ENERGY

Panel Postpones Point Arguello Tanker Decision: In a 9-0 vote, the state Coastal Commission decided that mistakes by its own staff could not be used to overturn a permit for Chevron Corp. and the other partners in the Point Arguello offshore oil fields to ship crude oil by tanker from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. But the commission postponed hearing complaints from environmentalists that Chevron itself had misrepresented facts before the commission. This allegation--which could be used to revoke the permit Chevron won in January--is tentatively scheduled to be heard during the commission’s April 13-16 meetings in Los Angeles. Jana Zimmer, attorney for the American Oceans Campaign, called the postponement “a step in the right direction.” Spokesman Michael Marcy of Chevron called the charges “irresponsible shilly-shallying.