WASHINGTON \u2014 The Trump administration may have violated federal law by exempting Florida from a national plan to expand offshore drilling, a Democratic senator charged Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke\u2019s decision to give Florida a last-minute exemption while ignoring at least 10 other states that made similar requests may violate requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs drilling in U.S. coastal waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zinke\u2019s action is especially outrageous because Florida \u2014 unlike California, Washington and other states \u2014 did not expressly oppose the drilling proposal in written comments submitted to the Interior Department, Cantwell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Florida Gov. Rick Scott voiced opposition soon after the plan\u2019s Jan. 4 release, a letter submitted by the state Department of Environmental Protection last year did not oppose the drilling plan or ask for Florida to be exempted. Instead, the letter warned about the effects of oil and gas activities on the environment and urged that \u201clong-term protection of Florida\u2019s sensitive coastal and marine resources should be of paramount concern\u201d in developing a drilling plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington told Interior they \u201cstrongly oppose any new leasing\u201d off their coasts and asked to be removed from the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By exempting Florida but not other states, Zinke showed he is \u201cmore concerned with politics than proper process when it comes to making key decisions that affect our coastal communities,\u201d said Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, called Zinke\u2019s action troubling. Singling out one state for exemption \u201cmay well violate federal law\u201d that requires formal notice and comment period before taking regulatory action, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Interior spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday. But White House press secretary Sarah Sanders denied the administration gave special treatment to Scott, a Republican and ally of President Donald Trump who is considered a likely Senate candidate later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not aware of any political favor that that (Florida exemption) would have been part of, so, no,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In announcing the exemption for Florida on Tuesday, Zinke called Scott \u201ca straightforward leader that can be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zinke added that he supports Scott\u2019s position that \u201cFlorida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver. As a result of discussion with Governor Scott and his leadership, I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said Zinke\u2019s action \u201cviolates the legal standard of arbitrary and capricious agency action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Florida, California and other coastal states \u201crely on our beautiful coasts for tourism and our economy,\u201d Lieu said, adding that he believes courts will strike down the drilling plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American Petroleum Institute, the top oil and gas lobbying group, also questioned Zinke\u2019s action \u2014 but from the other direction. The group called the Florida withdrawal \u201cpremature\u201d and said restricting access to the Eastern Gulf of Mexico in particular \u201cputs hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across the country and along the Gulf Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
API spokesman Reid Porter said the Trump administration \u201cshould follow the established process\u201d for developing an offshore drilling program, including public comment. \u201cIt is important that Interior complies with all the legal procedures and requirements for putting together\u201d a drilling program on the Outer Continental Shelf, Porter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questions about the legality of the Zinke\u2019s decision came as bipartisan opposition to the drilling plan mounted. Several governors, including leaders of Washington state, Delaware, Rhode Island and Maryland, asked for their states to be withdrawn from the plan and requested meetings with Zinke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokeswoman for Zinke said he spoke with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday and expects to speak Friday with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and California Gov. Jerry Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats from coastal states accuse Zinke and Trump of punishing states with Democratic leaders while rewarding Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zinke announced plans last week to greatly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including more than a dozen states where drilling is now blocked. The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation\u2019s offshore reserves to development by private companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industry groups praised the announcement, while environmental groups denounced the plan, saying it would harm America\u2019s oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke\u2019s decision to give Florida a last-minute exemption while ignoring at least 10 other states that made similar requests may violate requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs drilling in U.S. coastal waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5395],"class_list":["post-10242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"F3GVPXGCOBEBBGYEKMZJSIF7WM","arc_canonical_url":"\/federal-oversight\/congress\/2018\/01\/11\/senator-drilling-plan-carve-out-for-florida-may-be-illegal\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n