Oil, Gas Drilling Appeal Readied

The Bush administration has moved to appeal a U.S. District Court judge’s ruling that effectively halted new oil drilling off the California coast by requiring the state’s Coastal Commission to review any new exploration proposals.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service downplayed papers filed late Friday with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying a final decision to appeal has yet to be made by the U.S. solicitor general.

“We’ve put in a notice of an appeal,” said S. Dian Lawhon, a spokeswoman for the Minerals Management Service. “Whether there will be an appeal will be decided down the road.”

But the court papers suggest that the Bush administration plans an aggressive challenge to the ruling, which bars exploration in undeveloped tracts off the coast until the Coastal Commission reviews the impact on air and water quality, marine life and scenic views.

The court documents propose a list of issues to be raised on appeal and indicate federal officials will ask that the matter be handled in an expedited manner.

If pursued, the appeal could pit President Bush and his plans to expand domestic oil production against Gov. Gray Davis and many other California leaders from both major parties who are opposed to additional oil and gas drilling off the coast.

Mary Nichols, the governor’s resources secretary, said she was disappointed to learn of the appeal. She said she was led to believe the Bush administration would let the matter drop.

“We will be prepared to meet them in court,” she said. “Californians have a uniform view on this: We have done our share when it comes to producing oil and gas off of our coast. The federal government should not make deals with oil companies without giving California a chance to weigh in on the environmental impact.”

Pedro Nava, a member of the California Coastal Commission, said the appeal would haunt Bush when he runs for reelection.

“If Bush thought he lost California by a huge margin last time around, he ain’t see nothing yet,” Nava said. “This coast is precious to us. We are not going to let it go lightly.”

California’s coastal waters are generally protected from new oil drilling by federal and state moratoriums. But the bans on offshore oil leasing do not apply to 36 tracts leased to oil companies between 1968 and 1984 and never opened to oil and gas production.

Davis, the Coastal Commission and several environmental groups sued two years ago to block development of the 3-square-mile tracts off Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland sided with California officials, ruling two months ago that federal law allows the state to determine whether drilling is consistent with California’s coastal protection law.

The appeal, filed on behalf of Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton, indicates it would challenge Wilken’s interpretation of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.

Drew Caputo, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the appeal strikes at the heart of the case: How much authority do states have under the Coastal Zone Management Act?

“Every action they have taken, as opposed to their words, moves them into the area of directly challenging the decision,” said Caputo, whose organization joined Davis in the suit. “In the courts, actions speak a lot more loudly than words.”

Meanwhile, the ruling has halted all activities on the leases, forcing some oil companies to withdraw plans for a number of exploratory drilling and production wells that would be slant-drilled from existing offshore platforms into portions of the 36 tracts.

With the run-up in crude oil prices, oil companies have grown far more interested in extracting the heavy, sour crude on the leases, which stretch from Port Hueneme to San Luis Obispo.

Under its ambitious energy policies, the Bush administration is trying to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in new areas in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s coast, as well as parts of the Rocky Mountains where wildlife protections limit commercial activity.