[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11572-S11574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MACK (for himself and Mr. Graham):
  S. 1654. A bill to protect the coast of Florida; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.


                  florida coast protection act of 2000

  Mr. MACK. Mr. President, Senator Graham and I rise again to introduce 
the Florida Coast Protection Act of 2000. This legislation will amend 
current law to give states the ability to have all pertinent 
environmental information on hand before they are forced to rule on oil 
and gas drilling development plans, and it would also implement a 
permanent ban on leasing in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
  Mr. President, Floridians have always been justifiably concerned 
about the prospect of oil and gas exploration in the waters off our 
coast. We are well aware of the risk this activity poses to our 
environment and our economy because, in Florida, a healthy environment 
means a healthy economy. Millions of people come to Florida each year 
to enjoy the climate, our beaches, and our fine quality of life. The 
tourism industry in Florida provides millions of jobs and generates 
revenues in the billion of dollars. It would take only one disaster to 
end Florida's good standing as America's vacationland. We cannot afford 
to let that happen.
  Throughout my tenure in the Senate I have opposed exploration and 
drilling off Florida's coasts. My goal--and the goal of the entire 
Florida Congressional delegation--is to permanently remove this threat 
from Florida's coast. In recent years, we have stood together in 
opposition to drilling and have successfully extended the annual 
moratorium on all new leasing activities on Florida's continental 
shelf. While the opposition of Floridians to oil drilling is well-
documented, the reality remains that leases have been issued, potential 
drilling sites have been explored, and it is likely that actual 
extraction of resources could take place within the next few years.
  In order to prevent a repeat of the past mistake of leasing in the 
OCS off Florida, our legislation makes permanent the ban on any new 
leasing activity within 100 miles of our coast. In addition, it gives 
states the flexibility to make a determination regarding the 
consistency of oil and gas development and production plans as required 
by the Coastal Zone Management Act after an environmental impact 
statement detailing the direct and cumulative impacts of the project is 
completed by the Minerals Management Service.
  It is this second provision which is so important. Many in this body 
may not be aware that my state is currently engaged in a battle to keep 
drilling rigs off its coasts. In the process, the government of the 
state of Florida was forced, by current law, to make a consistency 
determination on a pending development plan without the benefit of the 
environmental impact statement. In fact, the state was forced to 
conclude that the plan is inconsistent with its own coastal zone 
management

[[Page S11573]]

program months before the environmental impact statement was concluded. 
As I stand here, the EIS for this development plan is still not 
finalized and its draft is currently the subject of public hearings. 
Without the benefit of this detailed study, the state is unable to 
accurately assess the primary, secondary and cumulative impacts 
drilling will have on our coast, estuaries, marine life and our 
economy. No state should be put in a similar position and our bill 
seeks to correct this.
  Mr. President, removing the threat of oil and gas exploration 
permanently from Florida's coast will require responsible leadership 
from the Congress. This reasonable legislation, in my view, will 
provide states with critical information needed to assess risks to my 
state's economic and environmental well-being. I urge my colleagues to 
support this worthwhile effort. We look forward to working with Senator 
Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources, to meet this goal. I thank the Chair and ask unanimous 
consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1654

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Florida Coast Protection Act 
     of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 307(c)(3) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 
     1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456(c)(3)) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following:
       ``(C) Necessary data and information.--For purposes of 
     subparagraph (B), a State shall not be considered to receive 
     all necessary data and information with respect to a plan for 
     exploration, development, or production before the date on 
     which the State receives a copy of an environmental impact 
     statement under section 102(2)(C) of the National 
     Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) that 
     applies to that exploration, development, or production.''.

     SEC. 3. UNIFORM DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 25 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1351(a) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (a)(1), by striking ``other than the Gulf 
     of Mexico,'' each place it appears; and
       (2) by striking subsection (l).

     SEC. 4. OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION.

       Section 25(e) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 
     1972 (43 U.S.C. 1351(e)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``(e)(1) At least'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(e) Major Federal Action.--
       ``(1) Outside the gulf of mexico.--
       ``(A) In general.--At least'';
       (2) by striking ``(2) The Secretary'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(B) Preliminary and final plans.--The Secretary''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) In the gulf of mexico.--
       ``(A) In general.--The approval of a development and 
     production plan in a covered area (as defined in section 
     8(p)(1)) shall be considered to be a major Federal action for 
     the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
     (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
       ``(B) Time for review following receipt of environmental 
     impact statement.--In the case of a development and 
     production plan in a covered area, the Secretary shall ensure 
     that each affected State for which a development and 
     production plan affects any land use or water use in the 
     coastal zone of the State with a coastal zone management 
     program approved under section 306 of the Coastal Zone 
     Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1455), receives the final 
     environmental impact statement not less than 180 days before 
     determining concurrence or objection to the coastal zone 
     consistency certification that is required to accompany the 
     environmental impact statement under section 307(c)(3)(B) of 
     the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 
     1456(c)(3)(B)).''.

     SEC. 5. LEASING ACTIVITY OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA.

       Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1337) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
     inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (p), the 
     Secretary''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(p) Leasing Activity Off the Coast of Florida.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) Covered area.--The term `covered area' means--
       ``(i) the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area (as 
     established by the Secretary) which is adjacent to the State 
     of Florida as defined by 43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A);
       ``(ii) the Straits of Florida Planning Area (as established 
     by the Secretary); and
       ``(iii) the South Atlantic Planning Area (as established by 
     the Secretary) which is adjacent to the State of Florida as 
     defined by 43 U.S.C. 1333 (a)(2)(A);
     within 100 miles off the coast of Florida.
       ``(B) Preleasing activity.--
       ``(i) In general.--The term `preleasing activity' means an 
     activity relating to a lease that is conducted before a lease 
     sale is held.
       ``(ii) Inclusions.--The term `preleasing activity' 
     includes--

       ``(I) the scheduling of a lease sale;
       ``(II) the issuance of a request for industry interest;
       ``(III) the issuance of a call for information or a 
     nomination;
       ``(IV) the identification of an area for prospective 
     leasing;
       ``(V) the publication of a draft or final environmental 
     impact statement or a notice of sale; and
       ``(VI) the performance of any form of rotary drilling in a 
     prospective lease area.

