Loading...
Item I3 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 15 March 2006 Division: Growth Management Bulk Item: Yes X No Department Commissioner Neugent Staff Contact: Commissioner Neugent AGENDA ITEM 'VORDING: Adoption of a Resolution supporting the passage of House Bill 4783, the Permanent Protection of Florida Act of 2006 directing staff to transmit said Resolution to Florida's Governor and Cabinet, the State's Congressional delegation, and the sponsors of House Bill 4783 and any similar legislation developed in the United States Senate. ITEM BACKGROUND: Several Congressional Representatives have proposed a Bill, House Bill 4783 called the Permanent Protection of Florida Act of 2006. The purpose of this legislation is to permanently protect the Florida coast from the potential of oil and gas exploration or from actual production. This legislation has been developed in the face of current very strong efforts to once again open the west Florida Shelf to such activities. PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: None CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES: NA ST AFF RECOMMENDATIONS; Approval TOTAL COST: None BUDGETED: Yes No COST TO COUNTY: None SOURCE OF FUNDS: REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes No X AMOUNT Per Month Year APPROVED BY: County Atty -L OMB/Purchasing NA DIVISION DIRECTOR APPROVAL: Risk Management /) a Norman, Acting Director of Growth Mfagement i I DOCUMENTATION: Included -L Not Required DISPOSITION: AGENDA ITEM NO.: BC060330.doc 2128/2006 12: l6:00 PM Commissioner Neugent RESOLUTION NO. 2006 A RESOLUTION OF THE MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS IN SUPPORT OF U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BILL 4783, THE "PERMANENT PROTECTION OF FLORIDA ACT OF 2006," WHOSE PURPOSE IS TO PROTECT FLORIDA FROM THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF OIL AND NATURAL GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION ALONG OUR FLORIDA COAST AND DIRECTING STAFF TO PROVIDE SAID RESOLUTION TO THE FLORIDA GOVERNOR AND CABINET, THE STATE'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, AND TO APPROPRIATE SPONSORS OF SAID LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS. WHEREAS, the Florida coast and particularly the Florida Keys provide the American public with one of the nation's great tropical and subtropical vistas on the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean; and WHEREAS, these visual amenities of Florida form the basis for the State and County's tourist and retiree based economies; and WHEREAS, Florida and particularly the Florida Keys provide seafood lovers with a substantial percentage of the nation's marine harvest, from snapper and grouper to lobster and stone crab; and WHEREAS, the initiation of oil and gas exploration and production creates a substantial risk to the state of Florida and the Florida Keys, as a result of changed perceptions about the beauty of Florida's coastline and the Florida Keys; and WHEREAS, the Florida Keys are one of the premier sport fishing destinations in the world; and WHEREAS, the potential for oil and gas to impact the natural beauty and resources of the State and Florida Keys due to accident or an act of god is a risk that is simply too great to accept; now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA THAT: BC060331 Res HR4783.doc 2/28/2006 12:16 PM Commissioner Neugent Section 1. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners WHOLE HEARTEDL Y support by this Resolution, House Bill 4783, the "Permanent Protection of Florida Act of 2006; and Section 2. Staff is directed to provide this adopted Resolution to Florida's Governor and Cabinet, the State's legislative delegation to Congress, and to the appropriate Congressional sponsors of House Bill 4783 and any similar Bills developed in the United States Senate. