Muratsuchi bill to ban offshore oil pipelines

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, at a 2014 anti-oil event in Hermosa Beach. Muratsuchi proposed a bill to prohibit oil pipeline construction in state waters. File photo

State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi has proposed a bill that would deflate federal government plans for offshore oil drilling by ensuring that pipelines and other infrastructure could not be built in California state waters.

Assembly Bill 1775, introduced by Muratsuchi and Assemblywoman Monique Limón, joins Senate Bill 834, carried by State Senators Hannah-Beth Jackson and Ricardo Lara.

The legislation would prohibit the State Lands Commission from approving new leases for pipelines, piers, wharves and other infrastructure that would support new federal oil development off of California’s coast. The bill is a reintroduction of legislation that stalled last year in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“Given [President Trump’s] announcement that he is proposing to open up new oil and gas exploration leases in federal waters, we decided to reintroduce the bill,” Muratsuchi said. “We believe that this is a creative way to fight back against Trump to protect our California coastline.”

The federal plan, which was announced on Jan. 4, proposed making over 90 percent of the nations’ Outer Continental Shelf acreage available for development. It also proposed “the largest number of lease sales in US history,” according to a federal press release, including six leases for drilling and exploration off of California.

The plan has already faced strong pressure from coastal states. Florida Governor Rick Scott was able to take his state out of federal plans after meeting with the Department of the Interior.

Muratsuchi’s effort to ban construction of new pipelines would be complementary to the state’s Coastal Sanctuary Act, which prohibited leasing of offshore tracts in state waters.

“With those bills in place, the Federal Government would need to take the oil from any wells, put it in a tanker and ship it elsewhere. That may make it economically infeasible, at the current price of oil, to drill,” said Craig Cadwallader, the policy coordinator for the South Bay Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. “I think it’s a brilliant effort.”

Local support for the bill is expected throughout the Beach Cities. The Redondo Beach City Council agendized a discussion to offer their support of the bill at their Jan. 16 meeting.

Redondo Mayor Bill Brand spoke before the meeting of his support.

“It’s hard for me to believe in 2018 that we’ve got to pass legislation to stop offshore oil drilling in California. I would’ve thought this issue was long since settled,” Brand said. “Fossil fuel and people in politics obviously will always be trying to put the entire western seaboard at risk for very little gain. There’s not a lot of oil out there, but a lot of risks.”

The bill may be heard in Assembly committee on Feb. 4.

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