Heal the Bay is a U.S.
environmental advocacy group of activists based in
Santa Monica, California. The focus is protecting coastal waters and watersheds of southern California, and is focused on
Santa Monica Bay.
Heal the Bay is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit organization with full-time paid staff members and
volunteers.
History
Heal the Bay was founded in 1985 by a group of citizens led by environmental activist
Dorothy Green.
[Elaine Woo]
"Environmentalist began Heal the Bay"
'' Los Angeles Times'', October 14, 2008. Mark Gold became the president of the organization in 2006 and held the position until 2012.
[Tony Barboza]
"Mark Gold to step down as president of Heal the Bay"
'' Los Angeles Times'', January 10, 2012. The current president and CEO is Shelley Luce, who took the post in April 2017. The organization has become a prominent advocate for the environment in California,
and is particularly known for its annual report card ratings of the water quality at beaches along the Pacific coast.
It was also active in advocating for
restrictions on plastic bags in California.
Work
Heal the Bay supports public health and education
outreach programs as well as sponsoring beach cleanup programs such a
Coastal Cleanup Day Adopt-a-Beach an
Suits on the Sandin Los Angeles County, California. It operates Heal the Bay Aquarium, which was previously named the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and formerly known as the Ocean Discovery Center and was operated by
UCLA until 2003.
In 2003, then-California Assemblywoman Fran Pavley authored legislation that required the state to develop an environment-based curriculum to be offered to all California public schools. The bill (AB 1548 of 2003) was sponsored by Heal the Bay and was signed into law by then-Governor Gray Davis. The program it set in motion came to be known as th
Education and the Environment Initiative(EEI).
Heal the Bay publishes an annual Beach Report Card, whic
at popular beaches up and down the West Coast of the United States. It also produces weekly and daily beach water quality grades online a
beachreportcard.organd river quality grades at th
River Report Card
Recent accomplishments include leading grassroots movements to pass plastic reduction policies lik
Straws-On-Requestand
California Proposition 67. Heal the Bay also launched an advocacy campaign to pas
Measure Wand fund the Safe, Clean Water Program.
In August 2020, news outlets reported single-use
PPE items (gloves, surgical masks, etc.) in the Santa Monica Bay shoreline and parking lots. Heal the Bay members are not able to gather in large groups due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
[{{Cite web, last=Dixson, first=Brennon, date=2020-08-14, title=Ocean pollution persists despite pandemic, url=https://www.smdp.com/ocean-pollution-persists-despite-pandemic/195463, access-date=2020-08-25, website=Santa Monica Daily Press, language=en-US]
See also
*
Hyperion sewage treatment plant
References
External links
Official websiteHeal the Bay Aquarium
Environmental organizations based in California
Environment of Los Angeles
Water resource policy
Non-profit organizations based in California
Organizations based in Santa Monica, California
501(c)(3) organizations
Environmental organizations established in 1985
1985 establishments in California
Environmental organizations based in Los Angeles