I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 72

Imposing certain restrictions and requirements on the leasing under the

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of lands offshore Florida, and for

other purposes.

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

Imposing certain restrictions and requirements on the leasing

under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of lands

offshore Florida, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) preleasing, leasing, exploration, and develop6 ment and production of oil and gas from the outer

7 Continental Shelf without adequate scientific and en8 vironmental information does not provide the level of
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1 protection needed for the conservation of the natural

2 resources of the Nation’s coastal areas;

3 (2) the Secretary of the Interior, assigned the

4 primary responsibility for the proper stewardship of

5 the Nation’s public lands and outer Continental

6 Shelf, is required to provide adequate environmental

7 analysis under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), the National Environ9 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

10 and other Federal laws, before such lands are leased

11 to develop oil and gas resources; and

12 (3) to protect the marine, coastal, and human

13 environments of coastal States, the citizens of such

14 States are entitled to have an adequate body of sci15 entific and environmental information, with a mini16 mal level of uncertainty, before such leasing and de17 velopment are carried out.

18 SEC. 2. AREAS COVERED.

19 The areas to which this Act applies are—

20 (1) that part of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

21 Planning Area that is east of the lateral seaward

22 boundary between the States of Florida and Ala23 bama;

24 (2) the Straits of Florida Planning Area; and
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1 (3) that part of the South Atlantic Planning

2 Area that is south of the lateral seaward boundary

3 between the States of Florida and Georgia.

4 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.

5 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The Secretary shall not con6 duct any preleasing activities, hold any lease sale, or ap7 prove or permit any exploration, production, or drilling ac8 tivities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43

9 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) in any area described in section 2

10 unless—

11 (1) all assessments, studies, and research re12 quired for such area under section 4 have been com13 pleted;

14 (2) all such assessments, studies, and research

15 have been peer reviewed, by qualified scientists not

16 employed by the Federal Government, as provided

17 for and supervised by the Joint Task Force; and

18 (3) the Secretary has transmitted to the Con19 gress and to the Governor of Florida a report, which

20 has been reviewed by the Joint Task Force, certify21 ing that the available physical oceanographic, eco22 logical, and socioeconomic information, and other en23 vironmental, endangered and threatened species, and

24 marine mammal information, is adequate to enable

25 the Secretary to carry out his responsibilities in such
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1 area under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

2 and other Federal laws, with a minimal level of un3 certainty, with respect to all preleasing activities,

4 leasing, and exploration, production, and drilling ac5 tivities.

6 (b) SPECIFIC PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding sub7 section (a), the Secretary shall not conduct any preleasing

8 activity, hold any lease sale, or approve or permit any ex9 ploration, production, or drilling activities under the Outer

10 Continental Shelf Lands Act in that part of the Eastern

11 Gulf of Mexico Planning Area that is south of 26 degrees

12 north latitude and east of 86 degrees west longitude.

13 (c) ADDITIONAL PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding

14 subsection (a), the Secretary shall not conduct any

15 preleasing activity or hold any lease sale in any area de16 scribed in section 2 until after the expiration of the period

17 covered by the next oil and gas leasing program issued

18 under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands

19 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) after the leasing program in effect

20 under such section as of the date of enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENTS, STUDIES, AND RESEARCH.

22 The assessments, studies, and research referred to in

23 section 3(a)(1) and (2) are as follows:
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1 (1) EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO PLANNING

2 AREA.—With respect to the area described in section

3 2(1):

4 (A) The Assessment of the Historical, So5 cial, and Economic Impacts of Outer Continen6 tal Shelf Development on Gulf Coast Commu7 nities, to be conducted by the Minerals Manage8 ment Service.

9 (B) The Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Ma10 rine Ecosystem Study, to be conducted by the

11 National Biological Survey.

12 (C) Any additional physical oceanographic

13 studies identified and recommended by the

14 Northeast Gulf of Mexico Physical Oceanog15 raphy Workshop conducted by the Minerals

16 Management Service in conjunction with Flor17 ida State University.

18 (D) Any additional studies or research in

19 such area needed to acquire information where

20 one of the National Research Council’s reports

21 found available information inadequate.

22 (E) Any additional physical oceanographic,

23 ecological, or socioeconomic or other environ24 mental studies or endangered and threatened

25 species and marine mammal surveys requested
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1 by the Governor of Florida or the Joint Task

2 Force to minimize the uncertainty about the ef3 fects of all preleasing activities, leasing, and ex4 ploration, production, and drilling activities on

5 the marine environment, the coastal environ6 ment, and the human environment of the State

7 of Florida, including any such request for the

8 expansion of assessments, studies, or research

9 described in subparagraphs (A) through (D).

10 (2) STRAITS OF FLORIDA PLANNING AREA.—

11 With respect to the area described in section 2(2):

12 (A) The Assessment of the Historical, So13 cial, and Economic Impacts of Outer Continen14 tal Shelf Development on Gulf Coast Commu15 nities, to be conducted by the Minerals Manage16 ment Service.

