Full opinion text
Opinion GEORGE, C. J. This case involves a constitutional challenge to the provisions of the California Coastal Act (Coastal Act or Act) governing the appointment and tenure of the members of the California Coastal Commission (Coastal Commission or Commission). At the time this action was commenced, the applicable statutes provided, in part, that one-third of the voting members of the Coastal Commission were to be appointed by the Governor, one-third by the Senate Committee on Rules (Senate Rules Committee), and one-third by the Speaker of the Assembly, and further provided that all members of the Commission were to serve a two-year term and were eligible for reappointment for succeeding two-year terms but were removable throughout their term in office at the pleasure of their appointing authority. (Pub. Resources Code, § 30301, subds. (e), (f), former § 30312, subd. (b), as enacted by Stats. 1976, ch. 1330, § 1, p. 5970.) In their initial cause of action, plaintiffs asserted that this statutory structure—by authorizing members of the legislative branch to appoint a majority of the voting members of the Commission and enabling each appointing authority to remove its appointees at will—rendered the Coastal Commission a “legislative body” for purposes of the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution and that such a body was precluded from engaging in executive or judicial functions, such as granting, denying, or conditioning a development permit, or hearing and determining a cease and desist order. The complaint sought declaratory and injunctive relief, including an order enjoining the Commission from engaging in the foregoing executive or judicial functions in the future. The trial court granted summary adjudication in favor of plaintiffs on the separation of powers cause of action, and issued the requested injunctive relief, enjoining the Coastal Commission from granting, denying, or conditioning permits or issuing and hearing cease and desist orders. On appeal, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment rendered by the trial court, declaring that the statutory scheme was flawed in authorizing the Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly to remove a majority of the voting members of the Commission at will, because such a structure created an improper subservience on the part of the Commission to the legislative branch. In response to the Court of Appeals decision, and while the Coastal Commission’s petition for review from that decision was pending in this court, the Legislature enacted, and the Governor signed, an urgency measure amending the pertinent provisions of the Coastal Act. (Stats. 2003, 2d Ex. Sess., ch. lx, enacted Feb. 20, 2003, eff. May 20, 2003.) As amended, the statutory scheme continues to provide for appointment of one-third of the voting members of the Commission by the Governor, one-third by the Senate Rules Committee, and one-third by the Speaker of the Assembly, but now provides that each of the Commission members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee or by the Speaker of the Assembly shall serve a four-year term and is not removable at the pleasure of such member’s appointing authority. (§§ 30301, subds. (e), (f), 30312, subds. (a)(2), (b)(2).) Each member appointed by the Governor, by contrast, continues to serve a two-year term and may be removed at the pleasure of the Governor. (§ 30312, subds. (a)(1), (b)(1).) Although both parties initially focused the bulk of their briefing on the question of the validity of the statutory scheme in effect at the time this action was initiated, as we shall explain the governing authorities establish that the resolution of this appeal actually turns on the validity of the current statutory scheme. Under the controlling precedent, it is well established that when, as here, a judgment for injunctive relief is reviewed on appeal, the validity of the injunction is governed by the law in effect at the time the appellate court renders its decision. Because the statutory provisions upon which the decisions of the trial court and the Court of Appeal were based have been modified, our determination of the validity of the judgment granting injunctive relief necessarily rests upon an assessment of the validity of the revised statutory scheme as it presently exists. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that the current statutory provisions governing the composition of fife- Coastal Commission do not violate the separation of powers clause of the .California Constitution. As we shall see, although plaintiffs’ challenge to the current provisions relies heavily on a number of United States Supreme Court decisions holding that, under the separation of powers doctrine embodied in the federal Constitution, Congress has no authority to appoint an executive officer (see, e.g., Buckley v. Valeo (1976) 424 U.S. 1, 135-136 [46 L.Ed.2d 659, 96 S.Ct. 612]; Myers v. United States (1926) 272 U.S. 52, 117 [71 L.Ed. 160, 47 S.Ct. 21]), it is clear both from the history of the California Constitution and from the judicial authorities interpreting the separation of powers clause of our state Constitution, that the California Constitution, unlike the United States Constitution, does not categorically preclude the Legislature from enacting a statutory provision authorizing the Legislature itself to appoint a member or members of an executive commission or board. At the same time—and contrary to the argument advanced in this case by the Attorney General—we conclude that, as in other contexts in which one branch’s actions potentially impinge upon the domain of a coordinate branch, the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution imposes limits upon the legislative appointment of executive officers. Consistently with past decisions that have addressed allegedly improper legislative intrusion upon the functions of the judicial branch, we conclude that the California separation of powers clause precludes the adoption of a statutory scheme authorizing the legislative appointment of an executive officer or officers whenever the statutory provisions as a whole, viewed from a realistic and practical perspective, operate to defeat or materially impair the executive branch’s exercise of its constitutional functions. As we shall explain, a statute authorizing the legislative appointment of an executive officer may transgress this constitutional limitation in at least two distinct circumstances. First, such a statute would violate the separation of powers clause if legislative appointment to the particular office in question intrudes upon what might be characterized as the “core zone” of the executive functions of the Governor (or another constitutionally prescribed executive officer), impeding that official from exercising the independent discretion contemplated by the Constitution in the performance of his or her essential executive duties. Second, a statute providing for the legislative appointment of an executive officer also would violate the separation of powers clause if the statutory scheme, taken as a whole, permits the legislative appointing authority to retain undue control over an appointee’s executive actions, compromising the ability of the appointed officer (or of the executive body on which the appointee serves) to perform the officer’s (or the executive body’s) authorized executive functions independently, without legislative coercion or interference. After