On June 9, the Santa Cruz City Council advanced updated language to strengthen their existing onshore OCS facilities ordinance, while adding similar restrictions for onshore sites to accommodate seabed mining. On the same day, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved their plan to put their own updated onshore OCS facilities ordinance on their local ballot this fall, which would also add controls on onshore facilities for seabed mining. Other California jurisdictions are also looking to move forward local policies, using Santa Cruz as a model. We are honored to be working with Save Our Shores and the Mills Legal Clinic in these efforts to protect our coast.

As of the publication date of this newsletter, the Interior Department has not yet revealed their next iteration of the 5-Year OCS Leasing Program — a release that could happen at any time and will trigger a 90-day public comment period for local governments, the State of California, and all other stakeholders. Recent events may be contributing to a slight delay: these include the natural gas fire on Platform Habitat off Ventura County, and an internal disagreement within the Trump Administration over whether new federal offshore drilling near military bases off California and Florida would undermine national security. Nevertheless, we must remain vigilant, as the announcement could come any day.

In the meantime, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright held a press event in Santa Barbara County on June 4 to reiterate the Administration's support for increased oil production off the California coast. The officials voiced support for the resumption of oil production by Sable Energy following the Plains All-American pipeline Refugio oil spill, and suggested that California military facilities — recently flagged in the Washington Post as potentially in jeopardy due to spatial conflicts with proposed new offshore drilling sites — might instead benefit from a West Coast Strategic Petroleum Reserve-style storage facility. That same day, state and national conservation groups held a demonstration in downtown Santa Barbara against the Sable restart and any new offshore drilling — an event that drew wider media coverage than the Administration's own announcement.

Gas Fire Erupts on Platform Habitat / Ventura County 5/11/26

At our May 13th meeting, the OCS local government coalition was privileged to welcome Jessica Gordon, Special Assistant Attorney General for Environmental Affairs at the California Department of Justice as our guest speaker.  Jessica was also joined by Adrianna Lobato and Vanessa Morrison of the AG’s staff.  Together we explored how cities, counties, and the state would best be able to work in tandem to confront ill-advised federal offshore drilling plans, as well as next steps as we continue to work to find and target the weaknesses of the present shortcuts being attempted by the Interior Department as the agency continues to move toward opening the entire California coast to offshore oil drilling.  The conceptual framework of how local governments might work with the State Attorney General’s office was discussed in detail, from declarations of support to public common interest agreements.  If you or your county counsel or city attorney wishes to open a line of communication with the AG’s office on this matter, please contact Jessica Gordon at Jessica.Gordon@doj.ca.gov

We plan to continue further educating ourselves about the necessary steps in the legal arena at our next meeting. To become part of this Local Government OCS Coalition, please email third.district@santacruzcountyca.gov and we can provide you with information, draft resolutions and agenda report templates so that you can join the effort. 

New Billboards in San Diego County!

Prepared by: Richard Charter, Director
Local Government OCS Coordination Program
waterway@monitor.net