Bill Text: NJ SR148 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Opposes oil and natural gas exploration and development off Atlantic Coast.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-11-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [SR148 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-SR148-Introduced.html

SENATE RESOLUTION No. 148

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 9, 2017

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Opposes oil and natural gas exploration and development off Atlantic Coast.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


A Senate Resolution opposing oil and natural gas exploration and development off the Atlantic Coast.

 

Whereas,  New Jersey's coastline is the State's most famous natural resource, and attracts millions of visitors from across the country and world every year; and

Whereas,  New Jersey's tourism industry generates over $44 billion annually, directly supports more than 321,000 jobs, and indirectly supports nearly 10 percent of the State's workforce, and much of this industry is centered along New Jersey's coastline; and

Whereas,  Revenue from New Jersey tourism generates $4.9 billion in State and local taxes and $5.6 billion in federal taxes annually; and

Whereas,  The waters off New Jersey's coast are home to a diverse array of unique wildlife, such as several species of endangered whales and rare migratory birds; and

Whereas,  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in the United States Department of the Interior approved a plan in January 2017 which did not include any oil and natural gas leases in the Atlantic Ocean through 2022; and

Whereas,  On April 28, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order No. 13795 entitled "Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy"; and

Whereas,  The executive order seeks to encourage oil and natural gas production 50 miles offshore from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, the Gulf of Mexico, and areas of Alaska; and

Whereas,  The executive order requires BOEM to consider revising the leasing schedule to include annual lease sales to the maximum extent permitted by law in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions, among others; and

Whereas,  The executive order also requires the Secretary of the Interior to reconsider rules concerning an operator's financial capacity to pay for leasing requirements, and safety regulations passed in the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010; and

Whereas,  The executive order also seeks to loosen regulatory requirements on seismic airgun testing, which BOEM previously estimated could injure up to 11,748 bottlenose dolphins, 6,147 short-beaked dolphins, 5,848 Atlantic spotted dolphins, 4,631 short-finned pilot whales, and 3,993 striped dolphins per year in the Atlantic Ocean; and

Whereas,  On May 1, 2017, the United States Department of the Interior announced Secretarial Order No. 3350 which further implemented the President's executive order; and

Whereas,  The secretarial order directed BOEM to develop a new five-year leasing plan with full consideration of the President's priorities as stated in the executive order; and

Whereas,  The secretarial order directed BOEM to expedite permitting applications for seismic airgun surveying and to begin the process of rescinding previous executive actions limiting oil and natural gas production and exploration off the Atlantic Coast; and

Whereas,  On June 6, 2017, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration released for public comment five permits that would allow for the incidental harassment of marine mammals by using airguns in seismic surveying from the coast of Delaware to Cape Canaveral in Florida; and

Whereas,  On July 3, 2017, BOEM published a request for information and comments on the preparation of a new leasing schedule, and requested information concerning the entire coast of the United States, not just the areas identified in the executive order; and

Whereas,  These executive actions represent a particularly serious threat because they not only call for an expanded drilling area, but also roll back safety regulations designed to prevent future spills; and

Whereas,  Opening the Atlantic Coast for offshore oil and natural gas drilling would put beaches, fisheries, marine life, and businesses all along the coast of New Jersey at risk; and

Whereas,  New Jersey borders the area proposed for seismic airgun testing, and opening up federal land for drilling could result in oil and natural gas drilling as close as three miles off the coast of New Jersey; and

Whereas,  An oil spill of the magnitude of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 could easily reach New Jersey and destroy the State's coastal resources; and

Whereas,  Senator Menendez, Senator Booker, and Governor Christie have all expressed formal opposition to the plan to permit drilling off the Atlantic Coast, each recognizing the grave threat such industrialization poses to the economy and the ecology of the State; and

Whereas,  There is broad bipartisan consensus among New Jersey's State and federal representatives that oil and natural gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean would harm commercial fisheries and natural wildlife, while threatening the economy of New Jersey's coastal municipalities; and

Whereas,  Particularly at a time when the rest of the world is shifting focus toward creating new green energy development, the presidential administration should be expanding these new technologies instead of exposing New Jerseyans to the hazards associated with offshore oil and natural gas drilling; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.  This House strongly opposes oil and natural gas exploration and development off of the Atlantic Coast, as doing so would risk the health, safety, and natural resources of New Jersey's coastal communities and the entire State.

 

     2.  Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the United States Department of the Interior, the Acting Administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, every member of Congress from the State of New Jersey, the Governor of New Jersey, and the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This resolution strongly opposes oil and natural gas exploration and development off the Atlantic Coast, and the recent steps the presidential administration has taken to further the process of permitting drilling.

     The plan to explore for, and drill for, oil and natural gas off the Atlantic Coast threatens the economy of New Jersey and the sensitive fish and wildlife areas along the State's coast.  The Jersey Shore is a critical part of New Jersey's $44 billion tourism industry, and is responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Furthermore, New Jersey's coast is home to a wide array of rare fish and wildlife, and a spill in the proposed drilling areas could devastate the sensitive ecologies of the Jersey Shore.

     The presidential administration has continued to take steps toward allowing oil and natural gas exploration and development in the Atlantic Ocean despite near universal opposition from the elected officials of New Jersey.  For Example, Senator Booker, Senator Menendez, and Governor Christie have all opposed the plans to expand oil and natural gas drilling, each recognizing the great risks that offshore oil and natural gas development poses to the economy and ecology of this State.  Particularly at a time when the rest of the world is investing in new and cleaner energy, the United States should be focusing on how to grow a new energy sector instead of exposing its citizens to the risks posed by offshore drilling.

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