reviewing the current provisions of the Coastal Act under the foregoing standard, we conclude that in light of the nature of the Coastal Commission’s functions, the origin, purpose, and operative effect of the Commission’s current appointment and tenure structure, and the numerous safeguards incorporated within the Coastal Act that serve to ensure that the actions of Commission members adhere to statutory guidelines and are not improperly interfered with or controlled by the legislative appointing authority, the current provisions do not violate the state constitutional separation of powers clause. Accordingly, because we uphold the constitutionality of the current provisions governing the composition and tenure of the Coastal Commission, we conclude that the judgment rendered by the trial court, enjoining the Commission from undertaking the bulk of its statutorily authorized functions, must be reversed. I Although the resolution of the legal issue presented by this case does not depend upon the facts underlying the administrative proceeding that generated this constitutional challenge to the composition of the Coastal Commission, to place the controversy in context we briefly set forth the background of the administrative proceeding. Plaintiff Marine Forests Society (Marine Forests) is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is the development of an experimental research program for the creation of so-called marine forests to replace lost marine habitat. The organization’s objective is to discover economically viable techniques facilitating the creation of large-scale marine forests where seaweed and shellfish growing on sandy ocean bottoms will replace lost marine habitat. As part of its project, Marine Forests began “planting” or depositing various materials, including used tires, plastic jugs, and concrete blocks, on a sandy plain of the ocean off Newport Harbor. The initial project was approved by the City of Newport Beach, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Integrated Waste Management Board, but Marine Forests did not seek or obtain permission for its activities from the Coastal Commission. In June 1993, the staff of the Coastal Commission informed Marine Forests that it was required to apply to the Commission for a permit to conduct its activities on the ocean floor off Newport Harbor. In 1995, Marine Forests applied for an “after-the-fact” permit. In April 1997, the Commission denied Marine Forests’ application for the permit and thereafter directed its staff to commence enforcement proceedings against Marine Forests to compel it to cease and desist performing the contested operations. In 1999, the Commission’s executive director issued a “Notice of Intent to Commence Cease and Desist Order Proceedings” against Marine Forests. In response to the issuance of the notice of intent to commence cease and desist proceedings, Marine Forests filed the present proceeding in superior court for declaratory and injunctive relief, seeking to enjoin the Commission from pursuing enforcement proceedings against it. The complaint filed by Marine Forests maintained, in the initial cause of action, that the Coastal Commission lacked authority to pursue enforcement proceedings, asserting that because a majority of the voting members of the Commission were appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly and served at the will of their appointing authority, the Coastal Commission must be considered a “legislative body” for purposes of the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution and that the Commission therefore lacked the authority either to grant, deny, or condition a permit (a power the complaint characterized as an “executive power”) or to conduct a hearing and issue a cease and desist order (a power the complaint characterized as a “judicial power”). Shortly after the filing of the complaint, both parties moved for summary adjudication on the separation of powers cause of action. The trial court granted summary adjudication in favor of Marine Forests, concluding that the circumstances that a majority of the voting members of the Commission are appointed by members of the Legislature and that the Commission members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority render the Commission “a legislative body.” The trial court held that the Commission, “as a legislative body, is enjoined from exceeding its jurisdiction and violating the Separation of Powers Clause of the California Constitution which precludes it from granting, denying, or conditioning permits or issuing and hearing cease and desist orders.” On appeal, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment rendered by the trial court, concluding that “the Commission’s interpretation and implementation of the California Coastal Act of 1976 is an executive function, and that the appointment structure giving the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly the power not only to appoint a majority of the Commission’s voting members but also to remove them at will contravenes the separation of powers clause of California’s Constitution. The flaw is that the unfettered power to remove the majority of the Commission’s voting members, and to replace them with others, if they act in a manner disfavored by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly makes those Commission members subservient to the Legislature. In a practical sense, this unrestrained power to replace a majority of the Commission’s voting members, and the presumed desire of those members to avoid being removed from their positions, allows the legislative branch not only to declare the law but also to control the Commission’s execution of the law and exercise of its quasi-judicial powers.” After the Court of Appeal rendered its decision and while the petition for review was pending in this court, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, urgency legislation providing that the members of the Coastal Commission who are appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and by the Speaker of the Assembly shall serve four-year terms and no longer are removable by the appointing authority, rather than serving two-year terms at the pleasure of their appointing authority. The members of the Commission who are appointed by the Governor continue to serve two-year terms at the pleasure of their appointing authority. (Pub. Resources Code, § 30312, as amended by Stats. 2003, 2d Ex. Sess, ch. lx.) In light of the importance of the issues raised by this case, we granted review. Our order granting review directed the parties to brief, in addition to the issue set forth in the petition for review relating to the validity of the statutory scheme addressed by the Court of Appeal, the following issues: (1) In light of the February 2003 amendment to the relevant provisions of the Coastal Act, is the composition of the Coastal Commission currently vulnerable to a separation of powers challenge, and (2) if the Court of Appeal was correct in finding that the pre-2003 Coastal Act provisions relating to the composition and tenure of the Coastal Commission violated the state separation of powers clause, what effect does such a conclusion have upon the past and currently pending decisions of the Coastal Commission? We have received extensive briefing, both from the parties and from numerous amici curiae in support of each of the parties. II The California Coastal Act of 1976 had its origin in an initiative measure, the Coastal Zone Conservation Act (popularly known as Proposition 20), passed by the voters in the November 1972 general election. The 1972 initiative measure created a statewide California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission and six regional coastal conservation commissions that were charged, among other responsibilities, with the duty of preparing a plan for land use and development within the coastal zone that was to be submitted to the Legislature on or before December 1, 1975. (Former §§ 27300-27320, enacted by Prop. 20, Nov. 7, 1972 Gen. Elec, and repealed by Stats. 