California Assembly Bill AJR3 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AJR 3AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 19, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 1, 2010 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, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Furutani, Hayashi, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner, Swanson, Torlakson, Torrico, and Yamada) (Coauthors: Senators Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley, Price, Wiggins, and Yee) JANUARY 23, 2009 Relative to  campaign finance reform   offshore oil drilling  . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 3, as amended, Nava. Offshore oil drilling. This measure would memorialize the Legislature's support of legislation currently pending in the United States Congress that would protect the Pacific Coast from new offshore oil drilling. 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 due to those policies. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, Prior to 2009, a bipartisan consensus in the Congress of the United States protected the California coastline from expanded offshore drilling for over 27 years; and WHEREAS, The tragic and destructive oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which led to the death of 11 workers and millions of gallons of oil spilled into the sea, is a grim reminder of the risks associated with oil drilling; and WHEREAS, Following the infamous January 29, 1969, oil spill that resulted in the spillage of 3.2 million gallons of crude oil and fouled Santa Barbara County's ocean beaches, Californians became even more wary about offshore oil drilling, spurring 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, with 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 the use of seismic surveys that could severely impact marine mammals, including threatened and endangered species such as the blue  whale  and the 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 opposes any 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 Legislature of the State of California supports legislation currently pending in the United States Congress that would protect the Pacific Coast from any new offshore oil drilling; 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.