February 26, 1970
Page 4970
S. 3516 – INTRODUCTION OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL PRESERVATION ACT OF 1970
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, on January 27, 1969, a well blew out on the Union Oil Co.'s platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel. In the days that followed oil covered most of the waters and beaches of the channel, resulting in untold damages to property and economic loss to the coastal communities of the area. We will probably never know the extent of environmental damage.
The leak has ebbed, but it continues to threaten the California coast. It has not been stopped.
A special Presidential study panel concluded that "it is less hazardous to proceed with development of the lease than to attempt to seal the structure with its oil content intact." Based on that panel's findings, drilling and pumping of oil resumed on the Federal leases in the channel. The panel balanced the hazards and concluded that continued oil development was appropriate. Yet the threat to the environment continues.
The balance the panel thought it had achieved is precarious, and its conclusions are not so clear as unstable geologic conditions of the area continue to cause serious concern. The relief of pressure in this area may take years. In such a dangerous situation, further pumping of oil in the channel for whatever purpose should not be left to oil companies concerned primarily with profits justified by the need to "relieve pressure" and "halt seeps." The people of Santa Barbara do not believe that we should take this chance, and I agree with them.
I, therefore, introduce for myself and Senators BAYH, EAGLETON, MONTOYA, and RANDOLPH, legislation to provide for the orderly termination of mineral development of the Outer Continental Shelf lands in the Santa Barbara Channel. The bill would:
Require the Secretary of the Interior to assume the control and management of platform A and to take whatever action is necessary to prevent further blowouts and to stop further oil seepage;
Provide for the use of safe and esthetically acceptable devices to reduce oil pressure if necessary and to collect the oil obtained through the use of such devices;
Prohibit any new exploration or drilling of oil from these lands;
Terminate permanently in an orderly and safe manner all mineral operations in this area; and
Provide for the orderly removal of platforms from this area.
The bill would authorize the Secretary to enter into negotiations to pay damages to existing mineral lessees in the area, less costs and damages incurred by the United States. These lessees could sue for such damages in the Court of Claims, and the court would decide whether such termination to protect other resources of the shelf was an inherent part of the lease and therefore not compensable.
In a letter of May 29, 1969, to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs regarding similar legislation, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States stated that:
It could be argued that the termination of drilling on Federal leases in the Santa Barbara channel would be noncompensable exercise of the police powers of the sovereign or that the possibility of termination was inherent in the issuance of the lease, at least when necessary to protect other resource and environmental values threatened by operations of the Federal leases.
My bill recognizes this argument and, without attempting to decide it, directs the court to consider it in any suit for damages.
Finally, the bill would make permanent the ecological preserve established in March 1969, by public land order, and set aside the remainder of the Federal lands in the channel.
I ask that the bill be printed in the RECORD at this point.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be received and appropriately referred; and, without objection, the bill will be printed in the RECORD.
The bill (S. 3516) to provide for the control and prevention of further pollution by oil discharges from Federal lands off the State pf California, introduced by Mr. MUSKIE (for himself and other Senators), was received, read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
S. 3516
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Santa Barbara Channel Preservation Act of 1970".
SEC. 2. The Congress finds and declares that
(a) discharges or potential discharges of oil resulting from, or caused by, exploration, drilling, pumping, or other mineral operations conducted on Federal lands constitute a threat to the total environment;
(b) the urgency for exploration and development of oil and gas and other minerals of the submerged lands of the outer continental shelf always must be weighed against the need to protect and enhance our environment;
(c) inadequate consideration is too often given to the physical and natural conditions of the lands and resources of the outer continental shelf and the impact on the environment if mineral operations are permitted in the rush to explore and develop the mineral resources of the shelf;
(d) the leasing of the minerals of the outer continental shelf lands within the Santa Barbara Channel off the State of California is an example of such inadequate consideration and of the disastrous consequences to our environment that result when man strives to develop more, and conserve less;
(e) oil discharges resulting from mineral operations conducted on these lands have occurred and are continuing to occur with resulting adverse environmental effects;
(f) a special scientific panel formed to study the future of one mineral lease operation in the Santa Barbara channel found this operation hazardous, but also concluded that it was less hazardous to proceed with rapid development of this lease to stop the seepage and reduce the formation pressures and recommended certain remedial measures;
(g) the continued or intermitten discharge of oil in this area, despite these measures, constitutes a continuing hazard to the environment and is a source of deep national concern;
(h) in view of this hazard and concern it is not in the national interest to permit further mineral development in the Santa Barbara Channel area to supplement our national mineral supply and to provide temporary added revenues to the United States Treasury when such long-lasting and often irrevocable adverse effects to the environment may result at any time; and
(i) it is therefore the purpose of this Act to prevent any further adverse environmental effects from these mineral operations and, in particular, to protect other resources of the lands and waters of the outer continental shelf in the Santa Barbara Channel.
