Federal

West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 385 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill stops the federal government from issuing leases for oil and natural gas exploration, development, or production on the ocean floor off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The prohibition is permanent and applies regardless of any other federal laws or rules.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of the Interior (the federal official overseeing the Department of the Interior, which manages public lands and resources) is directly affected. Oil and gas companies seeking to drill offshore in these three states are also affected. Coastal residents and communities in California, Oregon, and Washington may be indirectly affected.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of the Interior cannot issue any lease for oil or natural gas exploration, development, or production in ocean waters off California, Oregon, or Washington (Sec. 2) • This prohibition applies even if other federal laws or rules would normally allow such leases (Sec. 2)

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, the Secretary of the Interior would no longer have the power to grant leases for offshore oil and gas activities off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. Any existing authority to issue such leases in these areas would be removed.

Important Definitions

None defined in bill text.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 470 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2023 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CASE, Ms. CHU, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PORTER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TOKUDA, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to perma- nently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California, Or- egon, and Washington. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘West Coast Ocean Pro- 4 tection Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:31 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H470.IH H470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 470 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING ON THE 1 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OFF THE COAST 2 OF CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND WASHINGTON. 3 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 4 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(q) PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN 7 CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 8 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any 9 other law, the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue a 10 lease for the exploration, development, or production of 11 oil or natural gas in any area of the outer Continental 12 Shelf off the coast of the State of California, Oregon, or 13 Washington.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:31 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H470.IH H470 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.