For the first time in 14 years, a House subcommittee has voted to lift moratoria on oil and gas leasing off most of the U.S. shoreline.
The House Interior appropriations subcommittee voted 7-6 to lift a ban against the Interior Department spending money to plan offshore lease sales in specific areas.
The bill next goes to the full appropriations committee, where the vote also is expected to be close, Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.), appropriations committee chairman, said the ban is "misguided policy" and should be lifted.
If the full committee does not reinstate the moratoria, opponents will seek to do so when the bill goes to the House floor. Last week House congressmen from California introduced a bill to permanently block the sales.
Current moratoria block leasing off California, in Alaska's Bristol Bay, areas of the Atlantic, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico off Florida.
Lifting the moratoria will have little practical effect in the near term. President Bush issued an executive order blocking leasing until the turn of the century in all the areas but Bristol Bay And the Interior's 5-year leasing plan, which expires next year, does not call for sales in any of the regions.
In other action, the subcommittee extended the moratorium blocking Interior from listing new wildlife and plants under the Endangered Species Act. It also reduced funding for the National Biological Survey by one third.
REACTIONS
President Clinton said of the subcommittee vote, "This action is a mistake, and I will have no part of it. I will not allow oil and gas drilling off our nation's most sensitive coastlines on my watch."
Robert Stewart, National Ocean Industries Association president, said, "The ban makes sense politically to some Congressmen, but there is no logical basis for it."
He said if Congress lifts the moratoria, the question will be what sales-if any-the Clinton administration would include in the 1997-2002 lease sale schedule. He pointed out that once a 5 year plan is set, it is very difficult to add sales.
An American Petroleum Institute spokesman said, "We have been working for this for a long time. We have opposed every moratorium all these years. We're pleased it's finally going the other direction."
Interior Sec. Bruce Babbitt said the moratoria should be continued to enable Interior "to continue our dialogue with states and communities and pursue creative solutions."
Cynthia Quarterman, director of the Minerals Management Service, said, "MMS has been working with affected parties to resolve longstanding conflicts over OCS natural gas and oil leasing and development.
"We have made great strides in moving toward consensus concerning development of known reserves of natural gas and oil in some of the most contentious areas of the OCS.
"The current moratoria has provided the affected parties a safety net that enabled the consensus building process to move forward. We believe it is critical for the nation's offshore development plans to be in sync with local communities and states and not to get ahead of the public will."
Quarterman said MMS will release its draft 5 year leasing plan in July for comment. "That plan will define this administration's movement away from the conflict we inherited toward consensus, which is based on sound science and input from affected parties."
