Congressman Panetta Calls on Administration to Stop Plan for New Oil, Gas Drilling in California Public Lands

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to halt any plans to move forward with the proposal to open hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands and mineral estate along the central coast of California to new oil and gas drilling.

Congressman Panetta wrote to BLM Acting State Director Joe Stout and Central Coast Field Office (CCFO) Field Manager Ben Blom, citing concerns about the proposal's impact on wildlife habitats and air and water quality. He also stressed that the proposal stands in direct opposition to California's efforts to develop a clean energy economy.

"I request that you do not proceed with the CCFO proposal to open new lands for oil and gas leasing and development, ensuring the central coast of California can continue aggressively pursuing policies that protect the state's critical natural resources and support a sustainable future," wrote Congressman Panetta.

On Thursday, May 9, 2019, the BLM's CCFO released a Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which would open more than 700,000 acres of public land across eleven counties in California, including Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties, to oil and gas lease sales. If this plan were to go forward, it would end a five-year moratorium on oil and gas leasing of federal land and mineral estate in California, which has been in effect since 2013.

The deadline to file a protest on the proposal is end of day June 9, 2019. More information on the proposal can be found here.