Partial easing of OCS moratoriums worries Floridians

Oct. 5, 2005
Governor, lawmakers alarmed over House bill provision that would terminate leasing moratoriums and acreage withdrawals for gas activity on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 5 -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and members of the state's congressional delegation in the US House of Representatives applauded language in a bill approved by the Resources Committee that they say gives the state more power in keeping oil and natural gas leasing and development away from its coast.

But they also expressed alarm over language in the bill that would terminate moratoriums and acreage withdrawals on the Outer Continental Shelf for gas activity but retain oil-related prohibitions.

The bill that came out of the committee on Sept. 28 got the biggest headlines for its provision authorizing leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain. But it also included an amendment proposed by Reps. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) and Neil Abercrombie (D-Ha.) that would remove the OCS moratoriums and withdrawals for gas.

It also contained an amendment offered by Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) to provide royalty incentives for onshore deep gas production on federal land and one by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) to restore and update royalty relief for oil production from marginal wells on federal acreage.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said on Oct. 4 that House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.) agreed to withhold the bill from floor consideration because of Floridians' concerns over impacts of the Peterson-Abercrombie amendment.

Stearns said that he and Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.), who are members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wrote Pombo on Sept. 29 explaining why they oppose the amendment. "In a following conversation, Chairman Pombo stated that he would work with us on removing this amendment from the bill," Stearns said.

Bush's letter
In a Sept. 28 letter to Pombo, Bush mentioned the amendment as a problem with the bill. He also criticized language modifying the OCS resource inventory in the wide-ranging energy law enacted in August. Such an inventory would be duplicative and unnecessary in the Gulf of Mexico, since the US Minerals Management Service published oil and gas reserve estimates for the area in July 2003, the governor said.

"Perhaps more importantly, however, the [bill] does not address existing leases in the codified withdrawal areas, specifically those leases in the Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Area," Bush wrote Pombo. "I have long held that no oil and gas drilling should occur within 100 miles of Florida's coast. With these leases outstanding, the threat remains."

But he also thanked the chairman and staff of the Resources Committee for their support of states' rights and their willingness to allow governors and legislatures to determine future resource uses.

"This provision is important to Floridians, the majority of whom oppose drilling off the coast of Florida in order to protect the sensitive natural resources of our state, as well as our tourist-based economy, which depends on a clean and healthy environment," Bush said.

He also told Pombo that he appreciated efforts to expand and codify the presidential withdrawal of waters around Florida, "which would include the newly defined Florida Adjacent Zone, the newly defined Straits of Florida Planning Area and the portion of Lease Sale 181 within 100 miles of the coast of Florida.

"The moratorium contained in your proposal maintains all existing protection, expands protection in the Gulf of Mexico, and establishes new protection from the Florida Keys up the Atlantic seaboard to the state's border," he continued.

"Starting in 2012, Florida will be able to extend the ban on new drilling within 125 miles off Florida's coast and 100 miles off the coast of Alabama in the area commonly known as the 'stovepipe.' These provisions increase protection from the risks associated with future offshore oil and gas production."

Stearns said he had been working with Pombo on language that would give the states control over their offshore resources where states such as Florida could opt out of allowing drilling in their coastal waters.

"In addition to working with me to remove this amendment, Chairman Pombo renewed his commitment to restoring language allowing Florida and other states to prevent drilling in their waters," the House member said.

OCS alliance
Meanwhile, National Association of Manufacturers Pres. John Engler said he would serve as spokesman for a broad-based Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth that would seek to lift OCS oil and gas moratoriums and withdrawals.

"Soaring prices have been a major factor in the loss of manufacturing jobs—approximately 3 million since 2000. Most of this decline occurred during the last recession, when natural gas prices surged," the former Michigan governor said in his weekly online message at NAM's web site.

"Suffice it to say that no country in world history has ever sustained its status as an economic power without access to adequate supplies of affordable energy. The stakes for the United States are truly that high."

In a Sept. 21 speech to the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Engler said special interest group resistance to energy development threatens the nation's economic health. "We have made wonderful advances in environmental protection in recent decades," he said, noting the lack of leakage from offshore oil and gas rigs from Hurricane Katrina. "The people who oppose energy production are doing our country a disservice."

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].