Sponsors (39)
The bill permanently protects West Coast communities and ecosystems from new offshore drilling—reducing spill risk and clarifying coastal planning—while imposing economic costs on oil-industry workers, forgoing lease revenue for governments, and creating potential energy supply or displacement effects elsewhere.
Coastal communities and ocean ecosystems: permanently protected from new offshore oil and gas leasing in four West Coast planning areas (prevents future drilling in those areas).
Fisheries, tourism, and local coastal economies: lower risk of oil spills and associated economic losses for Washington, Oregon, and California.
Local governments and coastal planners: gain clearer, permanent regulatory certainty because new Outer Continental Shelf leasing is barred in the specified West Coast planning areas.
Energy workers and oil-related businesses: lose potential jobs and revenue tied to new offshore leases in the four planning areas.
Federal and state governments (and taxpayers): forgo potential lease revenue and royalties that could have funded public services or infrastructure.
Consumers and regional economies: may face higher energy prices or localized supply concerns if domestic offshore production opportunities are constrained.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits federal leases or other authorizations for oil and natural gas exploration, development, or production in four West Coast Outer Continental Shelf planning areas.
Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any lease or other authorization for exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in four U.S. West Coast Outer Continental Shelf planning areas (Washington/Oregon, Northern California, Central California, Southern California). The ban is added to federal leasing law as a new subsection and is written as an explicit, unconditional prohibition overriding other laws. The measure does not appropriate funds, create new programs, or amend other statutes beyond adding the new subsection to 43 U.S.C. § 1337; it simply bars federal offshore oil and gas authorization activity in the specified West Coast planning areas.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by Jared Huffman · Last progress April 10, 2025