items in blue are SBCAN items.

          

          

SPECIAL EVENTS
  
 

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16

 We urge you to join with Santa Barbara County Action Network and our allies to support the Board of Supervisors' denying a transfer of permits from Exxon to Sable.

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Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Will Reconvene to Consider Findings for Denial of Sable Permit Transfer

December 16
Board of Supervisors Meeting
Santa Maria and Online 

MESSAGE FROM SANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER

On December 16, the County Board of Supervisors will meet on the issue of transferring the operating permits of the Santa Ynez Unit, which includes the pipeline that ruptured and caused the 2015 spill at Refugio Beach.  

This hearing is being held to complete action the Board of Supervisors initiated on November 4, when it last met on this issue. At that meeting, four of the five Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors determined that due to Sable’s extensive list of violations that the company has racked up as well as questions of financial capacity, they could not make the finding that the company has the training, skills, and resources to operate the facilities in question. 

Santa Barbara County staff had previously recommended approval in its staff report, despite the lengthy list of violations including twenty-one criminal charges brought by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, a lawsuit from the state Attorney General, and a historic $18 million fine from the state Coastal Commission. In November, the Board of Supervisors voted to continue the hearing to allow Santa Barbara County staff to prepare findings to support denial of Sable’s application. 

On December 16, there will be a full hearing to consider the findings for denial of Sable’s application to transfer the permits from Exxon. It will be as important as it was in November to turnout in support of the County’s Board of Supervisors denying the permit transfer. So, one more time, we are asking the community to wear red and come out in support of our coast! 

Written public comments one page or less can be submitted via email by 5pm on Monday, December 15. 

The agenda and background information will be posted here on Friday: https://santabarbara.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx#current

Contact Channelkeepers at [email protected]

  

CALLS TO ACTION
   

CHEVRON DECOMMISSIONING

 

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Ask State Lands Commission to continue item on Chevron decommissioning to a future date

 MESSAGE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER

We just learned that the California State Lands Commission (CSLC) scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, December 16th to consider letting Chevron walk away from their oil and gas lease obligations without cleaning up their mess on the ocean floor. When Chevron removed four platforms offshore Summerland in the 90's, the company left behind large mounds of toxic debris containing chemicals, measuring up to 250 feet in diameter and 28 feet tall. These mounds remain on our ocean floor today, and consist of mollusk shells, drilling muds and cuttings, caissons, and pipeline components. 

This is one of the first major decommissioning decisions for our coast and deserves strong public participation. But CSLC set the hearing for the same day as the Sable hearing before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. We can’t be in two places at once.

Environmental groups repeatedly asked CSLC to move this agenda item to a later date, and even First District Supervisor Roy Lee has requested a date change. Unfortunately, CSLC still hasn’t budged and now we need your help.

📣 ACTION REQUESTED (takes 2 minutes):
Please email the State Lands Commission and ask them to continue this item to a later meeting date.

Sample message you can copy/paste and personalize:

Send Email to: [email protected]
Suggested subject line: Continue Agenda Item No. 106 

Dear Chair and Commissioners, 

I respectfully request that you continue to a later meeting date Agenda Item No. 106 to consider granting authority to the Executive Officer or designee to execute Lease Termination Agreements for oil and gas leases 1824.1, 3150.1, and 7911.1. This issue marks the first of many important decommissioning decisions and deserves robust public participation. Unfortunately, the item is currently scheduled on the same day as the court-ordered Sable hearing before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, which many of us are committed to attend. Please reschedule this item to a date that will allow coastal community members and environmental organizations to meaningfully participate in your deliberations.

Sincerely,
SEND EMAIL TODAY

Thank you for your quick action on this item!

Linda Krop
Chief Counsel

RESTORE CLEAN WATER PROTECTIONS

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Proposed Definition of “Waters of the United States” Threatens Water Protections

MESSAGE FROM SANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed rule on November 17 that would significantly narrow the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS), the cornerstone of federal Clean Water Act protections.  

By redefining which waters qualify for federal protection, the draft rule removes longstanding safeguards from many rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, and other critical waterways. If adopted, countless waters that communities, wildlife, and ecosystems depend on would be left vulnerable to unchecked pollution and destructive development. For Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, this could mean greater risks to clean drinking water, degraded habitat for fish and wildlife, and increased contamination flowing into the Pacific Ocean. 

The Clean Water Act has already suffered significant setbacks following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA, which sharply curtailed protections for wetlands and other waters across the United States. Instead of working to restore lost safeguards, the newly proposed WOTUS definition would deepen those rollbacks, further limiting federal authority to prevent pollution before it reaches rivers, aquifers, and coastal waters. 

