VI. INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3981, STATEMENT OF REP. 

 JOHN M. MURPHY, FEB. 27, 1975 



Mr. Murphy of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing two 

 companion bills which will help resolve some of the dilemma this 

 country faces in meeting its energy needs : 



First, the Coastal Zone Environment Act of 1975 ; and 



Second, a bill to establish a policy for the management of oil and 

 gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf so as to protect the 

 marine and coastal environment ; to establish policies and procedures 

 governing OCS operations that are environmentally, socially, and 

 economically compatible with the coastal zone management pro- 

 grams of affected States funded under Public Law 92-583, and for 

 other purposes. 



Everyone can agree on the desirability of producing additional 

 domestic oil and gas and thus cutting down expensive imports. The 

 best prospect appears to lie off our coasts, as in the Gulf of Mexico 

 where most offshore oil and gas now is extracted, and from new areas 

 such as the Atlantic coast and the Alaskan coasts. 



It is natural that citizens in these new, frontier areas, as far as 

 offshore oil is concerned, are anxious. They see a Federal program 

 about which they and their elected State and local officials have had 

 little to say moving ahead at a rapid rate. They know that their 

 coastal regions, which are valuable ecologically and economically, 

 will be heavily impacted when offshore oil operations move in. 



Yet as it stands now, these coastal taxpavers do not have informa- 

 tion on the extent of the oil and gas fields off their coasts, do not 

 have detailed information on what offshore production will require 

 in the way of industrial and public facility support, they likewise 

 know that environmental information gathering offshore is in its 

 early stages and they know also that introduction of a major new 

 heavy industry into rural or lightly developed areas will produce 

 social and economic stress and probably cost the local taxpayers 

 more than the new tax revenues. And finally, they know that offshore 

 operations do not last forever, that the industrial support base that 

 it provides with perhaps irretrievable damage to coastal lands and 

 waters, eventually withers away. This is the classic "boombust" 

 cycle. 



For all of these reasons and more, we need to alter the way this 

 country goes about using its precious offshore oil and gas reserves. 



The two bills I introduce today, Mr. Speaker, provide the following 

 improvements in the best interests of the Nation as well as the coastal 

 areas: First, we want to provide that detailed baseline information 

 is gathered on any marine area where offshore leasing is contemplated. 

 Subsequent to such leasing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration is to take careful measurements to insure that no per- 

 manent damage is being done. This is a simple precaution to protect 

 our marine resource. 



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