       ``(iii) Exclusions.--The term `preleasing activity' does 
     not include an environmental, geologic, geophysical, 
     economic, engineering, or other scientific analysis, study, 
     or evaluation.
       ``(2) Prohibition of preleasing activities and lease 
     sales.--The Secretary shall not conduct any preleasing 
     activity or hold a lease sale under this Act in a covered 
     area.''.

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague, Senator 
Mack, to introduce legislation that will protect the coast of Florida 
in the future from the damages of offshore drilling.
  I introduced similar legislation in last year's Congress that sought 
to codify the annual moratorium on leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and 
ensure that states receive all environmental documentation prior to 
making a decision on whether to allow drilling off of its shores. That 
legislation did not pass in the 105th Congress.
  Today, I am introducing legislation that takes these steps, plus 
several others. The Florida Coast Protection Act of 2000 will protect 
Florida's fragile coastline from outer continental shelf leasing and 
drilling in three important ways.
  First, we transform the annual moratorium on leasing and preleasing 
activity off the coast of Florida into a permanent ban covering 
Planning Areas in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, 
and the South Atlantic Planning Area.
  Second, the Florida Coast Protection Act corrects an egregious 
conflict in regulatory provisions where an effected state is required 
to make a consistency determination for proposed oil and gas production 
or development under the Coastal Zone Management Act prior to receiving 
the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the Mineral Management 
Service.
  Our bill requires that the EIS is provided to affected states 6 
months before they make a consistency determination, and it requires 
that every oil and gas development plan have an EIS completed prior to 
development.
  Third, our bill corrects the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and 
ensures that oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico are subject to 
the same rules and regulations that apply to oil and gas leases in 
other areas.
  What would this bill mean for Florida? The elimination of preleasing 
activity and lease sales off the coast of Florida protects our economic 
and environmental future.
  More than 100 years ago, my grandfather settled in Northwest Florida. 
My mother grew up near the Gulf of Mexico in Walton County. For years, 
I have taken my children and grandchildren to places like Grayton Beach 
so that they can appreciate the natural treasures and local cultures 
that are port of both their own heritage and that of the Florida 
Panhandle.
  We have a solemn obligation to preserve these important aspects of 
our state's history for all of our children and grandchildren. Much of 
our identity as Floridians is tied to the thousands of miles of 
pristine coastline that link Jacksonville to Miami and Key West to 
Pensacola.

  The Florida coastline will not be safe if offshore oil and gas 
resources are developed. For example, a 1997 Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) study indicated that even in the absence of oil leakage, a 
typical oil rig can discharge between 6,500 and 13,000 barrels of waste 
per year. The same study also warned of further harmful impact on 
marine mammal populations, fish populations, and air quality.
  Nor are leakages or waste discharge the only drilling-related 
environmental consequences. Physical disturbances caused by anchoring, 
pipeline placement, rig construction, and the resuspension of bottom 
sediments can

[[Page S11574]]

also be destructive. Given these conclusions, it isn't hard to imagine 
the environmental havoc that oil or natural gas drilling could wreak 
along the sensitive Panhandle coastline.
  Because the Gulf of Mexico's natural beauty and diverse habitats 
attract visitors from all over the world and support a variety of 
commercial activities, an oil or natural gas accident in the Gulf of 
Mexico could also have a crippling effect on the Northwest Florida 
economy. In 1996, the cities of Panama City, Pensacola, and Fort Walton 
Beach reported $1.5 billion in sales to tourists. That same year, the 
Panhandle's five westernmost counties generated more than $8 million in 
public revenues from visitors paying the state's tourist development 
tax. And Florida's fishing industry benefits from the fact that nearly 
90 percent of reef fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico come from the West 
Florida continental shelf.
  Florida's fishing industry benefits from the fact that nearly 90 
percent of reef fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico come from the West 
Florida continental shelf.
  For the last several years, I have been working with Senator Connie 
Mack, U.S. Congressman Joe Scarborough, and others to head off the 
threat of oil and natural gas drilling. In June of 1997, we introduced 
legislation to cancel six natural gas leases seventeen miles off the 
Pensacola coast and compensate Mobil Oil Corporation for its 
investment. Five days after the introduction of that legislation and 
two months before it was scheduled to begin exploratory drilling off 
Florida's Panhandle, Mobile ended its operation and returned its leases 
to the federal government.
  While that action meant that Panhandle residents faced one less 
economic and environmental catastrophe-in-the-making, it did not 
completely eliminate the threats posed by oil and natural gas drilling 
off Florida's Gulf Coast. Florida's Congressional representatives fight 
hard each year to extend the federal moratorium on new oil and natural 
gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. But that solution is temporary. So in 
June of 1998, we introduced the Florida Gulf Coast Protection Act to 
prevent the federal government from issuing leases in the future.
  This legislation did not pass during the 105th Congress. Today we are 
introducing the Florida Gulf Coast Protection Act for the year 2000. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues on the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee to move this legislation forward and protect the 
coast of Florida for our children and grandchildren.
                                 ______