COASTAL BOARD RECONSIDERS PLAN.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

VENTURA - A far-reaching proposal to quadruple the size of a marine sanctuary off the Ventura County coast to protect the Santa Barbara Channel ecosystem was put back on the table for study Wednesday.

The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council voted 11-6 to include the proposal, along with four others, for a draft environmental impact statement due out in late fall. The 20-year-old sanctuary management plan is undergoing a federally mandated update.

``You have a valid thing here. Pursue it,'' Oxnard resident Jean Rountree told the council. ``To shut down an issue before you even have an opportunity to study it sends a wrong message to the public.''

But William Buenger, Port Hueneme executive director, spoke out against any expansion Wednesday, saying he worried about more regulations on the only commercial port along the coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

``In our view most of these expansions will have a detrimental effect,'' Buenger said. ``It would put Port Hueneme at a competitive disadvantage.''

The 1,252-square-nautical-mile sanctuary is one of 13 refuges in the nation established to protect marine resources.

Sanctuary staff said they initially had dropped the proposal to increase it to 6,707 square nautical miles - from Point Sal to Point Mugu - because of the feasibility of managing such a large area.

However, advisory council member Linda Krop of the Environmental Defense Center, who made the motion to reinstate the proposal, argued that to drop the alternative now before staff had the opportunity to study it would be premature.

But Marla Daily, president of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation, who cast an opposing vote, said she would defer to the staff's decision and not waste its time.

``Expedite the process and move on with the other alternatives,'' she said.

The current boundary includes the waters surrounding the four northern Channel Islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa.

Prohibited activity in the sanctuary includes removing archeological artifacts, altering the seabed, operating a commercial vessel 100 tons or more and flying an aircraft below 1,000 feet over waters within one nautical mile of any island, except to transport people or supplies to or from the islands.

The advisory council also discussed Wednesday the draft regulations governing activity for each of the proposed boundaries. Draft regulations ranged from allowing pre-existing oil and gas activity to discontinuing it, and prohibiting the taking of any marine mammal, marine reptile or seabird.

The proposed boundary that was reconsidered Wednesday is adjacent to Santa Barbara, Ventura, Channel Islands and Port Hueneme harbors. Any activity the harbors engage in would fall under existing or proposed revisions to the regulations if applicable.

Anne Walton of the marine sanctuary's Management Plan Team said it would take staff two weeks to draft regulations for that boundary.

There is also an option to make no changes to the existing sanctuary boundaries.

The Channel Islands sanctuary, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the first to undergo revision and would provide the model for the other sanctuaries to follow.

PROPOSALS AT A GLANCE

Five proposed boundaries for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary:

--Alternative 1: Covers 6,707 square nautical miles from Point Sal to Point Magu. It includes areas such as the Santa Rosa Plateau and the continental slope south of the northern Channel Islands. It also takes in the undeveloped coastline and coastal areas adjacent, including Mugu Lagoon.

--Alternative 2: Covers 4,127 square nautical miles from Point Sal to Gaviota.

--Alternative 3: Covers 2,862 square nautical miles from Vandenberg Air Force Base south past Point Conception and east past Cojo Anchorage.

--Alternative 4: Covers 2,385 square nautical miles and includes only offshore areas and does not contact the coast.

--Alternative 5: Covering 1,411 square nautical miles. It excludes areas of the mainland coast.

--Alternative 6: No change.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box: Proposals at a Glance (see text)