California's Coastal Zone generally extends seaward to the state's outer limit of jurisdiction, including all offshore islands, and inland to approximately 1,000 yards from the mean high tide line (MHTL) of the sea, or in significant coastal estuarine, habitat, and recreational areas to the first major ridgeline paralleling the sea or five miles from the mean high tide line of the sea, whichever is less. In developed urban areas the zone generally extends inland less than 1,000 yards. This data set represents the landward boundary of California's Coastal Zone. Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 30103(a) specifically defines California's Coastal Zone as that land and water area of the State of California from the Oregon border to the border of the Republic of Mexico depicted on maps identified and set forth in Section 17 of that chapter of the Statutes of the 1975-76 Regular Session enacting PRC Division 20 (the Coastal Act of 1976). PRC Section 30103(b) directed the Coastal Commission to prepare and adopt more detailed 1:24,000 scale Coastal Zone Boundary (CZB) maps, which occurred March 1, 1977. These 161 adopted maps provide the official basis for all other representations of the landward CZB. The digital version of the CZB created by developing this shapefile is a conformed copy of the official boundary, and in some locations reflects legislative changes and Coastal Commission minor adjustments adopted from time to time since March 1977.

California's Coastal Zone generally extends seaward to the state's outer limit of jurisdiction, including all offshore islands, and inland to approximately 1,000 yards from the mean high tide line (MHTL) of the sea, or in significant coastal estuarine, habitat, and recreational areas to the first major ridgeline paralleling the sea or five miles from the mean high tide line of the sea, whichever is less. In developed urban areas the zone generally extends inland less than 1,000 yards. This data set represents the landward boundary of California's Coastal Zone. Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 30103(a) specifically defines California's Coastal Zone as that land and water area of the State of California from the Oregon border to the border of the Republic of Mexico depicted on maps identified and set forth in Section 17 of that chapter of the Statutes of the 1975-76 Regular Session enacting PRC Division 20 (the Coastal Act of 1976). PRC Section 30103(b) directed the Coastal Commission to prepare and adopt more detailed 1:24,000 scale Coastal Zone Boundary (CZB) maps, which occurred March 1, 1977. These 161 adopted maps provide the official basis for all other representations of the landward CZB. The digital version of the CZB created by developing this shapefile is a conformed copy of the official boundary, and in some locations reflects legislative changes and Coastal Commission minor adjustments adopted from time to time since March 1977.

Section 30103 of the Coastal Act:

Coastal zone; map; purpose (a) "Coastal zone" means that land and water area of the State of California from the Oregon border to the border of the Republic of Mexico, specified on the maps identified and set forth in Section 17 of Chapter 1330 of the Statutes of 1976, extending seaward to the state's outer limit of jurisdiction, including all offshore islands, and 11 extending inland generally 1,000 yards from the mean high tide line of the sea. In significant coastal estuarine, habitat, and recreational areas it extends inland to the first major ridgeline paralleling the sea or five miles from the mean high tide line of the sea, whichever is less, and in developed urban areas the zone generally extends inland less than 1,000 yards. The coastal zone does not include the area of jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, established pursuant to Title 7.2 (commencing with Section 66600) of the Government Code, nor any area contiguous thereto, including any river, stream, tributary, creek, or flood control or drainage channel flowing into such area.

Note that the California's State Waters limit, which generally is 3 nautical miles [5.6 km] from shore, extends farther offshore (as much as 12 nautical miles) between Santa Cruz and Monterey, so that it encompasses all of Monterey Bay.