Los Angeles-area Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, and Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, are among the voices calling for a ban on offshore drilling in response to the Huntington Beach oil spill.
According to reports, the spill began last Friday and spread an estimated 144,000 gallons of crude oil into the coastal waters off of Huntington Beach and across the Orange County coastline.
“Oil spills are one of the greatest perpetual threats to our coastal communities,” Lieu and Brownley said in a joint statement as co-chairs of the California Coastal Caucus. “In 2015, a massive oil spill off of the Santa Barbara coast devastated local flora and fauna and took years to remediate. Now, six years later, we have another massive oil spill to contend with. The majority of Californians oppose offshore drilling and with aging infrastructure, we’re likely to see more oil spills in the future if we don’t make a change now.”
New offshore drilling is banned in California following the 2018 passage of AB 1775. That legislation was authored by 66th District Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, whose California Assembly District overlaps with Lieu’s Congressional District. Both oversee parts of the Southern Santa Monica Bay.
Muratsuchi’s bill was rooted as a defensive measure against an oil infrastructure plan proposed by President Donald Trump, who in January 2018 announced he would lift an offshore drilling moratorium put in place by President Barack Obama. Trump’s edict flew in the face of his West Coast constituents. According to Public Policy Institute of California polling, 69% of Californians opposed offshore drilling.
AB 1775 specifically prohibits the State Lands Commission from authorizing new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure in the tidelands and submerged lands within California’s waters, which generally extend three miles from the coast. There have been zero new offshore oil drilling leases approved since 1969, when an 11-day oil spill in Santa Barbara released more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil, covering 200 square miles of ocean and 35 miles of coastline.
However, the state continues to authorize new permits in existing leases, and many wells continue to operate. According to California Department of Conservation data, there are at least 820 active oil and gas wells in offshore areas in the state’s southern district, which stretches along the coastline from Los Angeles County to San Diego County.
Lieu and Brownley are urging support of legislation introduced by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Northern California Congressman Jared Huffman.