Background/Purpose of Request:
On January 4th, 2018, the US Department of the Interior released a draft five year plan for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS.) According to the Department of Interior press release the current OCS Program makes approximately 90% of total Outer Continental Shelf acreage unavailable for oil exploration, while the new draft OCS Program would make approximately 94% of total Outer Continental Shelf acreage available for oil exploration. You can find the press release at this link: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-zinke-announces-plan-unleashing-americas-offshore-oil-and-gas-potential .
Most of the Atlantic OCS waters, including those off the North Carolina coast, would become available for exploration under the proposed plan. New oil exploration or drilling in these areas has been prohibited since the mid-1980's. The draft plan is subject to review and comment, and it may be a year or more before a final plan is released by the Department of the Interior. The Plan itself can be found at this link: https://www.boem.gov/NP-Draft-Proposed-Program-2019-2024/ .
Last year the Federal rules regarding permitting of seismic testing in Atlantic waters were relaxed. Those changes, paired with the new policy on oil exploration, significantly increase the likelihood that seismic testing will be conducted off of the North Carolina coast.
According to Oceana, a non-profit advocacy organization promoting ocean protection, "As of November 2017, 141 East Coast municipalities and over 1,200 local, state and federal elected officials including the Governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, have formally opposed offshore drilling and/or seismic airgun blasting." More information from Oceana can be found at this link: http://usa.oceana.org/climate-and-energy/grassroots-opposition-offshore-drilling-and-exploration-atlantic-ocean-and .
Last week the North Carolina Petroleum Council issued a statement on the topic stating in part "...puts North Carolina on the right track towards greater energy production, new jobs, and economic growth." You can find the entire press release here: http://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/news/2018/01/04/new-offshore-energy-plan-will-benefit-north-carolina-energy-consumers .
Below you will find links to NC based web resources on the topic of the recent Federal policy changes and offshore oil exploration in general:
http://www.nccoast.org/protect-the-coast/advocate/oil/
http://www.sierraclub.org/north-carolina/blog/2018/01/trump-s-offshore-lease-plan-defies-coastal-nc-residents-concerns
http://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/trump-administration-plan-for-atlantic-offshore-drilling-puts-southeast-com
http://www.wral.com/study-noisy-tests-to-explore-for-oil-offshore-scaring-fish-away-from-reefs/16489794/
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