He points out there have been no major accidents at the airport, built on tidal land in the harbor.
The suit charged the six oil companies with depressing the price of oil pumped from the tidal lands around Long Beach.
Their developments are on filled tidal lands along the river, the state says, and laws dating to British rule give the public access to such lands.
Some environmentalists hope that states would be more likely than private owners to protect tidal lands against environmentally destructive development.
The vegetated tidal lands of the Sundarbans also function as an essential habitat, produces nutrients and purifies water.
He supervises coastal development and the state's claims to all riparian, or tidal, lands.
All tidal land is by law state-owned.
Suisun Marsh, the tidal marsh land to the north, is the largest marsh in California.
But critics say the case encompasses larger issues that involve zoning and tidal lands.
The hintal is a type of date palm that grows only on tidal land.