SEC. 3. In furtherance of the purpose of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall:
(a) assume the operations immediately of all mineral exploration, drilling, or pumping operations being conducted on the effective date of this Act on Federal lands within the Santa Barbara Channel from which oil has been or is being discharged into the waters of said Channel for the purpose of preventing further blowouts and to stop further oil discharge and seepage with a maximum of safety;
(b) construct, install, and operate, where necessary, ocean floor pumps or other no less safe devices to reduce formation pressure as a further means of reducing and stopping further oil discharge and seepage, and to dispose of any oil recovered by this process competitively or as part of any settlement reached under section 5 of this Act;
(c) prohibit immediately the initiation of any further mineral exploration of, or the drilling of wells in, such lands under existing or future leases;
(d) terminate permanently in an orderly and safe manner all mineral operations conducted under any Federal lease on lands of the outer continental shelf within the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California; and
(e) provide for the orderly removal of all platforms. fixed structures, artificial islands, and pipelines by the owners thereof from such lands when the Secretary finds that such removal can be safely accomplished.
SEC. 4. In carrying out the provisions of section 3 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized:
(a) to utilize with or without reimbursement the services, personnel, and facilities of any Federal agency;
(b) to enter into contracts with public and private agencies and organizations and individuals; and
(c) to take such other actions as he deems appropriate to carry out the purpose of this Act.
SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to negotiate and settle all claims for damages filed by any lessee of such lands for actions taken by the Secretary under section 3 of this Act, after taking into consideration all costs heretofore or hereinafter incurred by, and all claims filed against, the United States as a result of the discharge of oil during the operation of any lease of such lands, the value of any minerals produced by such lessees from such lands, and the speculative nature of the lease operations conducted on such lands. The entering into such negotiations shall not be construed as affecting any finding required to be made under section 6 of this Act.
SEC. 6. Any action against the United States to recover damages for the termination of mineral operations under lease on Federal lands in the Santa Barbara Channel by the United States under this Act shall be brought in the Court of Claims as provided in title 28, United States Code, section 1491.
In any such action, the Court shall first consider and decide whether, in accordance with the purposes of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the termination of mineral operations, under any lease issued for the exploration and development of oil from these Federal lands, to protect other resources and other environmental values threatened by such operations was inherent in the issuance of the lease and the termination is therefore not compensable.
SEC. 7. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior from revenues due and payable to the United States for deposit in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), in excess of those receipts credited to the land and water conservation fund under section 2(c) (2) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, as amended (16 U.S.C. 460 1-6) for the purpose of paying damages, either negotiated and settled upon by the Secretary of the Interior or determined by the Court of Claims under this Act. In the negotiation and settlement of damages under section 5 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue one or more oil leases for the exploration and development of oil in other Federal lands under his jurisdiction, which are open for mineral leasing, and which in his judgment do not exceed the value of such terminated leases to the lessees whose operations are terminated under this Act in full and complete settlement of such damages, whenever he finds and publishes his finding that such a settlement would be in the best interests of the United States.
SEC. 8. (a) The Ecological Preserve shown on Official Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Map, Channel Islands Area Map No, 6B, approved August 8, 1966, and revised July 24, 1967, and established by public land order on March 3, 1969, is hereby permanently withdrawn from all forms of disposition, including mineral leasing, and reserved for use for scientific, recreational, fish and wildlife conservation, and other similar uses as an ecological preserve.
(b) All lands of the outer continental shelf in the Santa Barbara Channel off the Coast of California not included in the Ecological Preserve reserved under this section are hereby withdrawn from all forms of disposition, including mineral leasing, until authorized by a subsequent Act of Congress or by the President pursuant to an Executive Order declaring a national emergency and requiring the exploration and development of the mineral deposits of such lands or to prevent drainage.