Length of Delay Uncertain : Offshore Oil Drilling Put on Hold, at Least for Now

Interior Department officials have indefinitely delayed plans for offshore oil drilling along the Southern California coast so that the new Administration can review the proposal, a San Diego County congressman said Wednesday.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), an oil-drilling foe, said officials with the agency told him Wednesday that the plan to lease tracts stretching from San Luis Obispo to the Mexican border has been suspended.

Robert Walker, an Interior Department spokesman, declined to confirm that any decision has been made regarding the leasing proposal, which encompasses more than 1,300 undersea tracts slated for sale in spring 1990. But another Interior official, who asked that his name not be used, confirmed that the oil lease plan has been put on hold for an indeterminate period.

It remains unclear, however, whether the freeze will be long-term or simply a temporary delay of a few weeks to allow the Bush Administration time to review the proposal. During the presidential race, Bush hinted that he would take another look at the offshore oil issue in California, but did not promise any changes.

A Hollow Victory?

Some experts and authorities suggested that the delay was, at best, a hollow victory.

Richard Charter, a lobbyist fighting the oil plan for more than 30 California coastal cities and counties, speculated that the freeze might be a ploy to undermine upcoming efforts in Congress to adopt a moratorium on offshore oil drilling. Hearings on a moratorium are scheduled to begin in a week, he said.

Charter also speculated that California politics might have played a part in the decision. Delay of the lease sale beyond 1990, the year the California governor’s seat is up for grabs, could strengthen a Republican’s chances in conservative strongholds along the Orange and San Diego county coasts, which are targeted for oil drilling, he said.

In addition, any short-term delays in the planning amount to “no big thing,” Charter said, because few important decisions on the plan are expected until at least May.

“It’s easy to stop a process that’s not really moving right now,” Charter said. “I really wouldn’t call this a victory at this point.”

Cautious Reaction

Local officials in San Diego County also reacted cautiously to news of the delay.

Oceanside Mayor Larry Bagley, a staunch oil-drilling opponent, said he plans to wait for confirmation of the freeze before he will begin to celebrate.

“It sounds good, it sounds encouraging,” Bagley said, “but I want to hear some details first.”

Packard, however, was upbeat. He credited Interior Secretary-designate Manuel Lujan Jr., a personal friend, for the decision to suspend plans for the lease sale.

Lujan, a former Republican congressman from New Mexico, served with Packard for several years on the House Science and Technology Committee.

“I look forward to working with other members of the California delegation and Secretary Lujan to craft a workable solution to the California offshore oil situation,” Packard said in a statement released by his office.

The congressman said he also sent a note to Lujan, thanking him “for the courageous move” to order the freeze and expressing hope that “this will give us a chance to find a solution acceptable to all of us.” He also requested a meeting with Lujan to discuss the offshore oil issue.

Interior Department officials announced the massive oil-lease sale in mid-1987, but it was immediately challenged by state and local officials in California. They contend offshore oil drilling in federal waters, which begin 3 miles off the coast, would pose an environmental hazard, clog sea lanes and threaten the region’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry.

The proposed lease includes many tracts off the San Diego County coast, most of them more than a dozen miles from shore. In recent months, however, 17 near-shore tracts off Oceanside and Carlsbad were added to the original lease plan, further fueling the opposition effort.

Most of the tracts encompass 9 square miles of sea bottom and range from 3 miles to nearly 100 miles off the coast.