1974, ch. 897, § 2, p. 1900, eff. Jan. 1, 1977.) The coastal zone conservation commissions also were granted the authority to issue permits to control development within each region pending the enactment of a statewide plan. (Former §§ 27400-27403.) As established by the 1972 initiative measure, the statewide commission was composed of 12 members—six representatives from the regional commissions (one selected by each regional commission) and six representatives of the public who were not members of any regional commission and were appointed “equally by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly.” (Former § 27202, subd. (d), enacted by Prop. 20, Nov. 7, 1972 Gen. Elec, and repealed by Stats. 1974, ch. 897, § 2, p. 1900, eff. Jan. 1, 1977.) The regional commissions were composed of a combination of local elected officials and public representatives. Like the public representatives of the statewide commission, the public representatives of the regional commissions also were appointed equally by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly. (Ibid.) While the 1972 initiative measure was in effect, a question arose whether the public members of the regional and statewide commissions who had been appointed by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly had the right to remain in office for the life of the commissions (under the initiative measure, the commissions—as well as the Coastal Zone Conservation Act itself—were to expire on January 1, 1977, when all of the tasks prescribed by the act were required to be completed) or whether all of these members served at the pleasure of their appointing authority. In Brown v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 52 [123 Cal.Rptr. 377, 538 P.2d 1137], this court concluded that the members of the commissions served at the pleasure of their appointing authority, relying on the circumstances (1) that the Coastal Zone Conservation Act contained no provision specifying a term of office for the members of the regional or statewide commissions, and (2) that California law—dating from the California Constitution of 1849—explicitly has provided that whenever the duration of any office is not provided by law, the office is held at the pleasure of the appointing authority. (Cal. Const, of 1849, art. XI, § 7; Cal. Const, of 1879, art. XX, § 16; Gov. Code, § 1301.) In reaching this conclusion, the court in Brown rejected the contention that because the terms of all commission members necessarily would end on January 1, 1977—when the ;'act would expire—the act properly should be interpreted to grant all coihmi§sion members a fixed term lasting until January 1, 1977. This court Explained that “[n]othing in that limited duration . . . suggests that the drafters or voters intended to confer upon a public representative a term of office equal to the duration of the commission, and thus deny state administrations elected after January of 1973 any role in the selection of those representatives. The drafters and voters could reasonably choose to establish a commission of limited duration, but one composed of politically responsive members subject to removal by elected officials.” (Brown v. Superior Court, supra, 15 Cal.3d 52, 56.) In Brown, no separation of powers issue was raised or decided. The commissions created by;the 1972 initiative measure completed their work in a timely fashion and submitted a proposed coastal plan to the Legislature in December 1975. The following year the Legislature enacted the California Coastal Act of 1976, a very lengthy and comprehensive statutory scheme aimed at protecting the coastal zone. (§§ 30000-30900.) The Coastal Act created the Coastal Commission as the entity with the primary responsibility for the implementation of the provisions of the Coastal Act (§ 30330) and designated the Commission “the successor in interest to all remaining obligations, powers, duties, responsibilities, and interests” of the statewide and regional coastal zone conservation commissions established by the 1972 initiative measure. (§ 30331.) With regard to the selection and tenure of the membership of the Coastal Commission—the issues central to the present proceeding—the Coastal Act set forth detailed provisions governing each of these matters. The Coastal Act provides that the Coastal Commission consists of 16 members, 12 voting and three nonvoting. (§ 30301.)* ** The 12 voting members of the Coastal Commission consist of “[s]ix representatives of the public from the state at large” and “[s]ix representatives selected from six coastal regions.” (§ 30301, subds. (d), (e).) With regard to the six public members, the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly each select two such members. (§ 30301, subd. (e).) With regard to the six coastal regional representatives, the Governor selects one member from the north coast region (consisting of the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino) and one member from the south central coast region (consisting of the Counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura), the Speaker of the Assembly selects one member from the central coast region (consisting of the Counties of San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey) and one member from the San Diego coast region (consisting of San Diego County), and the Senate Rules Committee selects one member from the north central coast region (consisting of the Counties of Sonoma and Marin, and the City and County of San Francisco) and one member from the south coast region (consisting of the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange). (§ 30301, subd. (e).) In addition, as to the selection of the regional representatives, the Act provides that the county boards of supervisors and city selection committees within each region shall propose multiple nominees (consisting of county supervisors or city council members who reside in the region) to the appointing authority, and further provides that the appointing authority must make a selection from the nominees proposed by the local governmental entities. (§ 30301.2.) The Coastal Act, as initially enacted in 1976, provided that any member appointed by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, or the Speaker of the Assembly “shall serve for two years at the pleasure of their appointing power” and “may be reappointed for succeeding two-year periods.” (Former § 30312, subd. (b), as enacted by Stats. 