Rep. Panetta opposes CA public lands drilling

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) has forwarded correspondence to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to discourage efforts to proceed with new oil and gas drilling in California public lands.

The proposal calls for the opening of hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands and mineral estate along the central coast of California for drilling.

“I request that you do not proceed with the CCFO proposal to open new lands for oil and gas leasing and development, ensuring the central coast of California can continue aggressively pursuing policies that protect the state’s critical natural resources and support a sustainable future,” Panetta wrote in a letter to BLM Acting State Director Joe Stout and Central Coast Field Office (CCFO) Field Manager Ben Blom.

Last month the BLM’s CCFO released a Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), opening more than 700,000 acres of public land across eleven counties in California to oil and gas lease sales. If the proposal proceeded, it would end a five-year moratorium on oil and gas leasing of federal land and mineral estate in California, which has been in effect since 2013.

Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties would be among the areas impacted by the plan, per authorities.