Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/17/1991, 7 - PROVISION OF SPECIAL TRANSPORTATION TO OFF-SHORE OIL HEARINGS IN SANTA MARIA IIIaI�IIIIUIIIIIIIIII�°dmffm&ftijjjIIj cityo san lues osispo -��f MEETIN DATE: -9i COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT ITEM NUMBER: y FROM: Ken Hampian, Assistant City Administrative Officer / SUBJECT: Provision of Special Transportation to Off-Shore Oil Hearings in Santa Maria CAO RECOMMENDATION: Decide whether or not to provide special transportation services to Santa Maria on September 18 in order to provide greater citizen representation at public hearings being held relative to off-shore oil development. DISCUSSION: During the Communication section of the September 3 , 1991 Council meeting, Councilman Roalman asked the Council to authorize placing an item on the September 17th agenda which would approve City funding to support the provision of special bus service to Santa Maria. The service would be made available on September 18th to increase the representation of City residents at two public hearings being held regarding off-shore oil development. The public hearings are being held by the Mineral Management Services Division of the U.S. Department of Interior for the purpose of gathering comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the potential leasing of 500, 000 acres in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin as far north as Cayucos. Councilmember Roalman has made this request on behalf of Steve Puccini, a local resident who is interested in organizing City residents to attend this hearing. The request for bus service is intended to encourage attendance by providing free transportation for those who might otherwise have a difficult time attending. The use of the City-provided bus will be open to anyone interested in the hearings regardless of their position concerning off-shore oil development. While staff has concerns relative to any precedent which might be established as a result of providing such special transportation service, because the Council has established a policy position encouraging greater local review of oil and gas leases in the Coastal Zone, the issue of precedent is lessened (Attachment 2) . Thus, if Council supports the service, staff suggests that this be viewed as a unique circumstance which does not set a precedent in terms of any future requests for special transportation services. In order to provide the service, the City will contract with Laidlaw Transportation to provide charter bus service. There are two hearings scheduled on September 18 , one from 1: 00 p.m. to 4 :00 p.m. , and a second from 6: 00 p.m. to 9 : 00 p.m. Councilman Roalman has requested that service be provided to both hearings. FISCAL IMPACT: I The service will be provided by a single bus making two trips to Santa Maria. The rate for the charter service is approximately $52 per hour for the first five hours and $23 per hour thereafter. 11101Wlllll1$JR111 city of San 1U1S OBlspo Nii% COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Page 2 Based on the estimated number of hours, the cost to the City will be approximately $400.00. Funds are available within existing resources to support this cost. Attached is information provided by Councilman Roalman regarding the hearing and the offshore oil development issues. ALTERNATIVE: The Council could choose to provide service to only one of the hearings. The minimum five hour rate would result in a cost of $265.00. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Hearing Information 2 . Resolution No. 6827 KH:bw ofshr.rpt i i I I i ATTEND THESE CRUCIAL OFFSHORE OIL EVENTSrr THE EVENTS I,►e League of Women Voters Discussion Panel on Offshore Oil and Gas Attend this discussion panel on offshore oil and gas sponsored by the League of WomenVoters at the SLO City - County Library, Community Room. It will provide a forum to discuss the issues related to offshore oil and gas development. Meet Lisle Reed, MMS Pacific Regional Director; Kelly Quirke, Greenpeace Ocean Ecology Coordinator; oil industry representatives; County Supervisor Evelyn Delany; Alex Hinds, Director of the SLO County Planning Department; and Kurt Kupper, Director of ECOSLO. The Federal Minerals Management Service (MMS) Hearing The Federal Interior Department's Minerals Management Service will conduct a public hearing at the Santa Maria Airport Hilton to gather comments on their leasing plan and its DEIS. The MMS makes offshore oil policy for the federal government. This is the only federal hearing scheduled on President Bush's offshore oil drilling plans for the central and Southern CA coasts!! THE 5 YEAR PLAN and the DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT The plan identifies potential oil and gas leasing sites nationwide between 1991 -1997 The earliest sale proposed in California, however, is 1996. MMS plans to hold a lease sale for 87 tracts (500,000 acres) in the Santa Barbara Channel and the Santa Maria Basin as far north as Cayucos beginning in 1996. 