1976, ch. 1330, p. 5970.) The Act further specified that “[vacancies that occur shall be filled ... in the same manner in which the vacating member was selected or appointed.” (§ 30313.) For more than two decades after the creation of the Coastal Commission in 1976, the Commission operated under the foregoing statutory provisions without serious constitutional challenge. In the present proceeding, however, both the trial court and the Court of Appeal ruled that the foregoing statutory provisions governing the appointment and tenure of Commission members violated the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution. As noted above, in reaching its determination the Court of Appeal explained that in its view “[t]he flaw [in the statutory scheme] is that the unfettered power to remove the majority of the Commission’s voting members, and to replace them with others, if they act in a manner disfavored by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly[,] makes those Commission members subservient to the Legislature.” Further, the Court of Appeal emphasized that its “legal conclusion—that the process for appointing voting members of the Commission violates the separation of powers doctrine—is limited to the specific facts of this case, where a majority of the Commission’s voting members are appointed by the legislative branch and may be removed at the pleasure of the legislative branch and there are no safeguards protecting against the Legislature’s ability to use this authority to interfere with the Commission members’ executive power to execute the laws. We express no opinion regarding the propriety of legislative appointments to administrative agencies under circumstances different than presented here.” (Court of Appeal’s italics.) Shortly after the Court of Appeal rendered its decision in this matter, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, an urgency measure amending the Coastal Act to provide that members of the Coastal Commission who are appointed or selected by the Senate Rules Committee or by the Speaker of the Assembly shall serve four-year terms and are not removable at the pleasure of their appointing authority. (§ 30312, subds. (a)(2), (b)(2), as amended by Stats. 2003, 2d Ex. Sess., ch. lx, § 1.) Under the new legislation, members of the Commission who are appointed by the Governor, by contrast, continue to serve two-year terms at the pleasure of the Governor. (§ 30312, subds. (a)(1), (b)(1).) The revised statute further provides that members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee or by the Speaker of the Assembly may be reappointed for succeeding four-year terms, and members appointed by the Governor may be reappointed for succeeding two-year terms. (§ 30312, subd. (b)(1), (2).) The parties and amici curiae initially directed the bulk of their briefing to the question whether the statutory provisions governing the appointment and tenure of members of the Coastal Commission that were in effect prior to the 2003 amendments violated the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution. As we shall explain, however, the governing decisions establish that the resolution of the case before us requires us to determine the validity of the current statutory provisions, rather than the prior provisions in effect at the time of the rulings rendered by the trial court or the Court of Appeal. Accordingly, after discussing the authorities underlying this threshold procedural point, we shall turn to the substantive question whether the current Coastal Act provisions relating to the appointment and tenure of the members of the Coastal Commission violate the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution. III As noted, the proceeding before us is an appeal from a judgment granting injunctive relief in favor of Marine Forests. Although Marine Forests earlier had filed an application with the Coastal Commission for an after-the-fact permit and had been denied such a permit, the present proceeding is not an administrative mandate proceeding brought by Marine Forests to contest the permit denial, but rather is a separate action brought by that party to obtain an injunction prohibiting the Coastal Commission from granting, denying, or conditioning permits and from hearing and determining cease and desist orders in the future. As requested by Marine Forests, the trial court granted such injunctive relief on the basis of plaintiff’s separation of powers claim, and the Coastal Commission appealed from that judgment. Thus, the question before us on this appeal is the validity of the judgment granting injunctive relief. With the case in this posture, it is clear under a long and uniform line of California precedents that the validity of the judgment must be determined on the basis of the current statutory provisions, rather than on the basis of the statutory provisions that were in effect at the time the injunctive order was entered. As observed by Witkin: “Because relief by injunction operates in the future, appeals of injunctions are governed by the law in effect at the time the appellate court gives its decision.” (6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (4th ed. 1997) Provisional Remedies, § 399, p. 324 & cases cited; see also 9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, supra, Appeal, § 332, p. 373.) The case of Building Industry Assn. v. City of Oxnard (1985) 40 Cal.3d 1 [218 Cal.Rptr. 672, 706 P.2d 285] provides an apt illustration of this principle. In the Building Industry case, after the City of Oxnard enacted an ordinance imposing a “Growth Requirements Capital Fee” on new developments, the plaintiff, an association representing the construction industry, brought an action seeking an injunction against enforcement of the ordinance. The trial court denied injunctive relief and the plaintiff appealed. While the appeal was pending, the city amended the challenged ordinance. On appeal before this court, the plaintiff contended that the modification of the ordinance had no bearing on the resolution of the appeal, but we rejected that contention, explaining that “past California decisions establish that in proceedings of this nature—where injunctive relief against a legislative enactment is sought—the relevant provision for purposes of the appeal is the measure which is in effect at the time the appeal is decided.” (40 Cal.3d at p. 3.) Numerous California decisions have applied this rule. (See, e.g., Kash Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1977) 19 Cal.3d 294, 306, fn. 6 [138 Cal.Rptr. 53, 562 P.2d 1302] [“Under settled principles, the version of the ordinance in force at present is the relevant legislation for purposes of this appeal [of an order denying injunctive relief].”]; Tulare Dist. v. Lindsay-Strathmore Dist. (1935) 3 Cal.2d 489, 527-528 [45 P.2d 972] [“the rule is well settled that on appeals involving injunction decrees, the law in effect when the appellate court renders its opinion must be applied”].) Accordingly, in resolving this appeal from the trial court’s judgment granting injunctive relief against the Coastal Commission, we must determine whether the injunction should be affirmed in light of the current statutory provisions. If the current statutory provisions are constitutional, the injunction prohibiting the Commission from granting, denying, or conditioning permits in the future (or from holding hearings on and determining cease and desist orders) cannot be upheld on appeal. We now turn to the question of the constitutionality of the current Coastal Act provisions under the California separation of powers clause. IV Article III, section 3 of the California Constitution—this state’s separation of powers clause—provides: “The powers of state government are legislative, executive, and judicial. Persons charged with the exercise of one power may not exercise either of the others except as permitted