Congresswoman Lois Capps and Senator Barbara Boxerm San Francisco Chronicle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 12, 2004

By: Congresswoman Lois Capps
Senator Barbara Boxer
San Francisco Chronicle

May 12, 2004

Time and again, Californians have fought off the threat of offshore oil drilling and oil spills along our coast. We believe the time has come to end this threat once and for all, and we have a plan to do just that.

In 1968, the federal government began selling a group of offshore leases that gave oil companies the temporary rights to drill for oil off the shores of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

For a host of reasons-chiefly the catastrophic Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 and new environmental laws that came in its wake-most of these leases remained undeveloped. But 36 of them remain on the books, and their potential development is still a grave threat to California's environment.

For years, our state and local governments have fought to have the leases terminated, but the oil companies have repeatedly sought and received extensions, allowing them to delay their contractual obligations to either act on the undeveloped leases or forfeit the drilling rights.

In 1999, as oil companies sought yet another lease extension, the state of California demanded the right to weigh in on whether these leases should, or even could, be developed without running afoul of coastal protection laws. We strongly supported the state in this effort and mobilized a bipartisan group of the state's members of Congress to defend our rights.
In June 2001, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that California has the right to review any federal attempt to open coastal waters to new oil and gas exploration and ensure they are consistent with state environmental laws. The Bush administration, vigorously opposing California's right to review the development plans, appealed the District Court decision. Fortunately, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in December 2002. Seeing the writing on the wall, the administration finally relented to pressure and agreed to enter into discussions with the oil companies about buying out the leases. These talks reportedly have broken down.

To move the negotiations forward and finally end the threat of new oil drilling off California, we have been advocating this common-sense plan:

First, California-through the California Coastal Commission-should review all the leases and their proposed development plans, as the federal courts have ruled. This has to happen before the Bush administration and the oil companies agree to any sort of buyout or exchange of the leases. Rejection of some of these oil leases by the Coastal Commission should lead to their termination, without the need for a taxpayers'-financed buyout.

Second, the oil companies must provide full disclosure of what was actually paid for the leases. In many cases, the original leases have been resold one or more times. But the prices paid by one oil company to another for those leases has been considered proprietary information and kept secret. These agreements must be made public prior to any agreement to buy out leases with taxpayers' dollars.

Third, after the Coastal Commission determines which of the 36 leases may still have value and could actually be developed under environmental protection laws, the interested parties-the Bush administration, the state of California and the oil companies-need to negotiate a deal. The price must take into account the fact that, as the administration and the oil companies know, development of those leases is simply not feasible given the intense opposition throughout the state. Indeed, the oil companies have indicated their desire to focus their energies on other ventures that would be more productive than an endless fight to drill off California.

Finally, any termination agreement must include permanent protection for our coast and any buyout must mean the termination of all 36 leases. The much-ballyhooed federal buyout of Florida's oil leases, trumpeted during Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 2002 run for re-election, turned out to be only for 10 years. After that the leases can be reissued, and Floridians will have the same fight all over again.

Ending the threat of new drilling off California must mean ending it forever.

Californians have spoken loud and clear: We do not want more drilling. If the Bush administration is truly interested in ending this controversy, it must cooperate with the state of California to terminate these leases in a way that protects taxpayers' interests while permanently protecting our coast.