Monterey County Municipal Code Ch. 16.55 Onshore Facilities Supporting Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration And…

It is hereby found and determined as follows:

1. The Federal government has proposed to open up virtually the entire California coast-line to offshore oil and gas exploration and development, including the coastline off Monterey County.

2. Coastal areas off Monterey County have been determined to be high priority areas for offshore oil and gas exploration and development by various multinational oil companies.

3. Offshore oil and gas development off Monterey County would have the following significant effects upon this community:

a. If offshore oil and gas development occurs off the Monterey County coast, significant new air pollution is absolutely inevitable. One drillship produces approximately the same amount of air pollution as twenty-three thousand (23,000) cars driving fifty (50) miles per day. Despite this fact, the Federal government does not presently require that offshore oil and gas developments comply with State and local air pollution rules.

b. Offshore oil and gas development off the Monterey County coast would expose the coast to the danger of massive oil spills, from an oil well blowout or a tanker accident. Even if a major accident never occurs, routine small oil releases are absolutely inevitable if offshore oil and gas development is permitted. Such small releases of oil would degrade our sensitive marine environment, put oil on our beaches, and expose both marine mammals and seabirds to great danger.

c. Offshore oil and gas development off the Monterey County coast would inevitably result in the discharge of large volumes of highly toxic drilling muds onto the ocean floor. These toxic materials would degrade our sensitive marine environment, put all forms of marine life at greater risk, and pose a threat to human beings who might later eat fish contaminated with accumulated toxins.

d. Offshore oil and gas development off the Monterey County coast would put the existing local economy in jeopardy, because: (1) such offshore oil and gas development would significantly and substantially interfere with the operations of our fishing industry; (2) would detract from the experience of visitors to our coast, and, particularly if a massive oil spill occurs, place our tourism industry in danger; and (3) place significant pressures on coastal lands and water needed for agriculture, and would hence threaten our agricultural industry.

4. The onshore impacts of offshore oil and gas development would be substantial:

a. The recreational use of local port facilities could be usurped by oil industry boats.

b. Noisy helicopter traffic could become a significant irritant to county residents.

c. The massive fresh water supplies needed for offshore oil and gas development might require that water be diverted from existing users, or that costly and environmentally damaging dam and water projects be constructed.

d. Existing and approved sewage treatment facilities cannot accommodate onshore requirements. Expansion of existing and approved facilities would be in violation of State and Federal air and water quality standards.

e. Coastal agricultural and other lands would be needed for oil processing, treatment, and transportation facilities, or for supply bases for offshore oil and gas development, potentially transforming our open and agricultural lands along the coast into the industrial staging area for oil and gas development offshore.

5. Rather than consuming offshore oil and gas resources now, our nation should conserve these resources, since they are non-renewable. Our nation should develop a national energy strategy based on energy conservation and the increasing use of renewable energy sources, instead, the Federal government has presently reduced or eliminated efforts to increase energy conservation, and to develop renewable energy sources, at the same time that it is attempting to increase the development of nonrenewable energy sources like offshore oil and gas. The citizens of Monterey County are willing and able to do their part in conserving energy, and in developing a society less dependent on nonrenewable fossil fuel resources.

6. The citizens of Monterey County have no legal way directly to control offshore oil and gas exploration or development, since oil and gas developments which occur offshore are under the jurisdiction of the Federal government. The citizens of Monterey County do, however, have the legal ability to make significant decisions about onshore facilities which support offshore oil and gas exploration and development.

7. Since the effect of offshore oil and gas development on the people of Monterey County would be significant, it is appropriate that the people of Monterey County reserve for themselves, to the maximum degree possible, decisions on major new onshore facilities which support offshore oil and gas exploration and development.

(Ord. 3167 § 2, 1986)

1. No permit, entitlement, lease, or other authorization of any kind within the County of Monterey which would authorize or allow the development, construction, or installation of any onshore facility necessary for or intended to support offshore oil or gas exploration or development shall be granted unless such authorization is approved by a majority vote of the qualified electors of Monterey County, in a general or special election. For the purpose of this ordinance, the term "onshore facility" means any facility or land use of at least twenty thousand (20,000) square feet necessary for or intended to support offshore oil or gas exploration, or the development, production, storage, processing, or transportation of oil or gas resources produced or developed offshore, or other activities related to the development of offshore oil or gas resources.

2. When any person proposes to undertake the development within Monterey County of any offshore energy facility related to the exploration or development of offshore oil or gas resources, and requests an amendment of the County's certified Local Coastal Program to facilitate such development, the local government determination required by Public Resources Code Section 30515 shall include a vote of the qualified electors of Monterey County, in a general or special election, and no local government determination approving such an amendment shall be valid unless a majority of the electors voting in such election approve the amendment proposed. The Board of Supervisors of Monterey County are hereby authorized and directed to enact any further ordinances or regulations necessary to give effect to this Paragraph, and specifically to require that the person seeking any such amendment to the County's certified Local Coastal Program pay all costs associated with the special or general election required herein.

(Ord. 3167 § 2, 1986)

Nothing shall prevent the Board of Supervisors of Monterey County from recodifying the substantive provisions of this ordinance from time to time to incorporate the provisions of this ordinance into the County Code in the most appropriate location. No substantive provision of this ordinance, however, shall be amended or repealed except by a vote of the people.

(Ord. 3167 § 2, 1986)