by this Constitution.” In discussing this constitutional provision in Superior Court v. County of Mendocino (1996) 13 Cal.4th 45 [51 Cal.Rptr.2d 837, 913 P.2d 1046] (County of Mendocino), we explained: “Although the language of California Constitution article III, section 3, may suggest a sharp demarcation between the operations of the three branches of government, California decisions have long recognized that, in reality, the separation of powers doctrine ‘ “does not mean that the three departments of our government are not in many respects mutually dependent” ’ [citation], or that the actions of one branch may not significantly affect those of another branch. Indeed, upon brief reflection, the substantial interrelatedness of the three branches’ action is apparent and commonplace: the judiciary passes upon the constitutional validity of legislative and executive actions, the Legislature enacts statutes that govern the procedures and evidentiary rules applicable in judicial and executive proceedings, and the Governor appoints judges and participates in the legislative process through the veto power. Such interrelationship, of course, lies at the heart of the constitutional theory of ‘checks and balances’ that the separation of powers doctrine is intended to serve.” (13 Cal.4th at pp. 52-53.) In County of Mendocino, we continued: “At the same time, [the separation of powers] doctrine unquestionably places limits upon the actions of each branch with respect to the other branches. The judiciary, in reviewing statutes enacted by the Legislature, may not undertake to evaluate the wisdom of the policies embodied in such legislation; absent a constitutional prohibition, the choice among competing policy considerations in enacting laws is a legislative function. [Citation.] The executive branch, in expending public funds, may not disregard legislatively prescribed directives and limits pertaining to the use of such funds. [Citation.] And the Legislature may not undertake to readjudicate controversies that have been litigated in the courts and resolved by final judicial judgment. [Citations.]” (County of Mendocino, supra, 13 Cal.4th 45, 53.) As we more recently expressed this point: “The separation of powers doctrine limits the authority of one of the three branches of government to arrogate to itself the core fimctions of another branch.” (Carmel Valley Fire Protection Dist. v. State of California (2001) 25 Cal.4th 287, 297 [105 Cal.Rptr.2d 636, 20 P.3d 533].) In the present case we address a separation of powers challenge to the Coastal Commission. Like many other modern administrative agencies established by the Legislature, the Coastal Commission is authorized (by the Coastal Act) to perform a variety of governmental functions, some generally characterized as “executive,” some “quasi-legislative,” and some “quasi-judicial.” As a general matter, the Commission performs an “executive” function insofar as it carries out programs and policies established by the Legislature, and the Commission is included for administrative purposes in the Resources Agency, a part of the executive branch. (§ 30300.) The Commission performs a “quasi-legislative” function when it engages in rulemaking through the adoption of regulations (Pacific Legal Foundation v. California Coastal Com. (1982) 33 Cal.3d 158, 168 [188 Cal.Rptr. 104, 655 P.2d 306]), and a “quasi-judicial” function when it passes upon applications for coastal development permits {Davis v. California Coastal Zone Conservation Com. (1976) 57 Cal.App.3d 700, 707 [129 Cal.Rptr. 417]), when it reviews the validity of a local government’s coastal program {City of Chula Vista v. Superior Court (1982) 133 Cal.App.3d 472, 488 [183 Cal.Rptr. 909]), and when it issues cease and desist orders with regard to unauthorized development (Ojavan Investors, Inc. v. California Coastal Com. (1994) 26 Cal.App.4th 516, 528 [32 Cal.Rptr.2d 103]). As the Court of Appeal recognized, however, the constitutional propriety of an administrative agency’s performance of such varied functions long has been firmly established under California law (see, e.g., Jersey Maid Milk Products v. Brock (1939) 13 Cal.2d 620, 658-659 [91 P.2d 577]; Gaylord v. City of Pasadena (1917) 175 Cal. 433, 436-440 [166 P. 348]), and Marine Forests’ separation of powers claim does not rest simply upon the varied nature or scope of the governmental authority granted to, and exercised by, the Coastal Commission. Instead, Marine Forests asserts there is a fatal constitutional flaw in the statutory provisions governing the appointment and tenure of the members of the Commission authorized to perform these varied functions. Marine Forests maintains that because the Commission, in light of its functions, properly must be considered part of the executive branch, the current statutory provisions violate the separation of powers clause embodied in the California Constitution by providing that a majority of the voting members of the Commission are to be appointed by, and are subject to reappointment by, officials or entities that are part of the legislative branch. Although we agree that the Coastal Commission properly is considered part of the executive branch, for the reasons set forth below we do not agree that the challenged statutory provisions governing the appointment and reappointment of Commission members violate the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution. In support of its separation of powers argument, Marine Forests relies in part upon a number of decisions of the United States Supreme Court interpreting and applying the separation of powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution. In Buckley v. Valeo, supra, 424 U.S. 1, 109-143, for example, the high court addressed a constitutional challenge to the provisions of a federal statute governing the appointment of the members of the Federal Election Commission—a body, like the Coastal Commission, charged with a variety of functions similar to those exercised by most contemporary administrative agencies. The statute in question in Buckley provided that of the six voting members of the Federal Election Commission, two were to be appointed by the President pro tempore of the United States Senate (upon the recommendations of the majority and minority leaders of the Senate), two by the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (upon the recommendations of the majority and minority leaders of the House), and two by the President. The statute further required that each of the six voting members be confirmed by a majority of both houses of Congress and also prohibited each of the three appointing authorities from choosing both of its appointees from the same political party. In challenging the statute, the plaintiffs in Buckley maintained that because the Federal Election Commission was authorized to exercise wide-ranging rulemaking and enforcement powers, “Congress is precluded under the principle of separation of powers from vesting in itself the authority to appoint those who will exercise such authority.” (Buckley v. Valeo, supra, 424 U.S. 1, 118.) In sustaining the plaintiffs’ separation of powers challenge to the federal statutory provisions at issue in that case, the high court in Buckley relied principally upon the appointments clause—article II, section 2, clause 2—of the United States Constitution, concluding that under this provision neither Congress nor its officers could be granted the authority to appoint