Tammy L. Shaw, 2L
 

At the National Oceans Conference in June, President Clinton announced a ten year extension on a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal submerged lands off much of the U.S. coastline. The original ban, imposed in 1990 by President Bush, prohibited new federal leases for oil and gas drilling activity. President Clinton's extension prohibits new leases until the year 2012.

Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA),¹ the Department of the Interior has the power to regulate the resources of the outer continental shelf, including oil and gas deposits. In 1990, President Bush directed the Secretary of the Interior to delay leasing and development in these waters until the year 2002. The moratorium affected virtually all of the coasts of the North Atlantic, California, Washington, Oregon, New England, Mid-Atlantic and the Northern Aleutian Basin. It also included the Eastern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Southwest Florida, an area extending 700 miles from Baldwin County, Alabama, southward to the Florida Keys.

In his announcement of the moratorium, President Bush explained his desire "to achieve a balance between the need to provide energy for the American people and the need to protect unique and sensitive coastal and marine environments." In June, President Clinton acknowledged this balance as well, noting that despite the fact there have been few oil spills in American waters, we must always recognize the risk of such occurrences.² Recognizing that offshore oil activity threatens fragile coastal ecosystems, President Clinton's directive extends the ban on new leasing and development in the areas covered by the original moratorium and places a permanent ban on all leasing in areas designated Marine Sanctuaries under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.³

Effect on Gulf Leasing

The extension of the moratorium leaves the status quo in the Gulf of Mexico. The Western Gulf, which was not included in the original moratorium, remains open to new lease sales, while the Eastern region remains closed to any new leases. According to Gary Goeke at the Minerals Management Service's Eastern Gulf Information office, because their leasing strategy is of a long-term nature, their plans are not usually affected by short-term events.⁴ Thus, the approaching termination of the 1990 moratorium in 2002 had not become a part of any long-term planning for the Eastern Gulf.

While the moratorium extension maintains closure of all unleased areas in the Eastern Gulf, one strip south of Gulf Shores, Alabama, will be offered in a lease sale in the near future. According to Mr. Goeke, this strip had been a part of a strategic plan for many years and as such, is an exception to the ban on new leases in this area of the Gulf. The Minerals Management Service will continue to offer leases in the Western Gulf in biannual sales.
 

NOTES

1. 43 U.S.C. §§ 1301 - 1356 (1998).

2. Remarks to the National Oceans Conference in Monterey, California, 34 WEEKLY COMP. PRES. DOC. 1107-1111 (June 12, 1998).

3. Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing Disposition, 34 WEEKLY COMP. PRES. DOC. 1111 (June 12, 1998).

4. Telephone Interview with Gary Goeke, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Eastern Gulf Information Office, Pensacola, Florida (July 12, 1998).
 
 

University of Mississippi