500,000 acres of active leases (those not yet receiving permits) already exist in the Basin. Thus, if MMS has its way, we will have 1,000,000 acres of active leases in the ('11annel and in the Basin! The MMS has continuously failed to consider in its proposals and in environmental assessments the multiple impacts offshore oil development has had (and would have) on our area. WHERE AND WHEN The League of Women Voters Discussion Panel on Offshore Oil and Gas The September 12 panel discussion will be held at the SLO City /County Library, Community Room, 995 Palm St., in San Luis Obispo, 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. This forum will provide an excellent opportunity for you (and those you encourage to come) to find out more about and how to address the issues at the September 18 hearing in Santa Maria. Federal MMS Hearing in Santa Maria The September 18 hearing will be held at the Santa Maria Airport Hilton, 3455 Skyway Drive, Santa Maria (W. on Betteravia off 101, S. on Skyway Dr.) An afternoon and an evening session are available for comments: The afternoon session is set for 1 to 4 p.m., the evening session is from 6 to 9 p.m. IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU ATTEND THIS HEARING!! HOW CAN YOU HELP? The most important way to help KEEP OIL OUT is to attend and ask others to attend the MMS hearing on September 18 at the Santa Maria Airport Hilton. Comments should address boundaries of the proposed sale, geologic and environmental concerns, biological and economic impacts, and relationship to national energy policies. (See reverse side of this flier for more )rmation and stay tuned in! Additional fact sheets and events are forthcoming.) We need your financial support as well. Send a tax deductible contribution to: "ECOSLO /KEEP OIL OUT!," P.O. Box 1014, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. Call 546 -3379 or 544 -1777 to help KEEP OIL OUT! Any fundraising ideas? Call us today, drop by businesses you patronize, get the word out!! KEEP OIL OUT!! Fact Sheet For the Only Federal Government Hearing Offshore Oil Development in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties The Time and Place of the MMS Hearing: September 18 1991 2 sessions: 1 to 4 an c(6 to 9 p.m. Santa Maria Airport Hilto 3455 Skyway Drive Santa Maria (From Hwy. 101: W. on Betteravfa Rd., then S. on Sk wa Dr. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) Proposal: The MMS makes offshore oil policy for the federal government. MMS plans to hold a lease sale for 87 tracts (500,000 acres) in the Santa Barbara Channel and the Santa Maria Basin as far north as Cayucos beginning in 1996. 500,000 acres of active leases (those not yet receiving permits) already exist in the Basin. Thus, if MMS has its way, we will have 1,000,000 acres of active leases in the Channel and in the Basinl Points of opposition to the MMS Proposal: 1. MMS has failed in the past to consider the multiple impacts expanded offshore oil development would have on our area. For 15 years, the State of California, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, and grass -roots organizations in the two counties have provided MMS with detailed ecological information on our area. MMS, however, has consistently disregarded or distorted the information; 2. Similarly, in its current 5 -Year Comprehensive Plan Proposal, MMS refuses to recognize that the Santa Maria Basin (between Point Conception and Big Sur) has its own ecosystem. Rather, it continues to link the Basin with the larger planning area of all of Southern California, thus minimizing the unique and stellar qualities of our ecosystem; I The MMS proposal for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties will negatively impact air and ocean water quality and put at risk more than 26 endangered and threatened species and 29 species of whales and dolphins. Also in peril are large numbers of sea lions, harbor seals, elephant seals, fish, and shore and sea birds. Two - thirds of California's sea otter population and 15 percent of the State's coastal kelp beds are in the MMS designated area. Because of these, and many other unparalleled features of our coast, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, aided by Congressperson Leon Panetta, is urging the establishment of a Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary, The MMS Proposal would short - circuit this effort; 4. The MMS Proposal will negatively impact the billion dollar, a year tourist industry and the 20 percent of the jobs in the county created by the ocean - oriented economy. Jobs generated by potential oil development, by contrast, would be relatively few, mainly temporary, and, from past experience, filled mostly by people from outside the area; 5. Seismic testing, which would occur even before any exploratory drilling program, results in extensive damage to marine life in the area and documented dispersal of fish. Ensuing