Sponsors (4)
The bill hands significant coastal and leasing control to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi—boosting state revenues, local oversight, and potentially faster, tailored development—while reducing federal oversight and revenue protections and raising environmental, legal, and regulatory-fragmentation risks that could shift costs onto states and taxpayers.
State governments in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi gain jurisdiction and authority to manage and license submerged lands out to 3 marine leagues, shifting control from federal to state hands.
Residents, coastal businesses, and local economies can benefit from tailored state-level conservation, permitting, and development policies that may speed approvals and align resource use with local priorities.
States can collect revenues from leases in the expanded submerged lands, increasing state revenue potential and local control over lease income.
Members of the public and environmental groups face reduced federal judicial oversight and loss of citizen-suit/federal-court review for state-issued post-delegation leases, limiting legal avenues to challenge leasing decisions.
Transferring regulatory authority to States risks inconsistent or weaker environmental protections compared with federal OCS rules, increasing the chance of local environmental harms.
Regulatory fragmentation and differing State rules across adjacent waters will raise compliance costs and create operational uncertainty for fishers, offshore businesses, and small operators.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Defines covered States' seaward boundary at 3 marine leagues and authorizes delegation of most OCS leasing/management to Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi if conditions are met and requested within five years.
Gives Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi the option to extend their seaward management authority from 3 geographical miles to 3 marine leagues and to receive delegated authority from the Secretary of the Interior to grant and manage offshore leases, easements, and rights-of-way in that expanded area if each State meets specified conditions and requests delegation within five years. The measure also updates Federal law to fix each covered State's seaward boundary as of the day before enactment and expands certain State fishery jurisdiction while preserving key Federal authorities (national security, highly migratory and ESA-listed species, international obligations, and the EEZ beyond the extended waters).
Official title: To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide for the delegation of authority to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to manage certain expanded submerged lands, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Mike Ezell · Last progress April 28, 2026