an officer who is to exercise such executive authority. (424 U.S. at pp. 124-137.) Because the members of the Federal Election Commission had not been appointed in conformity with the requirements of the appointments clause, the court in Buckley held that under the federal separation of powers doctrine the commission was precluded from exercising the broad administrative powers that the statute empowered it to perform. (424 U.S. at pp. 137-141.) The high court’s holding in Buckley—that under the federal separation of powers doctrine neither Congress nor congressional leaders may be granted the authority to appoint an executive officer—drew support from a number of prior United States Supreme Court decisions. (See, e.g., Myers v. United States, supra, 272 U.S. 52, 117 [the executive power granted the President by article II “included the appointment and removal of executive subordinates”]; Springer v. Philippine Islands (1928) 277 U.S. 189, 202 [72 L.Ed. 845, 48 S.Ct. 480] [invalidating Philippine statute that purported to grant executive authority to legislative appointees, observing that “[legislative power, as distinguished from executive power, is the authority to make laws, but not to enforce them or appoint the agents charged with the duty of such enforcement. The latter are executive functions”]; Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. (1935) 295 U.S. 602, 624-625 [79 L.Ed. 1611, 55 S.Ct. 869] [upholding legislative restrictions upon President’s power to remove members of independent regulatory agencies, but recognizing that such executive officers were to be appointed by the President].) In addition, in the years following the high court’s decision in Buckley, a number of United States Supreme Court decisions have reconfirmed that under federal separation of powers principles the appointment and removal of executive officers are considered executive functions that may not be vested in Congress as a whole or in individual members of Congress. (See, e.g., Bowsher v. Synar (1986) 478 U.S. 714 [92 L.Ed.2d 583, 106 S.Ct. 3181] [invaliding statutory provision that authorized the Controller General, an official subject to removal by Congress, to exercise an executive function]; MWAA v. CAAN (1991) 501 U.S. 252 [115 L.Ed.2d 236, 111 S.Ct. 2298] [invalidating statutory provision conferring upon a board of review composed of nine members of Congress the authority to veto executive decisions of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, an executive body].) Although these federal decisions establish that the provisions of the Coastal Act here at issue would be of doubtful validity if the Coastal Commission were a federal agency and the statutory provisions were to be judged under the federal separation of powers doctrine, the flaw in Marine Forests’ reliance upon these federal decisions lies in the implicit assumption that the separation of powers doctrine embodied in the federal Constitution is equivalent to the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution. As we shall see, with respect to the exercise of the particular governmental function at issue in this case—the authority to appoint executive officers—the federal and California Constitutions are quite distinct, rendering inapposite the federal authorities upon which Marine Forests relies. In the analysis that follows, we begin with a brief overview of several basic differences between the structure of the federal Constitution and that of most state constitutions—differences that explain why, as a general matter, separation of power decisions under the federal Constitution cannot be applied uncritically in resolving separation of powers questions that may arise under a state constitution. We then turn to the specific governmental function at issue in this case—the appointment of executive officers—and explain that although under the federal Constitution Congress is prohibited from appointing any federal executive officers, the California Constitution imposes no similar categorical constraint upon legislative appointment of state executive officers. Thereafter, we proceed to explain that although the Legislature is not precluded by the state Constitution from providing for legislative appointment of executive officers, the state separation of powers clause imposes limits upon the Legislature’s exercise of this authority, restraining the Legislature from overstepping its bounds by defeating or materially impairing the executive function. Finally, we examine in detail the current provisions of the California Coastal Act relating to the appointment and tenure of the Coastal Commission to determine whether such provisions violate the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution, concluding that these provisions do not violate this clause. V In the introduction to a recent scholarly law review article entitled Interpreting The Separation of Powers in State Constitutions, Professor G. Alan Tarr observed: “To understand the separation of powers in the American states, one must be willing to explore the nature of state constitutions, their historical development, and their underlying ideas, without preconceptions derived from familiarity with the separation of powers on the national level. . . . The most cursory examination of state constitutions confirms how distinctive state constitutions and governments are. The Federal Constitution restricts the federal government both by imposing prohibitions on the government and by granting the government only limited powers. Under state constitutions, by contrast, the second restriction is largely missing, and thus the states exercise plenary legislative power. . . . [f] Put differently, despite the superficial similarities, state governments are not merely miniature versions of the national government . . . .” (Tarr, Interpreting The Separation of Powers in State Constitutions (2003) 59 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 329, 329-330, fns. omitted (hereafter Tarr).) As Professor Tarr goes on to explain, “both federal and state constitutions agree with Montesquieu in positing three branches of government— legislative, executive, and judicial—each invested with a different function. The institutions created at the national and state levels also have a surface similarity: state legislature and Congress, governor and president, state supreme court and U.S. Supreme Court. But when one proceeds below the surface, one finds that those apparently analogous structures of government and separation of powers quickly evaporate.” (Tarr, supra, at p. 333, fns. omitted.) With regard to the federal Constitution, “[t]he major concern in 1787 was to introduce checks on the legislative branch which, as James Madison warned in Federalist No. 51, ‘necessarily predominates’ in republican governments.” (Ibid.) On the other hand, “[m]ost early state constitutions reflected a quite different sensibility. Typically the separation of powers was not designed to balance power among the branches of government. Power tended to be concentrated in the legislature, in most instances the only branch whose members were directly elected by the people; to state constitution-makers this seemed altogether appropriate.” (Id. at p. 334, fns. omitted.) Of course, these cautionary admonitions do not mean that federal separation of powers decisions never provide helpful guidance in interpreting the California separation of powers clause. In the past, we have looked to federal