exploratory drilling would release many thousands of tons of drilling muds (approximately one million pounds per hole) that contain heavy metals, radioactive materials and other harmful pollutants. The primary clean -up method available is dispersant, which in conjunction with biocides, detergents, and treated and untreated sewerage, may be discharged into the marine environment; r7-4 6. At present, when there are more than three -foot sea swells, oil recovery technology cannot clean up more than `a small fraction of any spiIIJ. The seas,in the region are notoriously rough, averaging five to seven foot swells, and fog usually limits visibility. No further leasing, therefore, should take place until spill technology has greatly improved; 7. In September 1983, the Department of Interior signed an agreement with the State of California to remove the area north of the Santa Maria River from further offshore oil development- consideration because of the environmentally sensitive nature of the area. In 1991, this agreement apparently has been shelved; 8. MMS has a national history of furthering offshore oil exploration and development and downplaying environmental impacts. Pleasing the oil industry, collecting lease -sale revenue and royalties for the federal government and maintaining the MMS budget remain its objectives; 9. MMS "fairness" can be seen in its choice for the sole hearing on the lease sale in the only pro -oil development coastal town in the two counties, and in its scheduling the hearing in the middle of the week when it is most difficult for working people beyond the local area to attend. The hearing date of September 18 also coincides this year with Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, making it difficult if not impossible for members of this faith to attend the one hearing; 10. No further leasing should occur in this region or anywhere else in the county until there is a national energy policy which embraces conservation and alternative energy production. The Bush administration's energy development strategy supports continued reliance on and development of fossil fuels and nuclear power. What You Can Do • Attend and ask others to attend the public hearing on September 18 at the Santa Maria Airport Hilton, 3455 Skyway Drive, Santa Maria. Two sessions will be held: 1 -4 p.m. and 6 -9 p.m. • Prepare testimony to present at this hearing - this is the time to speak out for our coastl • Volunteer to help organize for this hearing by calling 546 -3379 or 544 -1777. • Attend these other important upcoming events: - California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal -EPA) Hearing on the "5 -Year Plan," September 6, City- County Library, Community Room, Noon to 7:00 p.m. - SLO Board of Supervisors Hearing on the 5 -Year Plan, Sept. 17, Board Chambers (time TBA) - ECOSLO Speakers Forum - Greenpeace Alternative Energy Display and Slide Presentation by Kelly puirke - Sept. 17, City- County Library, 7:00 p.m. - Greenpeace "Clean Energy Fair", Sept. 18th at the MMS Hearing location. • Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers. • Contact your elected Congressional representatives: Rep. Leon Panetta 307 Cannon HOD Washington, DC 20515 -0506 Rep. William Thomas 2402 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 -0520 Rep. Robert Lagomarsino 2332 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 -0519 Senator John Seymour U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 Write letters to: Scott Sewell, Director, Minerals Management Service (MS- 4013), 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240. Write letters to: President George Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, 20500. • Send a tax deductible contribution to: "ECOSLO /KEEP OIL OUT," P.O. Box 1014, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406. FOR MORE INFORMATION and to GET INVOLVED: CALL: Ocean Sanctuary Coalition, 546 -3379 or ECOSLO, 544 -1777 S San Luis Obispo' Existing and Proposed oil Leases rH, RESOLUTION NO. 6827 (1990 SERIES) REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENT OF THE FEDERAL COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT WHEREAS, the United States Government established the management, improvement, and protection of coastal resources throughout the Nation as priority national goals under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972; and WHEREAS, amongst other beneficial purposes, the Act encourages and assists coastal States to exercise their full authority over the lands and waters in the identified coastal zones by developing land and water use management programs for each State; and WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled by a 5 -4 decision in 1984 (Secretary of Interior v. California) that federal oil and gas leasing activities in the Outer Continental Shelf were not matters subject to a consistency review with a State's coastal management plan; and WHEREAS, said ruling not only ended the States' ability