I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5303 

To establish a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on public land on the 

Central Coast of California. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2019 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LEVIN of 

California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

CISNEROS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. CORREA, Mr. 

VARGAS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. DESAULNIER, and Mr. PETERS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on public 

land on the Central Coast of California. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘California Central 

5 Coast Conservation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON OIL AND GAS LEASING ON PUB2 LIC LAND ON THE CENTRAL COAST OF CALI3 FORNIA. 

4 Section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 226(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(q) MORATORIUM ON OIL AND GAS LEASING ON

7 PUBLIC LAND ON THE CENTRAL COAST OF CALI8 FORNIA.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of this Act or any other law and except as 

11 provided in paragraph (2), beginning on the date of 

12 enactment of this subsection, the Record of Decision 

13 for the Central Coast Field Office Resource Manage14 ment Plan Amendment for Oil and Gas Leasing and 

15 Development published on October 7, 2019 (84 Fed. 

16 Reg. 53470), shall have no force or effect until the 

17 Bureau of Land Management Central Coast Field 

18 Office completes and circulates for public comment 

19 a supplemental environmental impact statement 

20 under section 102 of the National Environmental 

21 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) and chapter 5 

22 of title 5, United States Code, that considers the en23 vironmental effects of all oil and gas development 

24 authorized to occur under the Bureau of Land Man25 agement’s preferred alternative ‘Alternative F’, 

26 which appears in the final Environmental Impact 


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1 Statement published on May 10, 2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 

2 20657), but was not included or analyzed in the 

3 Draft Environmental Impact Statement published 

4 January 6, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg 1754), along with 

5 the environmental effects of oil and gas development 

6 that would be authorized as a result of such record 

7 of decision, including such effects on— 

8 ‘‘(A) air quality; 

9 ‘‘(B) greenhouse gas emissions and the cli10 mate; 

11 ‘‘(C) groundwater quality and availability; 

12 ‘‘(D) surface water quality and availability; 

13 ‘‘(E) seismicity; 

14 ‘‘(F) wildlife and plant species, including 

15 threatened species and endangered species; and 

16 ‘‘(G) low-income communities, communities 

17 of color, and indigenous communities, including 

18 federally- and State-recognized Indian Tribes. 

19 ‘‘(2) NEW REVIEW.—If the supplemental envi20 ronmental impact statement under paragraph (1) 

21 finds any significant detrimental effects on any mat22 ter described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of 

23 such paragraph, the Record of Decision referred to 

24 in paragraph (1) shall have no force or effect and 

25 the Director of the Bureau of Land Management 


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1 shall conduct a new review of Federal oil and gas 

2 leasing on the Central Coast of California under sec3 tion 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act 

4 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

5 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

6 REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(A) After the date of the publication, pur8 suant to paragraph (2), of a supplemental envi9 ronmental impact statement under section 

10 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

11 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the Ad12 ministrator of the Environmental Protection 

13 Agency shall review and publish comments re14 garding such statement, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) identification of any significant 

16 environmental impacts of oil and gas leas17 ing on the Central Coast of California that 

18 should be avoided to adequately protect the 

19 region’s natural resources; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a determination that the supple21 mental environmental impact statement 

22 does not contain sufficient information to 

23 assess such impacts. 

24 ‘‘(B) If the Administrator identifies signifi25 cant impacts under subparagraph (A)(i) or 


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1 makes a determination described in subpara2 graph (A)(ii), the Director of the Bureau of 

3 Land Management shall consult with the Ad4 ministrator before taking any action to proceed 

5 with Federal oil and gas leasing on the Central 

6 Coast of California. 

7 ‘‘(4) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection af8 fects any rights under leases issued under this Act 

9 before the date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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