City Council Meeting:  April 9, 1996         Santa Monica, CA

TO:       Mayor and City Council

FROM:     City Staff

SUBJECT:  Renewal of the Offshore Drilling Moratorium and Federal
          Legislation to provide long term protection from
          Offshore Oil Drilling

At its meeting on March 26, 1996, the City Council directed staff
to prepare a resolution

supporting the renewal of the Offshore Drilling Moratorium and
Federal legislation

to provide long term protection from Offshore Oil Drilling.  The
attached resolution is

presented for your consideration.

Prepared by:   Katie E Lichtig, Senior Management Analyst

                     RESOLUTION NUMBER ____
                                
                     (City Council Series)
                                
                                
            A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE 
         CITY OF SANTA MONICA SUPPORTING THE RENEWAL OF
          THE OFFSHORE DRILLING MORATORIUM AND FEDERAL
          LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE LONG TERM PROTECTION
                   FROM OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING

     WHEREAS, the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on
Department of Interior Appropriations will consider lifting the
current nationwide ban on offshore oil drilling along
environmentally sensitive areas of the Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS); and
     WHEREAS, federal legislation has been introduced (HR 2241
and HR 2242) which provides long term protection from future
offshore oil drilling in sensitive California waters; and
     WHEREAS, technology does not exist to fully prevent, clean
up, or contain oil spills for the types of ocean and wind
conditions that are present throughout the year in the affected
offshore waters adjacent to the Santa Monica coast; and
     WHEREAS, coastal dependent tourism is a mainstay of the
local economy in the communities of the southern California
coast, as well as other coastal areas in California and elsewhere
that would be impacted by a lifting of the drilling moratorium;
and
     WHEREAS, critical commercial fishery tracts would be
impacted by the oil drilling activities that would be permitted
by this action, and that severe fishing conflicts could be
expected to occur; and
     WHEREAS, estuaries and river mouths which serve as critical
nursery and food source habitats for commercial fish species
would be in direct proximity to oil drilling activities permitted
by a lifting of the OCS drilling moratorium, and would therefore
be subject to significant adverse impacts in the event of a
spill; and
     WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica has traditionally taken a
lead role in opposition to offshore drilling proposals that could
impact the southern California coastline,
     NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

     SECTION 1.  The City Council hereby urges the U.S. House of
Representatives to support HR 2241 and HR 2242.  It also urges
the House of Representatives to include the renewal of the
moratoria on Outer Continental Shelf oil drilling activities in
environmentally sensitive coastal areas in the 1996 House
Interior Appropriations Bill.

     SECTION 2.  The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of
this Resolution, and thenceforth the same shall be in full force
and effect.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE
City Attorney