to review federal oil and gas lease sales, it appears contrary to the original intent of the Coastal Zone Management Act and raises concerns that the precedent set by this ruling may exempt other federal activities in the coastal zones from State consistency review; and WHEREAS, H.R. 4030 has been introduced in the United States Congress for purposes of reauthorizing the Coastal Zone Management Act instituting amendments to subject Outer Continental Shelf lease sales to the consistency requirements of the Act; and WHEREAS, Congressmen Leon Panetta and Andy Ireland have introduced H.R. 543 as a further amendment to the Coastal Zone R 6827 Resolution No. 6827 (1990 Series) Page Two Management Act to specifically and clearly state that all federal oil and gas lease sales, whether within or outside of the actual coastal zone, and other federal activities that directly affect the coastal zone and its sensitive resources must be subject to the consistency requirement review with a State's coastal management program; and WHEREAS, the citizens and City of San Luis Obispo, California, have a long- standing and documented record expressing concerns with protecting the sensitive resources of the coastal zone, most recently related to the affects of federal oil and gas leasing sales and activities off the coast of Central California; and WHEREAS, H.R. 4030 and H.R. 543 restore originally- intended authority of coastal States to consider all federal activities that affect coastal resources relative to their federally- approved coastal management programs. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, does hereby find the above recitals are true and correct statements and findings, and does hereby declare its endorsements and support for H.R. 4030 and H.R. 543 constituting necessary and prudent reauthorization and amendment to the Coastal Zone Management Act. Upon motion of Councilman Roalman _, seconded by Councilwoman Pinard and on the following roll call vote: V Resolution No. 6827 (1990 Series) Page Three AYES: Councilmembers Roalman, Pinard, Rappa, Reiss, and Mayor Dunin NOES: None ABSENT: None the foregoing resolution was adopted this 19th day of June 1990. OF yor Ron Dunin ATTEST: Pam Voges, CitiO Clerk APPROVED: City Ad inistrative Officer t tto ney AL\zoneres ri-q `AEMN AGENDA DATE � cityO sAn lids OBISPO 990 Palm Street/Post Office Box 8100 • San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8100 September 17, 1991 TO: City Council FROM: Mayor Ron Dunin SUBJ: Council Policy Concerning Matters Outside City Control This is just a reminder that the Council has adopted a policy relative to not taking actions on issues outside the purview and control of the City of San Luis Obispo. Attached is an excerpt from the City Council Policies and Procedures Handbook. PV:kdc Attachment c: John Dunn Jeff Jorgensen Ken Hampian COPIESTO: ,❑_,/•Dawhs Action ❑ FYI Ia Coaadl G 1('-DD DIR. O ❑ FN.MX L'J_ ACAO ❑ FIP'F Oi EF ATTORNEY ❑ FW DUL I3 CLERK/ORIC. ❑ POLla CTL ❑ MGMT.TF.W ❑ PTC DIP. ❑ C READFI.E ❑ lIlIL D 3. A supplemental telephone call shall be made if necessary to notify each Councilmember. 4. No business other than that announced shall be discussed. 5. Any special meeting held at a place other than City Hall shall be open to the public. Notice requirements of the Brown Act shall be .complied with for any such meetings; regular minutes shall be taken by the City Clerk and shall be available for public inspection. - D. CLOSED SESSIONS (closed to the public) 1. Closed Sessions are regulated pursuant to the Brown Act. 2. No member of the Council, employee of the City, or anyone else present shall disclose to any person the content or substance of any discussion which takes place in a closed session unless authorized by a four-fifths vote of the Council. II. AGENDA A. Any Councilmember may submit an item for the agenda through the Mayor or the City Administrative Officer. Staff will prepare a staff report on behalf of the Councilmember if formal Council action is required. Action in support of or opposition to legislation at another , government level, or of a specific cause, shall be considered only if the subject issue directly affects or is within the purview or control of the City of San Luis Obispo. (See also 1.04.080) B. A member of the public may request, through a Councilmember or the staff, that a matter be placed on the agenda. If it is an appropriate item for the agenda, a staff report will be prepared and approved by the C.A.0 or his designee. C. Emergency items may be placed on the agenda only in accordance with state law. Generally, only those matters affecting public health or safety may be considered. emergency in nature. A four-fifths vote of Council is necessary to add an emergency item. D. Reconsideration of an item shall be allowed in accordance with Roberts' Rules of Order and established Council guidelines. Resubmittal of issues previously acted upon is discouraged except in emergencies. 1-3 Rev. 8/89