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners, Monroe County, Florida at a regular meeting of said Board held on the 15th day of March, A.D., 2006. Mayor Charles "Sonny" McCoy Mayor Pro TemMurray Nelson Commissioner Dixie Spehar Commissioner George Neugent Commissioner David Rice BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA BY: MA YOR/CHAIR PERSON (SEAL) ATTEST: DANNY 1. KOLHAGE, CLERK BY: APPROVED AS TO FORM DEPUTY CLERK 8C060331 Res HR4783.doc 2/28/2006 12: 16:00 PM I l09TH eX)NG]{ESS H R 4783 2D SE8STOX .. To prohibit ot'fshore drilling- Oil the mH.cl' Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purpose". IN TIfE II()USE OJ<'" REPRESENrrA'l'TVES FEBRUARY 1 G, 200G l\k DAYIS of Florida (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 1\11'. BoYT), and Ms. CORRTNE BROIVN of Florida) introduced the following- hill; whidl was refern,d to the COHllnittc;(' on HOSOlll'en.; A BILL To prohil)it offshore (h'illing on the outer Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purposes. 1 Be -it enacted by the Senate and House (~l Representa- 2 hves (~l the United States (~rAnler.ica 'in CJongress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Aet may be eited as the dl\lrmanent Proteetion 5 for Florida j\ct of 200G", 6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION IN 7 FLORIDA EXCLUSION ZONE. 8 The ()utel' Continental Shelf LantIs Aet IS arnended 9 b:v inserting after seetion 8 (4:3 n.s.c. lij:37) the fol- 10 ] ()\ving: 2 1 "SEC. SA. PROHffiITION ON OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION IN 2 FLORIDA EXCLUSION ZONE. 3 "(a) DEFIXI'l'IONS.-In this section: 4 "(1) FLORIDA EXCLUSION ZONE.-The ternl 5 '}i']orida ex(~]usion zone' rneans the area located- 6 "fA) east of the red line (as depicted on 7 the ]\linera]s 1\Iamlgement Service map entitled 8 'I~1lorida Map }', dated .January 2:3, 200G); 9 "(B) 25 111ile::-; \vest of' the Militar;v Mission 10 ljine (as depieted on the Minerals l\lanagement 11 Service luap entitled 'Florida Map 1', dated 12 ;ranuar,y 2:3, 200G); 13 "(C) 150 Iniles off the I,-'lorida Panha.ndle, 14 ineluding the area eOlnmonly known as tlJC 15 'Stovepipe' in the 181 Area in the Gnlf of 1\Jex~ 16 wo; 17 "(D) the Straits of F'lorida planning area; 18 and 19 "(E) 150 l11iles off the I,"1lorida east coast 20 that extends frorn the Straits of theWlorida 21 planning area to the Florida-(}eorg'iaborder. 22 <<(2) MILITARY :\IISSION LINE.-1~lle term ']\Jili- 23 taryMission Line' rneans- 24 <<fA) the 86041' north-south line of lon~ 25 g'itude; or oHR 4783 IH ;3 1 "(TJ) a line not rHore than 25 rniles \vest 2 of the line cleseribed in subparagTaph (1), as 3 (letermined by the Seeretary of Defense during 4 tIle 5-year period beginning on the date of en- 5 aetment of tl1is seetion, 6 "(8) NON-PRormcIXc+ LEASK-The ternl 'non- 7 producing lease' means a lease for the produetioll of 8 oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in the Florida 9 cxe1nsiOll 7:one that is in existence and in good 10 standirlg on the date of enadnwnt of this sedion. 11 d (1") J"'"XT("'!" -[""I( N Z" "")N1" J "~~"")j;K"""L ""A". ",,- 12 d(1) IN G-ENEHAL.-Not'ivithstanding any oHler 13 provision of law, the SeeretaI"'Y' slrall not issue a lease 14 for the exploration, develo}nuent, or produetiOll of 15 oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in the Florida 16 exe1usion zone. 17 "(2) (iI-mAT L_AKES.