HomeMy WebLinkAboutReso 2018-093RESOLUTION NO. 2018-093
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CHULA VISTA OPPOSING NEW OR EXPANDED OFFSHORE
OIL AND GAS LEASES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND
SUPPORTING RELATED MEASURES TO PROHIBIT THE
DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS INTO THE OCEAN
WHEREAS, the City values our State’s ocean waters and coasts, which provide habitat to
a vast array of wildlife which depend on a healthy and clean environment; and
WHEREAS, the City’s residents and visitors enjoy our ocean, beaches, mountains, and
abundance of diverse resources for recreation, exploration, and relaxation; and
WHEREAS, our City’s economy is reliant on a healthy ocean for our residents, visitors,
and maritime professionals; and
WHEREAS, the City has a long history of caring for our coastal waters, bay, and
environment by adopting City policies and practicing environmental stewardship; and
WHEREAS, the City is a member of the Port of San Diego, which includes two maritime
cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, 22 public parks and hundreds of businesses around
San Diego Bay; and
WHEREAS, the City is home to over 500 acres of coastal property along the Pacific
coast, which includes a marina, bayfront parks, and the Living Coast Discovery Center, a part of
the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge; and
WHEREAS, the City’s bayfront is the subject of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan,
which contemplates recreational and residential development, along with the establishment of
ecological buffers to protect wildlife habitat, species and other coastal resources; and
WHEREAS, there is a growing body of evidence confirming that intense sound produced
by human generated noise such as acoustic testing used in oil and gas exploration negatively
impacts marine mammals, fish, squid, and crab; and
WHEREAS, in 1969, a well failure off the coast of Santa Barbara fouled coastal waters
with an estimated 100,000 barrels of crude oil and caused catastrophic environmental damage,
helping launch the modern environmental movement; and
WHEREAS, in 1970, with bipartisan support, President Nixon signed the National
Environmental Policy Act on January 2nd, delivered a call to make “the 1970’s a historic period
when, by conscious choice (we) transform our land into what we want it to become ” in his State
of the Union Address, and ended the year with the creation of the Environmental Protection
Agency an independent agency to regulate the environment; and
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WHEREAS, oil drilling presents a clear and ever-present danger to the health and safety
of residents, businesses and economies, with the threat of an oil spill potentially wreaking havoc
on ecosystems, human health, and economic activities; and
WHEREAS, the 2010 BP Deep Water Horizon disaster spilled an estimated 4.9 million
barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and shores of the Gulf Coast of the United States;
and
WHEREAS, in 2015, a pipeline servicing offshore oil platforms burst and fouled the
coast north of Santa Barbara with an estimated 3,400 barrels of crude oil, damaging wildlife and
coastal recreation; and
WHEREAS, there have been no new offshore oil and gas leases in California since the
1969 disaster; and
WHEREAS, in December 2016, President Obama signed an executive order that banned
any new oil and gas drilling off the coast of California under Section 12(a) of the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act; and
WHEREAS, on April 28, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order called
Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, which establishes a policy to
encourage energy exploration and production on the outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and restarts
the 2017-2022 five year lease program potentially opening up Arctic waters and millions of
coastal acres off U.S. shores to oil and gas drilling, fracking, and other well-stimulation, putting
California’s coastal resources at risk of more oil spills, increased greenhouse gas emissions,
dependence on fossil fuels, and a delay in the movement toward greater reliance on renewable
energy; and
WHEREAS, the City’s residents and visitors enjoy California’s beaches and the Pacific
Ocean for recreational, commercial, and educational activities, all of which support our local
economy; and
WHEREAS, our residents value our state’s ocean and coastal waters, which provide
habitat to a vast array of wildlife, including fish, whales, sea turtles, and birds that depend on a
healthy and clean environment; and
WHEREAS, offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration off the Pacific coast puts these
coastal resources, and the communities and industries that depend on them, at risk from oil spills
and other damage; and
WHEREAS, significant efforts to maintain the quality of our coastal waters amidst
multiplicative impacts from sewage, industrial uses, and climatic impacts are being enacted by
City; and
WHEREAS, the Administration has proposed an expansion of offshore oil and gas
leasing to new areas which have largely been off-limits to new federal leasing, including the
Pacific Coast; and
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WHEREAS, new federal offshore oil and gas leases have not been granted off the coast
of California since 1984 waters due to the unacceptably high risk of damage and disruption to the
marine environment; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Interior’s 2017-2022 Five-Year Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) Leasing Program adopted as of November 18, 2016 contained no proposed offshore
drilling along the Pacific Coast, and
WHEREAS, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is
considering an expanded Five-Year OCS Leasing Program for the years 2019-2024, in response
to which this resolution is hereby submitted, and
WHEREAS, the City is opposed to inclusion of any offshore drilling tracts in any OCS
Planning Area on the Pacific Coast in the pending 2019-2024 DPP and any other future National
Programs, and
WHEREAS, the Governor of California, the Attorney General, the State Senate, the State
Lands Commission, the Coastal Commission, the Fish and Game Commission, along with a
growing number of cities, have taken a stand against new federal offshore oil and gas leases in
the Pacific Ocean; and
WHEREAS, opening new areas off California’s coast to offshore drilling will deepen the
state’s dependence on fossil fuels and undermine its efforts to address climate change.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Chula
Vista that it hereby supports, with respect to all State and Federal waters in the Pacific Ocean
bordering the United States: 1) a ban on new drilling, fracking, and related techniques, 2) a
prohibition on new or expanded oil and gas leases; 3) a phase-out of all oil and gas extraction,
and 3) a framework for responsible renewable energy development.
The City Clerk shall forward a copy of this Resolution to Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S.
Department of Interior.
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Presented by Approved as to form by
Gary Halbert Glen R. Googins
City Manager City Attorney
PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Chula Vista,
California, this 22nd day of May 2018 b y the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers: Aguilar, McCann, Padilla, and Salas
NAYS: Councilmembers: None
ABSENT: Councilmembers: None
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers: Diaz
Mary Salas, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kerry K. Bigelow, MMC, City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO )
CITY OF CHULA VISTA )
I, Kerry K. Bigelow, City Clerk of Chula Vista, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing
Resolution No. 2018-093 was duly passed, approved, and adopted by the City Council at a
regular meeting of the Chula Vista City Council held on the 22nd day of May 2018.
Executed this 22nd day of May 2018.
Kerry K. Bigelow, MMC, City Clerk
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