[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5871-S5872]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORZINE (for himself and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 1013. A bill to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to 
permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the Outer 
Continental Shelf in the Mid-Atlantic and North Atlantic planning 
areas; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, today, along with Senator Lautenberg, I 
am introducing legislation, the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism, COAST, 
Anti-Drilling Act, to ban oil and gas drilling off the Mid-Atlantic and 
Northern Atlantic coast.
  The people of New Jersey, and other residents of States along the 
Atlantic Coast, do not want oil or gas rigs anywhere near their 
treasured beaches and fishing grounds. Such drilling poses serious 
threats not to our environment, but to our economy, which depends 
heavily on tourism along our shore.
  Until the Bush Administration came into office, there was no reason 
to suspect that drilling was even a remote

[[Page S5872]]

possibility. Since 1982, a statutory moratorium on leasing activities 
in most Outer Continental Shelf, OCS, areas has been included annually 
in Interior Appropriations acts. In addition, President George H.W. 
Bush declared a leasing moratorium on many OCS areas on June 26, 1990 
under section 12 of the OCS Lands Act. On June 12, 1998, President 
Clinton used the same authority to issue a memorandum to the Secretary 
of the Interior that extended the moratorium through 2012 and included 
additional OCS areas.
  Given the long-standing consensus against drilling in these areas, I 
was deeply disturbed to discover that on May 31, 2001, the Minerals 
Management Service released a request for proposals, RFP, to conduct a 
study of the environmental impacts of drilling in the Mid- and North-
Atlantic. The RFP noted that ``there are areas with some reservoir 
potential, for example off the coast of New Jersey.'' In addition, the 
RFP explained that the study would be conducted ``in anticipation of 
managing the exploitation of potential and proven reserves.'' I believe 
that the RFP was not only inappropriate, but probably illegal, and I 
was pleased when at my urging, the Administration rescinded.
  But the Administration is at it again in the energy bill now before 
the Senate. The bill contains provisions that direct the Department of 
Interior to inventory all potential oil and natural gas resources in 
the entire Outer Continental Shelf, including areas off of the New 
Jersey coast. The bill would allow the use of seismic surveys, dart 
core sampling, and other exploration technologies, which could 
negatively impact coastal and marine areas.
  These provisions run directly counter to language that Congress has 
included annually in appropriations bills to prevent leasing, pre-
leasing, and related activities in most areas of the Outer Continental 
Shelf, including areas off the New Jersey coast.
  In my view, it is time for Congress to act to resolve this question 
once and for all. That is why I am introducing the COAST Anti-Drilling 
Act. This bill would permanently ban drilling for oil, gas and other 
minerals in the Mid- and North-Atlantic.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this important 
legislation. Doing so would ensure the people of New Jersey and 
neighboring States that they need not fear the specter of oil rigs off 
their beaches. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1013

       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 ``Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism 
     Anti-Drilling Act'' or the ``COAST Anti-Drilling Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN CERTAIN AREAS 
                   OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

       Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(p) Prohibition of Oil and Gas Leasing in Certain Areas 
     of the Outer Continental Shelf.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of this section or any other law, the Secretary of 
     the Interior shall not issue a lease for the exploration, 
     development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any other 
     mineral in--
       ``(1) the Mid-Atlantic planning area; or
       ``(2) the North Atlantic planning area.''.
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