[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 49 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4127-S4128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORZINE (for himself and Mr. Lautenberg):
  S. 878. 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 Anti-
Drilling Act, or 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 only to our environment, but to our economy, which depends 
heavily on tourism along our shore. Coastal tourism is New Jersey's 
second-largest industry, and the New Jersey Shore is one of the fastest 
growing regions in the country. According to the New Jersey Department 
of Commerce, tourism in the Garden State generates more than $31 
billion in spending, directly and indirectly supports more than 836,000 
jobs, more than 20 percent of total State employment, generates more 
than $16.6 billion in wages, and brings in more than $5.5 billion in 
tax revenues to the State.
  Until the Bush administration came into office, there was no reason 
to suspect that drilling was even a remote 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 longstanding 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 
believed that the RFP was inappropriate and misguided, and I was 
pleased when at my urging and the urging of other coastal Senators, the 
administration rescinded it.
  After our strong bipartisan coalition fought off the Department of 
the Interior RFP, our coastal coalition came together again to fight 
off the Outer Continental Shelf inventory provisions of last year's 
energy bill. The bill directed the Department of the 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 have allowed the use of seismic surveys, dart core 
sampling, and other exploration technologies, all of which would leave 
these areas vulnerable to oil spills, drilling discharges and damage to 
coastal wetlands.
  These provisions run directly counter to language that Congress has 
included annually in appropriations bills to prevent leasing, 
preleasing, and related activities in most areas of the Outer 
Continental Shelf, including areas off the New Jersey coast. 
Fortunately, this provision was dropped last year, but it is likely 
that it will resurface during debate on the Energy bill this year, and 
it is clear that we need to once and for all ban drilling off the coast 
of New Jersey and the rest of the Mid- and North-Atlantic.
  So considering the minimal benefit and significant downside of 
drilling off the coast of New Jersey, it is not worth threatening over 
800,000 New Jersey jobs to recover what the MMS estimated in 2000 to be 
196 million barrels

[[Page S4128]]

of oil, only enough to last the country barely 10 days.
  I certainly don't think it is worth the risk, and 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. The Clean Ocean and Safe 
Tourism Anti-Drilling Act 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 bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 878

       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.''.
                                 ______