California Gov. Gray Davis has joined the California CoastalCommission and the state attorney general’s office in a lawsuitagainst the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to block extensionsDOI Secretary Bruce Babbitt granted last week on 36 undeveloped oiland gas leases offshore.

The governor charges the lease extensions were granted withoutanalyzing the environmental effects under the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act and without first allowing the CoastalCommission to analyze them under the federal Coastal ZoneManagement Act for consistency with state requirements. Under theact the Coastal Commission has the right to review requests forsuspension/extension but the DOI never gave the commission thatopportunity.

The leases in question, which are located off Ventura, SantaBarbara and San Luis Obispo counties in Southern California, wereissued between 15 and 31 years ago at a total cost to producers ofabout $1.2 billion. Since then they have been through theregulatory ringer, including several state and federalenvironmental reviews and multiple suspensions. Nothing has everbeen developed on them, but producers are eager to move forwardwith revised drilling plans. The leases are not subject to thedrilling moratorium that was renewed last year by PresidentClinton. Leaseholders include Aera Energy (Mobil and Shell),Conoco, Nuevo Energy and Noble Affiliates.

The drilling suspension issued last week by Babbitt is designedto enable the companies to move forward with their revised plans,which will be subject to a new environmental analysis conducted bythe DOI. In a letter to California Coastal Commission Chair SaraWan, Babbitt said the environmental reviews on each lease wouldtake 18 to 45 months.

Gov. Davis and the state’s Coastal Commission previously hadexpressed concerns about expanded offshore drilling, and Babbittsaid last week he shares those concerns, which is why the DOIintends to conduct an environmental review.

“Sharing concerns about offshore drilling and issuing leaseextensions? I don’t know, but they don’t seem to go together,” saidDeputy Attorney General Jamee Jordan Patterson. But that’s not theissue. The problem is the DOI didn’t give the state an opportunityto review the requests for extension, which by law it should havedone, she said.

For some time, Davis had urged the DOI to withhold the leaseextensions in an effort to let the leases expire. Most recently, heinstructed California Resources Secretary Mary Nichols to identifyall legal and administrative actions available to stop offshore oiland gas exploration and production on the 40 undeveloped tracks inthe Outer Continental Shelf off California’s coast.

“I have long been an opponent of offshore oil drilling,” Davissaid. “If it were left up to me I would impose a moratorium onthese leases. A great deal has changed in 30 years which in my mindmeans these leases are out of compliance. We believe their actionsare an incorrect reading of the law. To mix metaphors, Californiais entitled to be the engine, not the caboose on this train. We areentitled to have a say at the beginning of this process, not theend of the process.”

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