Carlsbad Coastal Oil Plan Could Get Overhaul : Energy: Strong criticism from the California Coastal Commission is prompting the city to rethink its plan to restrict onshore facilities for offshore drilling.

A Carlsbad plan to tightly restrict onshore facilities for offshore oil drilling has been sharply criticized by the California Coastal Commission, and has prompted the city to reconsider its proposal.

In a 15-page report, the commission staff said the Carlsbad plan was so poorly written it could not be enforced, and it threatened to undermine the commission’s authority to consider energy-producing projects.

The city’s so-called Local Coastal Plan “contains extremely subjective and restrictive criteria,” the staff report said.

Last year, the Carlsbad City Council approved the plan, fearing possible damage from onshore refineries, tanker terminals, pipelines, warehouses and other facilities to support offshore oil operations.

But, with the commission staff recommending that the plan be rejected, the city last week indefinitely removed the plan from the commission’s agenda.

Gary Wayne, the city’s assistant planning director, said Wednesday that the City Council probably will consider next month whether to defend the plan, rewrite it, make it weaker, or drop it all together.

“First thing, we’ve got to buy time,” Wayne said. “We feel it’s sustainable. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

The federal Department of Energy had proposed to lease 76,735 sea-bottom acres north of Encinitas and including areas off Carlsbad’s coast for offshore oil exploration and drilling.

However, President Bush announced last month that his administration has banned offshore drilling for the next 10 years, unless there becomes an emergency need for more domestic oil.

“The entire coast of California was up for leasing,” said Mark Delaplaine, a commission energy analyst. “That’s now off for 10 years,” including drilling off Carlsbad.

Still, some Carlsbad city officials and California congressmen are worried that the Bush Administration’s ban might not be honored by future presidents and have asked the House Appropriations subcommittee on the interior to make the moratorium into federal law.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) said this week, “President Bush’s decision to stop drilling activity until the year 2000 was a victory in our long struggle to end drilling altogether.

“However, the President’s decision does not bind future Democratic or Republican administrations,” Packard said.

Wayne said the ban on drilling leaves Carlsbad wondering what to do with its plan.

“In light of the Bush moratorium, do you want to withdraw it and resubmit it at another time?” Wayne said.

But he suggested that it might be wise to have a plan restricting onshore facilities in case the ban is lifted after Bush leaves office.

“Bush could be in for one term. He’s certainly not going to be in for 10 years,” Wayne said.

So far, though, the city’s plan appears to be going nowhere with the Coastal Commission staff. The plan would prohibit onshore facilities unless the City Council found that:

* The facilities would pose no danger to life and property in the city.

* The benefits would clearly outweigh the possible adverse environmental effects.

* There are no feasible alternatives.

* Allowing the facilities at a particular location clearly outweighs any potential harm to public health, safety, peace, morals, comfort, and general welfare of the people in the community.

Delaplaine said, “What we had concerns about was vagueness. There were undefinable words in the city’s proposal. Who knows what the ‘morals of the people’ means?”

The commission’s staff suggested the wholesale rewriting of the city’s plan. As an example, the city sought to require that onshore facilities must pose “no danger to life and property.” The staff proposed wording that any threat of damage or injuries “will be minimized.”

The staff also complained the city’s standards for onshore facilities were so hard to understand that the commission couldn’t properly consider the appeals of applicants whose proposed facilities might be rejected by Carlsbad.

With the staff’s proposed wording, the city’s plan would be “more specific (but) it could be argued either way whether it’s tougher or not,” Delaplaine said.

“It does seem to weaken our position,” Wayne said. “It puts more of the burden on us than industry.” He denied that the plan is too restrictive, saying “it doesn’t absolutely close the door to onshore facilities. It’s tough, but maybe it should be tough.”

The commission staff said the plan is also flawed because it is inconsistent with the state Coastal Act that allows the commission to approve energy development, including proposals that depend on onshore support facilities.

Delaplaine said the commission must have flexibility to balance energy development and environmental protection.

“Part of our program is recognition of national energy needs,” he said. But Carlsbad “would like to balance things in a more self-protecting way.”

City officials hope to decide whether to pursue the plan before the commission’s December meeting in San Diego.

Outright prohibitions on offshore drilling have been adopted by San Diego County, the city of San Diego and Oceanside.