Hearings Planned on Coastal Panel Affairs

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) is promising to schedule a series of hearings on the workings of the California Coastal Commission, saying public confidence needs to be restored in its ability to guard the state’s coastline.

Hayden, who chairs the Senate Natural Resources Committee, described his Monday hearing in Santa Monica on proposed environmental rollbacks at the San Onofre nuclear plant as the kickoff of his committee’s review of the commission’s role in protecting the environment.

That role has triggered debate since early summer, when a Republican majority took control of the commission, and some environmentalists claim the current panel is caving in to business interests.

On Monday, Hayden labeled the rollback proposal from Southern California Edison an attempt to retreat from 1991 commitments, and he questioned whether the staff’s professional integrity is being compromised by political pressures. The commission is due to vote today on Edison’s proposal to curtail portions of a major mitigation program intended to offset fish and kelp damage believed linked to the nuclear plant.

Edison says kelp damage is less extensive than had been feared and is seeking, among other changes, to cancel the building of a proposed 300-acre artificial kelp reef near San Clemente and to be replace it with a 16.8-acre experimental reef. Coastal planners now want a 122-acre reef.

During its four-day meeting at the Sheraton Gateway hotel at 6101 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles, the commission will also take up these Orange County issues:

* A Tuesday vote on a preliminary plan for public purchase of much of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, after public outcry greeted plans to build 900 homes in the area. A final purchase decision is not expected until late this year.

* A Tuesday review of a Marine Corps plan to build housing near a surfing beach at San Mateo Point.

* A public hearing and vote Thursday on possible changes in land-use plans in areas of the Newport Coast.