This proposal also comes amid a broader pattern of proposed environmental rollbacks by the EPA. Earlier this year, the agency initiated efforts to revise wastewater standards for coal-burning power plants and reconsider Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, among other plans. The EPA has also announced plans to weaken limits on PFAS, dangerous “forever chemicals,” in drinking water and has shuttered key EPA offices responsible for addressing disproportionate pollution impacts in low-income, rural, and frontline communities. 

Together, these actions threaten to reverse more than half a century of progress toward cleaner water and healthier communities. Clean Water Act protections have been essential in reducing dangerous pollutants, restoring damaged waterways, safeguarding wetlands, and ensuring that industries cannot use rivers and streams as dumping grounds. 

Channelkeeper will be submitting detailed comments and urging EPA to restore, not dismantle, our nation’s clean water protections. We will recommend that EPA not finalize their proposed changes to the definition of WOTUS. Community members are invited to provide comments before January 5, 2026. Click below to provide comments.
Submit Comments

SB Channelkeepers email: [email protected]

 

DEIR FOR SHELBY RESIDENTIAL PROJECT

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Shelby Housing Project Draft EIR released
for proposed housing site next to El Encanto Creek
north of Cathedral Oaks Rd., Goleta

The developer is proposing to encroach into the 100-foot Streamside Protection Area.

MESSAGE FROM THE CITY OF GOLETA

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Shelby Residential Project is now available online for the upcoming Environmental Officer Hearing (EHO) Meeting on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 5:00 P.M.

Rincon Consultants has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA implementation guidelines. This NOA is being circulated pursuant to CEQA. A Draft EIR (DEIR) has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of CEQA (Public Resources Code, §§ 21000, et seq.), the regulations promulgated thereunder (14 Cal. Code of Regulations, §§ 150000, et seq.), and the City’s Environmental Review Guidelines. The City is requesting written feedback from the public, interested organizations, and responsible trustee agencies about the scope and content of the environmental information that will be addressed in the DEIR. The DEIR will address the environmental issues discussed in the project’s initial study.

A meeting to take comments on the  Draft EIR will be held by the City Environmental Hearing Officer on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM.  

The Environmental Hearing Officer (EHO) will conduct a hybrid meeting to solicit comments on the adequacy of the analysis of the environmental issue areas, and alternatives to the Project studied within the DEIR. The Environmental Hearing Officer meeting will be held in the Goleta Council Chambers located at 130 Cremona Drive, Goleta, CA.

ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION: Please register for Environmental Hearing Officer Meeting to be held on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM PDT at: 

 https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zGonRjciS2it6KZ5G79kpg
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Webinar ID: 823 6641 9914
Passcode: 769637

A copy of the  DEIR can be found on Shelby Residential Project page here.

A copy of the Notice can be found here.

PUBLIC REVIEW OF THE  DRAFT EIR (DEIR):
The  Draft EIR is available for a 45-day public review period from November 26, 2025 - January, 2026. The  Draft EIR is available on the City’s website at:http://www.cityofgoleta.org/your-city/planning-and-environmental-review/ceqa-review/shelby-residential-development-project  Please limit comments to environmental issues only.

For more information about this project, contact Darryl Mimick, Supervising Planner at 805-961-7572 or via email at [email protected].  

Questions? Contact Us

 

OPPOSE NEW OFFSHORE OIL & GAS LEASES

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New Five-Year Offshore Drilling Plan Includes California Waters 

 MESSAGE FROM SANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER

The U.S. Department of the Interior released a Five-Year Offshore Drilling Plan on November 20. The plan proposes six new oil and gas lease sales off the California coast—including the Santa Barbara Channel—in addition to twenty-one new lease sales in Alaska and seven lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. The six leases in federal waters off California’s Coast would be the first new lease sales since 1984. 

Channelkeeper opposes the plan to open up the California coast to new offshore oil and gas development offshore. As we know through experience, offshore drilling can lead to significant oil spills, which are catastrophic to the sensitive and biological rich Santa Barbara Channel, as well as the robust tourism and fisheries industries that are supported by these important coastal waters. 

The release of the new offshore drilling plan opened a 60-day public comment window, which will close on January 23, 2026. Because the Department of the Interior will not be holding public hearings on this significant proposal, organizations are coming together to host People’s Hearings during the public comment window to allow the community to learn about the proposal, hear from community leaders, and show support for protecting California’s coast from new offshore oil and gas development. Santa Barbara's People's Hearing is in development and currently slated for mid-January, 2026. Be on the lookout for more information as soon as details are finalized. Click here for talking points to consider as you draft your comments.

Submit comments:  https://www.regulations.gov/document/BOEM-2025-0483-0001

SB Channelkeepers email: [email protected]

 
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NOTE NEW SBCAN PHONE AND TEXT NUMBER: 916.541.0582

Jeanne Sparks and Ken Hough, Co-Executive Directors