decisions for assistance in interpreting our state constitutional separation of powers doctrine in instances in which there were no fundamental differences between the relevant constitutional provisions. (See, e.g., Carmel Valley Fire Protection Dist. v. State of California, supra, 25 Cal.4th 287, 298-308.) The appropriateness of such reliance, however, necessarily depends upon the nature of the particular separation of powers question that is at issue in a given case. The general teaching of the article quoted above is simply that in interpreting and applying a state constitutional separation of powers provision, a court must keep in mind potential structural differences between the state and federal constitutions. As Professor Tarr observes, “[i]n interpreting state constitutions, one must. . . not assume that the definition of what is ‘executive’ or ‘legislative’ is the same at the state level as at the national level.” (Tarr, supra, at p. 338.) VI The separation of powers issue presented in this case concerns the authority to appoint a public official who performs an executive function. The Framers of the federal Constitution, in large part in reaction to the failures that occurred under the Articles of Confederation, opted to establish a strong, unitary executive officer—the President—with extensive executive authority. (See The Federalist Nos. 69, 70 (Alexander Hamilton).) One important feature of the decision to create a strong executive was the adoption of the federal appointments clause—article II, section 2, clause 2 of the United States Constitution—which grants the President the exclusive appointment authority over high executive officials, and authorizes Congress, by statute, to vest the appointment of “inferior officers” “in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments,” but pointedly does not authorize Congress itself to appoint any executive official. (See, e.g., Buckley v. Valeo, supra, 424 U.S. 1, 124—136.) In light of the language and history of the appointments clause, the United States Supreme Court has held that under the federal separation of powers doctrine, neither Congress as a whole, nor congressional leaders, may appoint a federal executive officer. (Ibid.) The United States Supreme Court also has made clear, however, that the separation of powers doctrine embodied in the federal Constitution, which governs the allocation and exercise of governmental authority by the federal legislative, executive, and judicial branches, has no application to the states. As the high court observed in Mayor of Philadelphia v. Educ. Equal. League (1974) 415 U.S. 605, 615, footnote 13 [39 L.Ed.2d 630, 94 S.Ct. 1323]: “The [federal] Constitution does not impose on the States any particular plan for the distribution of governmental powers.” (See also Dreyer v. Illinois (1902) 187 U.S. 71, 84 [47 L.Ed. 79, 23 S.Ct. 28].) Accordingly, the separation of powers issue before us must be decided on the basis of the California Constitution. VII Unlike the federal Constitution, the California Constitution—like many state constitutions—embodies a structure of divided executive power, providing for the statewide election of not only the Governor (and the Lieutenant Governor), but also of the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the Secretary of State, the Controller, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Furthermore, and perhaps most significantly, unlike the United States Congress, which possesses only those specific powers delegated to it by the federal Constitution, it is well established that the California Legislature possesses plenary legislative authority except as specifically limited by the California Constitution. (See, e.g., Fitts v. Superior Court (1936) 6 Cal.2d 230, 234 [57 P.2d 510] [“we do not look to [the California] Constitution to determine whether the [Legislature is authorized to do an act, but only to see if it is prohibited. In other words, unless restrained by constitutional provision, the [Legislature is vested with the whole of the legislative power of the state.”]; California Housing Finance Agency v. Patitucci (1978) 22 Cal.3d 171, 175 [148 Cal.Rptr. 875, 583 P.2d 729] [same]; see also People v. Tilton (1869) 37 Cal. 614, 626 [“. . . State Constitutions are not grants of power to the Legislature. Full power exists when there is no limitation”].) In contrast to the federal Constitution, there is nothing in the California Constitution that grants the Governor (or any other executive official) the exclusive or paramount authority to appoint all executive officials or that prohibits the Legislature from exercising such authority. Moreover, as we shall see, the history of the California Constitution and past judicial decisions make it abundantly clear that under this state’s Constitution the Legislature possesses authority not only to determine whether to create new executive offices, agencies, or commissions, but also to decide who is to appoint such executive officers and commissioners, including, at least as a general matter, the authority to provide for such appointment by the Legislature itself. We begin with the relevant provisions of California’s first Constitution— the Constitution of 1849. A The 1849 Constitution contained two explicit provisions relating specifically to the appointment of executive officials. Article XI, section 6, of the 1849 Constitution provided: “All officers whose election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, and all officers whose offices may hereafter be created by law, shall be elected by the people, or appointed as the Legislature may direct.” (Italics added.) Article V, section 8, of the 1849 Constitution provided: “When any office shall, from any cause become vacant, and no mode is provided by the Constitution and laws for filling such vacancy, the Governor shall have the power to fill such vacancy by granting a commission, which shall expire at the end of the next session of the Legislature, or at the next election by the people.” (Italics added.) Thus, the 1849 Constitution established that, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution, the Legislature possessed the constitutional authority to determine the method for appointing executive officers, and that the Governor possessed the authority to fill a vacancy in such offices only when no method for filling such vacancies had been provided by the Constitution or legislation—and then only on an interim basis. By its terms, article XI, section 6 of the 1849 Constitution provided simply that public officers whose election or appointment was not specified by the Constitution “shall be elected by the people, or appointed as the Legislature shall direct,” and did not explicitly address the question whether the provision contemplated that the Legislature could provide for the appointment of public officers by the Legislature itself. Very shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, however, the Legislature made clear by its own contemporary interpretation that it was understood the constitutional provision authorized the Legislature, by legislative enactment, to provide for the appointment of state officers by the Legislature itself. The second piece of legislation passed by California’s first Legislature was a bill creating the Office of State Printer and providing that the State Printer would be elected by the Legislature. (Stats. 