BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 3
Author: Nava (D)
Amended: 4/20/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-3, 7/6/09
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins,
Wolk
NOES: Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 43-25, 4/20/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Offshore oil drilling
SOURCE : Environmental California
DIGEST : This resolution requests that the Congress of
the United States reinstate the federal offshore oil and
gas leasing moratorium for the 2009 fiscal year and beyond,
and memorializes the Legislatures opposition to the
proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific
Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that
weakens California's role in energy sitting decisions by
those policies.
ANALYSIS :
Resolution findings:
CONTINUED
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1.The United States Department of the Interior, acting in
President Bush's final days in office, on January 16,
2009proposed opening up six million acres off of
California's coast to drilling for oil and natural gas.
2.While the Obama Administration has put a hold on the
Department of the Interior's January 16th plan in order
to consider various possible impacts of offshore oil
development as well as consider input from the public,
the expansion of oil development in areas previously
protected by the outer continental shelf moratorium
remain under consideration.
3.Proposed drilling areas include areas off Humboldt and
Mendocino Counties and from San Luis Obispo south to San
Diego.
4.Following the infamous January 29, 1969, oil spill that
resulted in the spillage of 3,200,000 gallons of crude
oil and that fouled Santa Barbara County's ocean
beaches, Californians became even more wary about
offshore oil drilling, continuing with the passage of
additional oil and gas leasing prohibitions in 1969,
1970, and 1971.
5.In 1994, the California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994
(Chapter 3.4 [commencing with Section 6240] of Part 1 of
Division 6 of the Public Resources Code) became law,
creating a comprehensive statewide coastal sanctuary
that prohibits, in perpetuity, future oil and gas
leasing in state waters, form Mexico to the Oregon
border, and that adds leases to the sanctuary as they
are quitclaimed to the state.
6.In addition, the protection of California's spectacular
1,100-mile coastline is of the utmost importance to a
number of our state's coastal and ocean-dependent
industries, including tourism and commercial fishing,
which contributed over $50 billion to California's
economy in 2003.
7.California's ocean waters are also home to four
important sanctuaries that are, by definition, areas of
special conservation, recreational, ecological,
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historical, cultural, archaeological, scientific,
educational, and aesthetic qualities and are
particularly sensitive to the impacts of oil
development.
8.Additional offshore oil leasing and production would
degrade the quality of our air and water and adversely
impact our marine resources, including seismic surveys
that could severely impact marine mammals, including
threatened and endangered species such as the blue and
humpback whale.
9.Offshore oil development poses a serious risk of oil
spills especially with the introduction of deepwater
drilling technologies and floating oil storage and
processing vessels, thereby threatening marine
ecosystems, and could have devastating effects on the
southern sea otter, listed as a threatened species since
197, as well as onshore wildlife birds, and their
habitats in the ocean, in estuaries, and on beaches.
10.Offshore oil development also leads to the
industrialization of the shoreline, creating land use
conflicts, visually degrading coastal areas, and posing
potentially life-threatening public safety risks.
11.The further development of nonrenewable resources that
degrade our air, water, and land is contrary to our
state's goals of reducing emissions that cause global
warming, improving air quality, and increasing the use
of renewable energy.
Background
The California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 imposed a
moratorium on any new lease for the extraction of oil or
gas in state waters unless the President of the United
States has found a severe energy supply interruption and
has ordered a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
or unless the Governor finds that new oil and gas
production will significantly contribute to the alleviation
of that interruption.
A similar moratorium, the Offshore Leasing Moratorium,
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existed in federal law for 27 years, but was repealed in
2008 during a period of high oil prices.
On the very last day of the Bush administration, the
Interior Department proposed a new five-year plan for oil
and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). In
31 lease sales, the plan proposes to lease as much as 300
million acres of the OCS to drilling, including about six
million acres off the coast of Humboldt, Mendocino, San
Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and San
Diego Counties.
On February 10, 2009, Ken Salazar, the present Secretary of
Interior, announced a four-part strategy "for developing a
new, comprehensive approach to energy resources of the
OCS." Among other things, it extends the public comment
period for the proposed five-year oil and gas leasing
program 180 days until September 21, 2009, hosting four
public meetings nationwide to solicit input on whether,
where, and how the federal government develops its
conventional and renewable energy resources of the OCS.
These meetings occurred in May, 2009. Neither Secretary
Salazar nor President Obama have indicated whether the
current administration is opposed to, or open to,
additional drilling off the California coast.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/09)
Environmental California (source)
BayKeepers
California League of Conservation Voters
Defenders of Wildlife
Heal the Bay
Natural Resources Defense Council
Ocean Conservancy
Oceana
Sierra Club California
SurfriderFoundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
new offshore oil drilling off the Coast of California will
pose a significant risk to California's coast and the
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coastal-dependent tourist economy. The author's office
also contends that new off shore oil drilling will not
lower gas prices for consumers. Given the apparent
consideration to new off shore oil drilling that now exists
t the federal level, the author's office believes that a
strong statement from the California Legislature in
opposition to lifting the moratorium on offshore oil
drilling is necessary.
At least 187 large oil spills have occurred between 1981 to
2005 on the Outer Continental Shelf, according to the
author's office. The author's office and other supporters
contend that oil spills create numerous risks to wildlife,
and discharge many toxics into the marine environment in
the normal course of these activities. The supporters
contend that, on average, 180,000 gallons of substances
such as benzene, arsenic, mercury, and lead, per well, are
released from each well.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Beall, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian,
Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner,
Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fuller, Gaines, Gilmore, Hagman, Huber, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Chesbro,
Fletcher, Galgiani, Garrick, Hall, Harkey, John A. Perez,
Saldana, Smyth, Solorio
CTW:do 8/26/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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