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HomeMy WebLinkAbout96-18 - Offshore Oil Drilling MoratoriumRESOLUTION NO. 96- is A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH SUPPORTING RENEWAL OF THE OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING MORATORIUM AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE LONG TERM PROTECTION FROM OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING. • WHEREAS, the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Department of Interior Appropriations will consider lifting the current nationwide ban on offshore oil drilling along environmentally sensitive areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS); and WHEREAS, federal legislation has been introduced (HR 2241 and HR 2242), which provides long term protection from future offshore oil drilling in sensitive California waters; and WHEREAS, technology does not exist to fully prevent, clean up, or contain oil spills for the type of ocean and wind conditions that are present throughout the year in the affected offshore waters adjacent to the California beaches; and WHEREAS, coastal dependent tourism is a mainstay of the local economy in the communities along the southern California coast, as well as other coastal areas in California; and WHEREAS, critical commercial fishery tracts would be impacted by the oil drilling activities that would be permitted by this action, and that severe fishing conflicts could be expected to occur; and WHEREAS, estuaries and river mouths which serve as critical nursery and food source habitats for commercial fish species would be in direct proximity to oil drilling activities permitted by a lifting of the OCS drilling moratorium, and would therefore be subject to significant adverse impacts in the event of a spill; and • WHEREAS, the City of Newport Beach has traditionally taken a lead role in opposition to offshore drilling proposals that could impact the Newport Beach coastline. • LJ NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council that the City of Newport Beach urges that the U.S. House of Representatives support HR 2241 and HR 2242; and NOW, THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Subcommittee on Department of Interior Appropriations include renewal of the moratoria on Outer Continental Shelf oil drilling activities in environmentally sensitive coastal areas in this year's House Interior Appropriations Bill. ADOPTED this 26th ATTEST: CITY CLERK day of February 1996. _V111 A p MAYOR