-It is the sense of (~on- 18 gTess that States are eneom'ag-ed rIOt to issue a pe1'- 19 mit or lease for new oil and natural gas slant, diree- 20 tional, or offshore drilling in or under any of the 21 Great J Jakes (as described in section ;38G of the En- 22 ergy Poliey Act of 2005 (42 U.S.(;. 15941)). 23 "(T) AI'PLICATlON.-r!'his subsection applies 24 to-- 25 "(A) a non-producing lease; and .HR 4783 IH 4 1 (( (B) a non-produeing lease that would Otl1- 2 erwise 1)e ellteredilltO on or after the date of 3 enaetrnent of this seetion_ 4 "(e) "'\VTTTIDRAWAL.-The Florida exclusion zone IS 5 \vithdravlTn frOln- 6 "( 1) arl~T outer Continental Shelf protraction 7 diagram prepared by the 1\Iinerals Management 8 Service; and 9 "(2) consideration for inelusion in allY 5-year 10 outer Continental Shelf leasing' progTalTl of the De- II partlnent of the Interior. 12 d(d) HELINQUISH1\lENT (}P CEHTAIN LEASES,- 13 ('{1) IN GENERAL.-Suhjeet to paragTaphs (2), 14 (:3), and (4), any non-produeing or 811nila.1' lease that 15 is suspended 011 the date of enaetment of this seetion 16 in the Eastern planning area of the (Julf of lV[exieo 17 (other than T lease Sale 181, as identified in the final 18 outer Contirwntal Shelf C:)-Year Oil al1(l (tas l..leasing- 19 PrOf.,Franl for 2002-2007) that is aetive, non-pro- 20 dueing, or in suspension as of the date of enaetrnent 21 of this section is relinquished al1(l abandoned in ex- 22 change for royalty fOI'g'iveness for revenue 8trean18 23 owed by oil and gas lessees producirlg on that date 24 in the Central andvVestern planning- areas of the 25 (iulf of Mexieo. .HR 4783 IH ;) 1 "(2) RESTORATION OF LEAS[<~D SK\FLOOR.-.A 2 lessee of a relinquished and abandoned lease 8haJI- 3 "(1\) remove all existing boreholes, 4 \vellheads, and ancillar,y equiplnent located on 5 the leased sea floor; and 6 "(B) restore the sea floor as nearly as 7 praeticable to pre-lease cOlHlition. 8 "(~n INELIGJBLE LESSEE.-A lessee of a reI in- 9 quished a,nd abancloned lease is ineligible for royalty 10 forgiveness if the lea.se involves- 11 "(A) an outer Continental Shelf traet in 12 the Central 01' 'Vestern planning area of the 13 Gulf of l\Iexico subject to royalty deferrals or 14 royalty forgiveness pursuant to- 15 "(i) the notice of proposed rnlemaking 16 entitled 'Relief or Heduction in Royalty 17H,ates-Deep (fas I)rovisions' (G8F\~d. 18 Heg. 148(;8); or 19 "(ii) any other Pederal law (including 20 rehllllations); 21 "(B) all outer Continental Shelf tract 10- 22 cated within the bourl{]aries of the Flower (jar- 23 den Banks Natiorml Marine Sanetrulry; or 24 "((~) any outer ()ontinental Shelf traet 10- 25 cated outside the boundaries of the Florida ex- .HR 4783 IH G 1 elusion zone and '.vithin tIle Eastern planning 2 area of the (i-ulf of Mexico. 3 d( 4) VVAIVEl1 OF RENTS AND HOYALTIES,- 4 "(A) IN (i:}JNERAL.-The Secretary shall 5 allow an e1i6rihle lessee eovered by paragraph 6 (1) to withhold froln paynlent any 1'o;va1ty or 7 rent due to the United States lmder this Ad. 8 "(B) ,JrDlcTAL RE\'1E\v.-Any disagT(~e- 9 tnel]t between an eligihle lessee and the Sec- 10 rdary regarding- the a.rnount of royalty or rent 11 t'org'iveness described in subparagraph (1\) shall 12 be subject to judicial revlevv, 13 "(e) ADl\ITNISTI1ATION.- 14 "(1) OTHER SE(jTIONS OF ACT.-BegiJming- on 15 the date of enaetrnent of this seetion, other sections 16 of this l\ct shall not apply to- 17 "(A) any area. in which leasing IS prohih- 18 ited under subseetiOll (b)j 19 "(B) any area that IS withdrawn under 20 subseetiol1 (c)j or 21 d(C) any area subject to a lease that is re- 22 linquished lIndeI' subsedion (d). 23 "(2) INV1~NTORY.