Welcome!
If you are a community member interested in plastics and California's environment, then this page is for you. We invite you to peruse the information shared below as well as information on the primary project page.
What follows is a description of the opportunities, as a community member, to engage in the development of a statewide plastics monitoring plan.
See the latest news regarding this important work.
Public Comment Period
We will be hosting two webinars open to the general public in late 2025. All are welcome, but we especially urge attendance by trash monitoring practitioners, resource managers, and other interested parties. Please bear these dates in mind:
- December 6, 12 - 1:30pm
- December 8, 10am - noon
Zoom information is forthcoming for these free virtual events. Each will feature an overview of the draft materials, opportunities to provide feedback, and a robust discussion regarding plastics monitoring.
In advance of the webinars, we will circulate the Plastics Monitoring Strategy for your review.
We thank you for your continued interest and participation in the process. If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please contact us at [email protected].
Background on Public Engagement to Support this Project
Purpose and Goals
The purpose of early public engagement in the development of the Monitoring Strategy is multifaceted and includes the following objectives:
- Increase public awareness and education
- Provide information on the need for, and role of, a statewide Monitoring Strategy
- Seek input to help to shape a statewide monitoring program, including citizen monitoring
- Target and ensure outreach to underserved, underrepresented, and/or disadvantaged communities
- Solicit comments on a draft Monitoring Strategy
Equity and Inclusion Goals
The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) has an explicit commitment to equity as reflected in OPCs Equity Plan (October 2022). Explicit goals identified in the plan include:
- Goal 1: Establish and implement more equitable and sustainable community engagement and funding methods to expand and enhance opportunities for ocean and coastal projects, policies, and research.
- Goal 2: Create a more inclusive workplace through creative and equitable employee recruitment and retention, building staff fluency on equity and environmental justice, and increasing internal staff capacity.
- Goal 3: Lead equitable ocean and coastal policymaking in California.
- Goal 4: Lead the state in a comprehensive approach to coastal and ocean science through intentional investments in research and monitoring that value and integrate broader knowledge sources.
To help achieve these explicit goals, all OPC engagement efforts in this plan will make deliberate efforts to identify and engage underserved, underrepresented, and/or disadvantaged communities. These efforts will include:
- Consulting with public stakeholders from these communities to identify additional strategies to facilitate participation in engagement activities.
- Potentially enlisting/contracting stakeholder(s) to assist with outreach and solicitation for participation.
- Anticipating and accommodating translation for meetings and informational materials.
- Making multiple attempts to personally engage key stakeholders (such as phone calls and emails) beyond the general notifications to the public.
- Continuous consideration of input from underserved, underrepresented, and/or disadvantaged communities.
2026 - Public Release of the Strategy & Plan
TBA!
Local News: Scientists launch major study of microplastics pollution in San Francisco Bay
SFEI and The 5 Gyres Institute have launched an ambitious two-year research project to monitor San Francisco Bay for pollution in the form of tiny particles of plastic pollution, reports ABC7 News.
New Microplastic Fact Sheet puts Bay study findings in context
The same week that the U.S. House of Representatives passes a bill to ban microbeads in cosmetic products, the Bay's Regional Monitoring Program releases a fact sheet that describes our recent study on microbeads and other microplastic particles in Bay water and treated wastewater.
Microplastics study led by Rebecca Sutton is featured in a news story
Rebecca Sutton, senior scientist at SFEI, describes the hazards presented by microplastics in the Bay's waters. "Plastic pollution: Billions of pieces of tiny plastic litter found in San Francisco Bay," a news article by Paul Rogers reports on findings in a recently published study for which Rebecca Sutton serves as lead author. What the researchers discovered, the high degree of plastic contamination, surprised them.
