V-16 



established that companies operating on the Shelf shall be liable 

 without proof of fault for pollution resulting from their opera- 

 tions. These particular changes aonly to onerations on the 

 entire Shelf all around the country. On ^arch 21, the Secretary 

 announced that certain California O.C.S. Orders were changed. 

 (O.C.S. Orders are issued by Geological Survey Regional Oil and 

 Gas Supervisors and they aooly only to those Darts of the Shelf 

 within the snecific region under each supervisor's jurisdiction.) 

 These changed Orders nrovide for more strict control of oil 

 drilling and production operations in all Federal waters off 

 the entire State of California. Also, on March 21, the Secretary 

 directed that a two-mile wide permanent ecological preserve be 

 established off Santa Barbara immediately seaward of the 

 three-mile limit of the State of California. He also directed 

 that all unleased areas south of this permanent preserve will 

 be held as an additional buffer zone where no oil drilling or 

 production operations will be permitted. 



Bureau of Reclamation 



Although the Bureau programs in the seventeen western States have 

 little direct involvement in the estuarine zones there is 

 opportunity for its unstream water resource development activi- 

 ties to have long range impacts downstream on estuarine resources. 

 The downstream influences of these projects are being considered 

 and are of importance to the Department's interest and responsibility 

 in the estuarine zones. 



