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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 73

To protect the ecologically fragile coastal resources of south Florida by prohibiting offshore oil and gas activities and by cancelling Federal leases

in the area of the Outer Continental Shelf adjacent to the south Florida

coast.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. GOSS (for himself and Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To protect the ecologically fragile coastal resources of south

Florida by prohibiting offshore oil and gas activities and

by cancelling Federal leases in the area of the Outer

Continental Shelf adjacent to the south Florida coast.

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

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION.

4 The Secretary shall not conduct any preleasing activi5 ties, hold any lease sale, or approve or permit any explo6 ration, production, or drilling activities under the Outer

7 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) in

8 the area described in section 2.
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1 SEC. 2. AREA COVERED.

2 The area referred to in section 1 is all areas of the

3 Outer Continental Shelf in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

4 Planning Area that are south of 26 degrees north latitude

5 and east of 86 degrees west longitude.

6 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF LEASES.

7 (a) CONGRESSIONAL DETERMINATIONS.—The Con8 gress determines that—

9 (1) the area described in section 2 comprises

10 marine subtidal and nearshore habitats that are

11 unique within the United States continental margin,

12 and that provide refuge to numerous coastal and

13 marine birds, rare and endangered species, extensive

14 live bottom communities, coral reefs, mangroves, and

15 productive sea grasses;

16 (2) in 1983 and 1984, Congress and the De17 partment of the Interior provided for a 3-year mora18 torium on drilling in that area to permit the acquisi19 tion of additional environmental information;

20 (3) notwithstanding the actions described in

21 paragraph (2), which put the bidding companies on

22 notice that there were environmental concerns, a

23 total of 73 tracts were leased in the area in 1984

24 and 1985;
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1 (4) in 1988, and in every year since then, the

2 Congress has renewed the annual moratorium on

3 new leasing and drilling in the area concerned;

4 (5) in June 1990, President Bush announced

5 that he was placing a 10-year moratorium on leas6 ing, development, and production in south Florida

7 and directing the Secretary of the Interior to begin

8 a process that may lead to the buyback and cancella9 tion of existing leases in that area;

10 (6) exploration, production, or drilling activity

11 on any of the 73 tracts described in paragraph (3)

12 would cause serious harm or damage to the marine,

13 coastal, and human environment in the area and

14 such harm or damage is not subject to an acceptable

15 level of mitigation; and

16 (7) oil and gas exploration, production, and

17 drilling activity is incompatible with the ecologically

18 fragile resources found in the south Florida Outer

19 Continental Shelf, and the advantages of canceling

20 outweigh the advantages of continuing such leases

21 and would promote the public interest in the protec22 tion of the south Florida coastal area.

23 (b) CANCELLATION.—Based on the determinations

24 made under subsection (a), all leases under the Outer
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1 Continental Shelf Lands Act in the area described in sec2 tion 2 are hereby canceled.

3 SEC. 4. COMPENSATION.

4 (a) DETERMINATION.—The Attorney General shall

5 determine whether the holder of a lease canceled by sec6 tion 3(b) is entitled under law to compensation from the

7 United States as a result of such cancellation.

8 (b) NEGOTIATION.—If the Attorney General deter9 mines under subsection (a) that a lease holder is entitled

10 to compensation, the Secretary shall enter into negotia11 tions with such lease holder to establish a written agree12 ment providing for fair and equitable settlement of all

13 claims of such lease holder against the United States for

14 compensation for cancellations under section 3(b).

15 (c) AMOUNT AND FORM OF COMPENSATION.—Com16 pensation agreed to under subsection (b)—

17 (1) may be determined through application of

18 the rules set forth in section 5(a)(2)(C) of the Outer

19 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.

20 1334(a)(2)(C));

21 (2) may be made in the form of currency, for22 giveness of the lessee’s obligation to pay rents, royal23 ties, or bonus payments which would otherwise be

24 paid to the Federal Government on another lease is25 sued pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
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1 Act, or a combination of currency with such forgive2 ness; and

3 (3) shall not exceed the amount that would be

4 provided for under the rules described in paragraph

5 (1).

6 (d) NO STATE REQUIREMENT.—The State of Florida

7 shall not be required to provide any compensation for the

8 cancellation of a lease under section 3(b).

9 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

10 For the purposes of this Act—

11 (1) terms defined in the Outer Continental

12 Shelf Lands Act have the meaning given such terms

13 in that Act;

14 (2) references to the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

15 Planning Area shall be to the area so designated in

16 the Department of the Interior Outer Continental

17 Shelf Natural Gas and Oil Resource Management

18 Comprehensive Program 1992–1997 Proposed Final,

19 dated April 1992; and

20 (3) the term ‘‘preleasing activities’’ means ac21 tivities conducted before a lease sale is held, and in22 cludes the scheduling of a lease sale, requests for in23 dustry interest, calls for information and nomina24 tions, area identifications, publication of draft or

25 final environmental impact statements, notices of
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1 sale, and any form of rotary drilling; but such term

2 does not include environmental, geologic, geo3 physical, economic, engineering, or other scientific

4 analyses, studies, and evaluations.

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