Lawmakers Tell Objections to Offshore Drilling Leases

More than 70 members of Congress from 10 coastal states appealed Thursday to Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel to reconsider the Administration’s plan to lease millions of acres of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas exploration during the next five years.

In a letter to Hodel, they said the final version of the Interior Department’s plan, announced on Monday, defers drilling mainly in areas of little interest to oil companies while failing to incorporate basic environmental safeguards for sensitive marine habitats and coastal zones that will be open to drilling.

“Clearly . . . this plan does not adequately address the concerns raised by coastal states about OCS development,” the letter said.

Bipartisan Coalition

Its chief sponsors, Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Monterey) and Rep. Andy Ireland (R-Fla.), issued a list of eight senators and 67 House members who had signed the letter by midday Thursday and said some others had indicated they would join the bipartisan coalition.

The letter was signed by members of Congress from California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.

Under the Interior Department’s program, 750 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf would be leased for oil and gas exploration by 1992. Citing a need to protect the nation’s energy security at a time of rising dependence on oil imports, the Interior Department said the leasing plan could be expected to add 17 billion barrels of oil to U.S. reserves, an increase of more than 50%.

At the same time, the agency said it would defer leasing on 650 million of the 1.4 billion acres originally proposed for leasing by Interior Secretary James G. Watt in 1981.

Adequacy of Safeguards

The letter to Hodel said critics of the plan share the Administration’s energy concerns, but dispute the adequacy of the environmental safeguards.

“The vast majority of the deferrals contained in the plan are focused on areas of little or no interest to the oil industry and fail to protect some of the most sensitive areas along our coasts,” it said.

Congress has until June 26 to disapprove or modify the leasing plan, before it takes effect on July 1. Congressional opponents said the chances of defeating the leasing program by direct vote are small but that a number of legislative roadblocks could be erected.

Among approaches being considered, Panetta said at a news conference, are bills to impose strict air quality standards on drilling operations to protect onshore areas, to establish marine sanctuaries in zones to be leased and to bring pressure on the Interior Department through the appropriations process.