1850, ch. 2, p. 45.) Several months later, the Legislature created a four-member Board of Health for the Port of San Francisco, consisting of the Mayor of San Francisco and three additional members appointed by the Legislature. (Stats. 1850, ch. 64, p. 162.) The following year, the Legislature created a State Hospital to be administered by an eight-member board, all of whom were appointed by the Legislature. (Stats. 1851, ch. 127, p. 500.) Very early decisions of this court confirmed both the primacy of the Legislature’s constitutional role in determining how and by whom executive officers should be appointed, and the very limited nature of the role that the state Constitution granted to the Governor with regard to this function. (See, e.g., People v. Fitch (1851) 1 Cal. 519, 536; People v. Jewett (1856) 6 Cal. 291, 293.) In People v. Mizner (1857) 7 Cal. 519, 524-525, this court, after reviewing the applicable state constitutional provisions quoted above, declared in this regard: “It would seem that the evident intent and whole spirit of the Constitution of the State was to limit the patronage of the Executive within very narrow bounds.” (Italics added; see also People v. Tilton, supra, 37 Cal. 614, 622 [“ ‘Our Constitution, whether wisely or unwisely, it is not our province to determine, has studiously restricted the patronage of the Governor.’ ”].) Although the Constitution of 1849, like the Constitution today, included provisions specifying that “[t]he supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in . . . the Governor” and that “[the Governor] shall see that the laws are faithfully executed” (Const, of 1849, art. V, §§ 1, 7 [see now Cal. Const., art. V, § lj), none of the numerous authorities cited above suggested that these provisions could be interpreted to grant the Governor a broad power to appoint executive officers in the absence of statutory authorization, in part because of the specific constitutional provision that expressly granted the Governor only a limited authority to fill vacancies in such offices. (Cal. Const. of 1849, art. V, § 8.) With regard to the separation of powers question before us today, the most directly relevant of the early California decisions is People v. Langdon (1857) 8 Cal. 1. In Langdon, a dispute arose with regard to who properly held the public office of superintendent of the state asylum for the insane—the person who had been appointed by the Governor to a vacancy in the position, or the person subsequently appointed by the Legislature. The governing statute provided that the superintendent was to be appointed for a two-year term by a vote of the Legislature on joint-ballot, but the Governor’s appointee (who had been appointed to fill a vacancy) challenged the applicable statute as a violation of the state separation of powers clause, arguing that “[t]o create the office, prescribe the duration of the term, and to define the powers and duties of the office are clearly legislative functions, but to fill this office by an election in joint convention is not a legislative function. It is most clearly an invasion of the executive power of the State, or the rights of the people to elect.” (8 Cal. at p. 4.) Restating and responding to this argument, the court in Langdon observed: “The appellant contends that, under the third article [separation of powers] and the sixth section of the eleventh article of the Constitution [election or appointment of officers], the Legislature have no power to elect an incumbent to an office. The third article provides for the distribution of the powers of government between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, and forbids those charged with duties belonging to one, from exercising functions appertaining to another department.[] Under this provision, it is urged that the Legislature may create the office, but cannot elect the officer; that it would be exercising power belonging to the executive branch of the government, or to the people. Unhappily for the argument, there is no fourth branch of the government recognized by the third article of the Constitution, which is represented by the people, and if there is any encroachment upon any other department, it must be upon the Executive.” (People v. Langdon, supra, 8 Cal. 1, 15-16.) The court in Langdon then explained: “The power to fill an office is political, and this power is exercised in common by the Legislatures, the Governors, and other executive officers, of every State in the Union, unless it has been expressly withdrawn, by the organic law of the State. That it has not been by our Constitution, there can be no doubt: First, because there is no clause that would warrant such a construction: and, Second, because there are several that would forbid it.” (People v. Langdon, supra, 8 Cal. 1, 16.) After reviewing the language of article XI, section 6 of the 1849 Constitution—that all officers whose election or appointment is not provided by the Constitution “shall be elected by the people, or appointed, as the Legislature may direcf’ (italics added)—and rejecting as specious the claim that the use of the term “appointed” prohibited the Legislature from providing for the selection of an officer through “election” by the members of the Legislature (rather than by “appointment” by the Legislature), the court in Langdon declared emphatically: “It would be useless to pursue this argument further; this power has been always exercised by the Legislature, and never before denied. It is not prohibited by the Constitution, and according to the theory and spirit of our institutions, is safer when exercised by the immediate representatives of the people, than when lodged in the hands of the Executive.” (People v. Langdon, supra, 8 Cal.l, 16, italics added.) Subsequent cases decided under the 1849 Constitution reiterated the principles set forth in the early cases, confirming the Legislature’s broad authority over the appointment of executive officers, including the power to authorize the appointment of such officers by the Legislature itself. (See, e.g., Wetherbee v. Cazneau (1862) 20 Cal. 503, 508; People v. Tilton, supra, 37 Cal. 614, 621-623; In re Bulger (1873) 45 Cal. 553, 559.) In 1872, as part of the adoption of the initial Political Code, the Legislature enacted a general statute providing that, in the absence of a specific statute prescribing the appointing authority for a particular office, the officer would be appointed by the Governor. (Pol. Code of 1872, § 875 [“Every officer, the mode of whose appointment is not prescribed by the Constitution or statutes, must be appointed by the Governor”].) This provision—whose terms are now embodied in nearly identical language in Government Code section 1300— recognizes that the Legislature retains the authority to determine the mode of appointment of state officers by the enactment of an applicable statute, but in the absence of such an enactment the Governor is statutorily empowered to appoint the officer. B Thirty years after the adoption of the 1849 Constitution, a constitutional convention was convened in California to draft a new Constitution. During the 1878-1879 Constitutional Convention, two delegates proposed the adoption of revised constitutional provisions that would have conferred upon the Governor the general authority to appoint state executive officers and would have prohibited the Legislature itself from appointing such officers. (See 1 Willis & Stockton, Debates and Proceedings, Cal. Const. Convention 1878-1879, p. 147 [amendment proposed by Mr. White: “The Governor