-The areas described III sub- 24 parahrraphs (A)! (B), and (C) of paragraph (1), as 25 well as the areas cmrrently under tllOl'atorimllin the .HR 4783 IH 7 1 outer Continental Shelf and the areas proteeted by 2 the doeurnent entitled ']Vlemorandum on \Vitlldrawal 3 of C~ertain Areas of the United States ()uter C\)Ilti~ 4 nental Slwlf fronl Leasing DispositiOlll (;34 \Veekly 5 Cmnp.Pres. Doe. lUll dated .hllle 12, 19~)8), shall 6 not be snbjeet to an irlventory eondueted under see~ 7 tion :3f57 of the Energy Poliey Aet of 2005 (42 8 U '-' (' 1 '''-0] 2) .0. c. .,).).. . . 9 "(:{) NATIONAL l\LAHINE SANCTUAHY.-Notlling 10 HI this seetion predudes the Seeretary of Conuner(~(~, 11 aeting through the Dil'eetor of the National Marine 12 Sanetuary I)rogram, from eonsidering any portion of 13 the Florida exelusion zone for designation as a rna- 14 rine sanetuary u1](ler the lVlarine Proteetion, Ht:- 15 seareh, and Sanetuaries .Aet of 1972 (:3:3 n.s.c. 16 1401 et seq.) (eommonly knmvn as the 'Ocean 17 DU1nping Aet'). 18 "( 4) IVIAINTENANCE AND HEPAIl{ OF EA1STING 19 PIPELINES.-Nothing in this seetion preeludes- 20 "(1\) the inspeetion, monitoring, or repaIr 21 of pre~existing subsea oil arldnat.ural gas rnpe- 22 lines UlHlel' Federal law (induding regulations) 23 pertaining to pipeline safety and environmental 24 proteetion; or .HR 4783 IH 8 1 "(B) the replacement in situ of preexisting 2 subsea oil or natural gas pipelines under that 3F'ederal law. 4 "(5) CO]\n\lEI{(~IAL AND SPORT B'ISHINU-.-NotJl- 5 ing in this section affects any reg11lation or manage- 6 Inent of eomntereial or sport fishing, or routine oper- 7 ation or transit of fishing or recreational vessels, 8 "\vithin tlleFlorida exelusion zone. 9 "(G) IVrILITARY A(;'I'IVITIES.-Nothing Hl this 10 section Iirnits any rnilitary sIlip, submarine, aireraft, 11 or amphibious vessel activity condneted as part of~ 12 "(A) military exercises; 13 "(B) routine transit; 14 '((C) nliIitary preparedness; or 15 (( (D) rescue operations. 16 (((f) CONDITIONS FOR LEASING IN Ch'HEH AREAS.- 17 "(1) IN GENI<JllAL.-\Vith respect. to I;\;deral 18 leasing- 011 the 01.1ter Continental Shdf in the areas 19 described in paragraph (2)- 20 "(1\) each individual lease sale shall be 21 subject to the review process under the Na- 22 tional Environrncntal Poliey Ad of 19G9 (42 23 H.S.C. 4:321 et seq.), ineluding the eornpletioll 24 of an environmental impact statement for the 25 lease sale; and .HR 4783 IH 9 1 "(B) all }H"c-lease and leasing activities 2 shall proceed only if best available and safest 3 technologies, as described in 21 (b), are required 4 for all phases of operations. 5 "(2) DESCIUPTIOX OF AHEAS.-The areasre- 6 ferred to inparagrapll (1) are areas on the outer 7 (;ontinental Shelf that- 8 "(A) are not specifically covered by this 9 Act; and 10 "(13)(1) are not located within the pro- 11 teeted \vaters of the Florida Exclusion Zone; 12 "(ii) are not proteeted by HIe document en- 13 titled 'lVlenlorandum on \Vithdravval of Certain 14 Al'cas of the United States Outer Continental 15 Shelf from Leasing-Disposition' (:34 \Veekly 16 Compo Pres. Doe. 1111, elated .June 12, 1998); 17 or 18 "(iii) are not located \vithin any other fed- 19 erally protected area." 20 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF DEFERRAL. 21 Not\vithst.aIHhng the dOCUTrlent entitled "J\IenlO- 22 ralH]unl on \VitlldrawaJ of Certain Areas of tIlt, United 23 States ()uter Continental Shelf from Leasing' Disposition 24 Uj4 \Veekly Compo Prm;;. Doc. 1111, dated .June 12, 251998}", the expiration date for the withdrawal of areas .HR 4783 IH 10 1 of the outer Continental Shelf deserihed in the first para- 2 graph of that Menloranduru shall be extended until .Tulle 3 ;30, 2020. " ,_-.J .HR 4783 IH