BILL NUMBER: AJR 3AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nava and Evans (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Bass, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hayashi, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, and Yamada) ( Coauthors: Senators Pavley, Wiggins, and Yee ) JANUARY 23, 2009 Relative to offshore oil drilling. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 3, as amended, Nava. Offshore oil drilling. This measure would request that the Congress of the United States reinstate the federal offshore oil and gas leasing moratorium for the 2009 fiscal year and beyond. This measure would also memorialize the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions by those policies. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The United States Department of the Interior, acting in President Bush's final days in office, on January 16, 2009, proposed opening up six million acres off of California's coast to drilling for oil and natural gas; and WHEREAS, While the Obama Administration has put a hold on the Department of the Interior's January 16th plan in order to consider various possible impacts of offshore oil development as well as consider input from the public, the expansion of oil development in areas previously protected by the outer continental shelf moratorium remain under consideration; and WHEREAS, Proposed drilling areas include areas off Humboldt and Mendocino Counties and from San Luis Obispo south to San Diego; and WHEREAS, Following the infamous January 29, 1969, oil spill that resulted in the spillage of 3,200,000 gallons of crude oil and that fouled Santa Barbara County's ocean beaches, Californians became even more wary about offshore oil drilling, continuing with the passage of additional oil and gas leasing prohibitions in 1969, 1970, and 1971; and WHEREAS, In 1994, the California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 (Chapter 3.4 (commencing with Section 6240) of Part 1 of Division 6 of the Public Resources Code) became law, creating a comprehensive statewide coastal sanctuary that prohibits, in perpetuity, future oil and gas leasing in state waters, from Mexico to the Oregon border, and that adds leases to the sanctuary as they are quitclaimed to the state; and WHEREAS, In addition, the protection of California's spectacular 1,100-mile coastline is of the utmost importance to a number of our state's coastal and ocean-dependent industries, including tourism and commercial fishing, which contributed over $50 billion to California' s economy in 2003; and WHEREAS, California's ocean waters are also home to four important sanctuaries, that are, by definition, areas of special conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural, archaeological, scientific, educational, and aesthetic qualities and are particularly sensitive to the impacts of oil development; and WHEREAS, Additional offshore oil leasing and production would degrade the quality of our air and water and adversely impact our marine resources, including seismic surveys that could severely impact marine mammals, including threatened and endangered species such as the blue and humpback whale; and WHEREAS, Offshore oil development poses a serious risk of oil spills, especially with the introduction of deepwater drilling technologies and floating oil storage and processing vessels, thereby threatening marine ecosystems, and could have devastating effects on the southern sea otter, listed as a threatened species since 1997, as well as onshore wildlife, birds, and their habitats in the ocean, in estuaries, and on beaches; and WHEREAS, Offshore oil development also leads to the industrialization of the shoreline, creating land use conflicts, visually degrading coastal areas, damaging coastal habitat, and posing potentially life-threatening public safety risks; and WHEREAS, The further development of nonrenewable resources that degrade our air, water, and land is contrary to our state's goals of reducing emissions that cause global warming, improving air quality, and increasing the use of renewable energy; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully requests that the Congress of the United States reinstate the federal offshore oil and gas leasing moratorium for the 2009 fiscal year and beyond; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully opposes the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's legitimate role in energy siting decisions due to the threat posed by those policies and legislation to the integrity of California's coastal and ocean dependent tourism and fishing economies and the consolidation of project review authority with the federal government; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Secretary of the Interior, and to the author for appropriate distribution.