17 (B) Any additional physical oceanographic,

18 ecological, or socioeconomic or other environ19 mental studies or endangered and threatened

20 species and marine mammal surveys requested

21 by the Governor of Florida or the Joint Task

22 Force to minimize the uncertainty about the ef23 fects of all preleasing activities, leasing, and ex24 ploration, production, and drilling activities on

25 the marine environment, the coastal environ-
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1 ment, and the human environment of the State

2 of Florida.

3 (3) SOUTH ATLANTIC PLANNING AREA.—With

4 respect to the area described in section 2(3), any

5 physical oceanographic, ecological, or socioeconomic

6 or other environmental studies or endangered and

7 threatened species and marine mammal surveys re8 quested by the Governor of Florida or the Joint

9 Task Force to minimize the uncertainty about the

10 effects of all preleasing activities, leasing, and explo11 ration, production, and drilling activities on the ma12 rine environment, the coastal environment, and the

13 human environment of the State of Florida.

14 SEC. 5. JOINT TASK FORCE.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established a

16 Joint Federal-State Outer Continental Shelf Task Force

17 for the purpose of carrying out the responsibilities as18 signed such Joint Task Force under this Act.

19 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Joint Task Force estab20 lished under subsection (a) shall consist of—

21 (1) one representative each from the Environ22 mental Protection Agency, the Minerals Manage23 ment Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

24 Administration, and the United States Fish and

25 Wildlife Service;
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1 (2) four representatives from the State of Flor2 ida appointed from a list provided by the Governor

3 of such State; and

4 (3) three members appointed by the Secretary

5 of Commerce from a list of individuals nominated by

6 the National Academy of Sciences who are profes7 sional scientists in the fields of physical oceanog8 raphy, marine ecology, and social science.

9 (c) COMPENSATION.—(1) Members of the Joint Task

10 Force appointed under subsection (b)(3), while performing

11 official duties under this Act shall receive compensation

12 for travel and transportation expenses under section 5703

13 of title 5, United States Code.

14 (2) Members of the Joint Task Force appointed

15 under subsection (b)(3) may be compensated at a rate to

16 be fixed by the Secretary of Commerce, but not in excess

17 of the maximum rate of pay for grade GS–18 provided

18 in the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5,

19 United States Code, for each day such member spends

20 performing the duties of the Joint Task Force.

21 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.

22 Approval of the first exploration plan submitted after

23 the date of enactment of this Act under section 11 of the

24 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) in

25 each of the 3 areas described in section 2 (1), (2), and
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1 (3) shall be subject to the requirement of a detailed state2 ment submitted under section 102(2)(C) of the National

3 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

4 4332(2)(C)).

5 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

6 Nothing in this Act shall affect any prohibition in any

7 other law against any activities on the outer Continental

8 Shelf.

9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec11 retary $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1996, 1997,

12 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 for carrying out this Act.

13 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

14 For the purposes of this Act—

15 (1) terms defined in the Outer Continental

16 Shelf Lands Act have the meaning given such terms

17 in that Act;

18 (2) references to specific outer Continental

19 Shelf planning areas shall be to areas so designated

20 in the Department of the Interior Outer Continental

21 Shelf Natural Gas and Oil Resource Management

22 Comprehensive Program 1992–1997 Proposed Final,

23 dated April 1992;

24 (3) the term ‘‘adequate’’ means sufficiently

25 complete to enable necessary decisions to be made
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1 under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and

2 of sufficient scientific quality to be repeatable, reli3 able, and valid in measurements and analysis with

4 appropriate methods and subject;

5 (4) the term ‘‘Joint Task Force’’ means the

6 Joint Federal-State Outer Continental Shelf Task

7 Force established under section 5;

8 (5) the term ‘‘National Research Council’s re9 ports’’ means—

10 (A) the report entitled ‘‘The Adequacy of

11 Environmental Information for Outer Continen12 tal Shelf Oil and Gas Decisions: Florida and

13 California’’ issued in 1989 by the Council’s

14 Committee to Review the Outer Continental

15 Shelf Environmental Studies Program and sup16 ported by the President’s Outer Continental

17 Shelf Leasing and Development Task Force

18 through Department of the Interior Contract

19 No. 1435000130495; and

20 (B) parts I, II, and III of the ‘‘Assessment

21 of the U. S. Outer Continental Shelf Environ22 mental Studies Program’’ issued in 1990 and

23 1992 by the committee referred to in subpara24 graph (A), with support from Department of
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1 the Interior Contract No. 14–12–001–30342;

2 and

3 (6) the term ‘‘preleasing activities’’ means ac4 tivities conducted before a lease sale is held, and in5 cludes the scheduling of a lease, requests for indus6 try interest, calls for information and nominations,

7 area identifications, publication of draft or final en8 vironmental impact statements, notices of sale, and

9 any form of rotary drilling; but such term does not

10 include environmental, geologic, geophysical, eco11 nomic, engineering, or other scientific analyses, stud12 ies, and evaluations.

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