Protect Florida’s Coastline

Legislation Would Protect Florida’s Coastline Far into the Future
Recent Statement of Florida PIRG Director Mark Ferrulo on the introduction of Senator Martinez and Nelson’s Permanent Protection for Florida Act of 2006

“Today, Senators Nelson and Martinez introduced the Florida PIRG supported ‘Permanent Protection for Florida Act,’ a bill to protect Florida’s coast from offshore oil and gas drilling.

This legislation includes a list of coastal protections Floridians have long fought for. From making Florida’s current moratorium against offshore drilling leases permanent to canceling all existing drilling leases in Florida waters, this is a comprehensive bill that would provide long lasting protection for Florida’s world famous coastline. This bill is not only bi-partisan, it’s also bi-coastal, with a provision that extends coastal protections for numerous sensitive coastlines around the country from 2012 until 2020.”

Specifically, under this legislation:

• Florida would be granted permanent protection from any future offshore drilling proposals through enactment of a new “Exclusion Zone” to be put in place all the way around the state’s coastline, and extending outward approximately 150 miles from the panhandle and up to 260 miles off of Tampa Bay including much, but not all, of the Lease Sale 181 Area.

• An area extending 100 miles from the Alabama coast, next to the Florida border and very close to Florida’s panhandle beaches, would also be included in this new “Exclusion Zone”.

• New leasing, exploration, drilling activity and seismic inventories would be permanently banned in this area (as permanent as you can get without amending the U.S. Constitution).

• The 90+ existing and active leases, some as close as 11 miles from our coast, would be permanently cancelled. The holders of those leases would be compensated through rents due and royalty forgiveness for their current drilling activity taking place in the central and western gulf. Each of the existing leases off the Florida coast are loaded guns, cocked and ready to fire, and their cancellation must be the top priority of any campaign to protect Florida’s coast. The Martinez-Nelson bill cancels them outright.

• The Presidential Executive Order that bans leasing off America’s east and west coasts and parts of Alaska would be extended from 2012 to 2020, making this bi-partisan bill also bi-coastal in the scope of new protections included.

• For the first time, a 150 mile buffer zone against drilling on Florida’s east coast would be enacted and made permanent.

What the Bill Does Not Do:

• As stated above, not all of lease sale 181 in the eastern Gulf would be protected under this bill. The White House agreement with the state of Florida that currently protects most of the 181 area expires next year and all indications are that the next 5 year leasing plan would put most, if not all, of this 4 million + acre area on the auction block. While the Martinez-Nelson bill would permanently protect most of this area, approximately 500,000 acres would remain unprotected with passage of this bill.

• The Martinez-Nelson bill does not eliminate or weaken the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), which Florida’s next governor could utilize to stop new drilling anywhere in the eastern Gulf, including areas not protected by this legislation. Pro-drilling advocates have actively sought to eliminate provisions of the CZMA that have historically been one of the most important tools used by Florida decision-makers to protect our beaches from offshore drilling.

“For decades, Floridians and our representatives in Washington have been united in their resolve to protect the unique and fragile nature of our state’s coastal environment. Last year, the oil and gas industry and their allies in Congress were able to fracture that unified voice. I’m optimistic that the Martinez-Nelson bill will provide a legislative rallying cry for permanent protection of our coast that Florida’s entire Congressional delegation can once again link hands across the aisle and fight for.”



FLORIDA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP
926 E. Park Ave.• Tallahassee • FL 32301 • 850-224-3321