taken on approximately 2,400 offshore tracts covering 13.2 million acres 

 from Point Conception to the Mexican border. The tracts extend as far 

 offshore as 190 miles. Most of the tracts being considered by the Depart- 

 ment have been offered for lease before, but 490 new tracts covering 2.7 

 million acres between the southern boundary of Sale 35 and the territorial 

 waters of Mexico were not previously available. The fourteen nearshore 

 tracts composing the Santa Barbara Ecological Reserve have been with- 

 drawn by the Department of the Interior from nomination. But, 90 tracts 

 in the Channel may be available. Some tracts off Huntington Beach also 



have been withdrawn because of possible jurisdictional disputes. 



9 

 Nominations closed on September 7, 1976. 



The State OCS Task Force responded to the Call for Nominations by 

 identifying tracts that the state feels should be withdrawn (negative 

 nominations) and listing justifications for withdrawal. The following 

 types of tracts were withdrawn: tracts intersected by vessel traffic 

 lanes; tracts located within a three-mile buffer zone adjoining the 

 state tidelands; tracts located in ecologically valuable bank areas; 

 tracts recommended for deletion from the San Pedro Bay for environ- 

 mental and aesthetic reasons, and those previously withdrawn by the 

 Secretary of Interior. Also, for Sale 48, Santa Barbara County 

 submitted negative nominations for nearly all of the Santa Barbara 

 Channel for reasons of public safety and aesthetics. 



A number of the lease areas off the Southern California coast 

 have been designated as Areas of Special Biological Significance 

 (ASBS) by the California Water Resources Control Board. Based on 

 these designations and the Oil and Gas Sanctuaries established by 



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