Point Arena Municipal Code Ch. 16.05 Off-Shore Oil and Gas Exploration and Development

The purpose of this chapter is to provide that proposed amendments to the city of Point Arena's certified local coastal program to allow the development, construction, or installation of on-shore facilities for or intended to support off-shore oil and gas exploration or development will be approved by the city only after a vote of the people of the city of Point Arena.

(Ord. 124 § 1, 1987.)

It is hereby found and determined as follows:

(1) The federal government wishes to lease off-shore ocean tracts adjacent to Point Arena for off-shore oil and gas exploration and development.

(2) Off-shore oil and gas development off the Point Arena coast would have the following effects upon the city:

(a) If off-shore oil and gas development occurs off the Point Arena coast, significant new air pollution is inevitable. One drill ship produces approximately the same amount of air pollution as 23,000 cars driving 50 miles per day. Despite this fact, the federal government does not presently require that off-shore oil and gas developments comply with state and local air pollution rules.

(b) Off-shore oil and gas development 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 inevitable if off-shore oil and gas development is permitted. Such releases of oil would degrade the sensitive marine environment, put oil on the beaches and expose both marine mammals and sea birds to great danger.

(c) Off-shore oil and gas development off the Point Arena coast would inevitably result in the discharge of large volumes of highly toxic drilling muds into the ocean floor. These toxic materials would degrade the sensitive marine environment, put all forms of marine life at greater risk, and pose a threat to human beings who may later eat fish contaminated with accumulated toxic material.

(d) Off-shore oil and gas development off the Point Arena coast would put the existing local economy in jeopardy because: (i) such development would significantly and substantially interfere with the operation of the local fishing industry; and (ii) the recreational use of local port facilities could be usurped by oil industry boats.

(e) Noisy helicopter traffic could become a significant irritant to city residents.

(f) The massive fresh water supply needed for off-shore oil and gas development might require that water be diverted from existing agriculture, residential and business users, or that costly and environmentallydamaging dam and water projects be constructed.

(g) Coastal agriculture and other lands located within Point Arena city limits needed for oil processing, treatment and transportation facilities, or for supply bases for off-shore oil and gas development, potentially would transform open agricultural lands within the city into the industrial staging area for oil and gas developments off-shore.

(h) Land on the coastal bluff north of the cove, which is a potential site for on-shore facilities, is exposed to seismic risk, which prevented the construction of a nuclear power plant there due to the land's proximity to the Garcia and San Andreas faults, and the instability of the cliffs.

(i) Lease Sale 91, which includes the Point Arena basin, is estimated by the Interior Department to have only 19 days worth of oil for the nation's needs. Therefore, oil drilling would occur over a relatively short period of time, creating a boom-and-bust economy. After the oil is gone, environmental degradation will make the city's long-term economic base, including fishing, less successful.

(j) On-shore facilities and use of the wharf as a staging area and port would require substantial modifications, including a breakwater and reconstruction and lengthening of the pier. Our pier was conceived and constructed as a public use facility and any private use by oil companies would not be appropriate.

(k) Arena Cove is the site of severe winter storms and is thus inappropriate as a staging area for off-shore drilling operations.

(l) The city is served by State Highway One. Highway One is a two-lane, twisting and curving road which is totally unsuitable for the intensity and type of vehicular and truck traffic that would be generated by heavy oil and gas industrial uses.

(m) The Point Arena coastline is made up of bluffs and a cove which are not suitable for siting oil and gas support facilities.

(3) Rather than consuming off-shore oil and gas resources now, our nation should conserve these resources since they are nonrenewable. Moreover, the accelerated production and expenditure of hydrocarbon fuels aggravates the global warming trend, a trend which may have long-term adverse impacts on the city which would be subject to inundation if global oceans continue to rise as a result of polar icecap melting. Our nation should develop a national energy strategy based on energy conservation emphasizing the increasing use of renewable energy sources, such as geothermal production and reinjection. 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 off-shore oil and gas. The citizens of Point Arena are willing and able to do their part in conserving energy and in developing a society less dependent on non-renewable fossil fuel resources. An example is the recent Pacific Gas and Electric Weatherization Program in Point Arena. Ninety-eight percent of homes in Point Arena were completely weatherized, saving substantial energy in the process.

(4) The citizens of Point Arena have no way to control off-shore oil and gas exploration or development since such development occurs off-shore under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The citizens of Point Arena do, however, have the ability to make decisions about the propriety of amending the city's certified local coastal program for the purpose of developing on-shore facilities which support off-shore oil and gas exploration. Due to the dramatic impacts of such on-shore developments on the character, economy and environment of Point Arena, it is crucial that the people of Point Arena reserve to themselves, to the maximum degree possible, the authority to approve the nature, extent and location of such development. When balanced against the dramatic impacts of such development, the referendum process is reasonably calculated to address local concerns while not unduly interfering with federal and state energy objectives.

(Ord. 124 § 2, 1987.)

"On-shore facilities"

means:

(1)

"Pipelines and pipeline facilities" means pipelines, pipeline landfalls and other related methods by which crude oil and gas are transported to crude oil and gas processing and support facilities;

(2)

"Storage facilities" means facilities for the purpose of storing crude oil and gas, including tank farms, or storing chemical, drilling muds, cuttings, produced waters and other toxic materials used in the production of oil and gas products;

(3)

"Staging areas" means facilities, yards and other areas designated for the purpose of transporting equipment to be used in or personnel employed in the construction or operation of oil drilling facilities;

(4)

"Waste disposal facilities" means facilities for the purpose of disposing of drilling muds, cuttings and produced waters generated in the course of drilling oil and gas wells.

(Ord. 124 § 3, 1987.)

(1) When any person proposes to undertake the development within Point Arena of any on-shore facility relating to the exploration or development of off-shore oil or gas resources and requests an amendment of the city's certified local coastal program to facilitate such development, a determination by the city council that the proposed amendment is in conformity with the policies of the Coastal Act and that the certified local coastal program should be amended to incorporate such development shall not be effective unless a majority of the electors of Point Arena, in a general or special election, approve the proposed amendment.

(2) The city council of Point Arena is hereby authorized and directed to enact any further ordinances or regulations necessary to give effect to this section and specifically to require that the person seeking any such amendment to the city's certified local coastal program pay, to the extent permitted by law, all costs associated with the special or general election required herein.

(3) The referendum provided for by this section is intended for only those legislative acts which may be validly exercised by the city council of the city of Point Arena in connection with the amendment of the city's certified local coastal program to provide for the development of on-shore facilities to support off-shore oil and gas exploration and development. Neither this section nor this subsection is intended, and shall not be construed, to apply to any activity or program which is regulated by federal or state law to the extent that such application of this section or subsection would conflict with such law or would unduly interfere with the achievement of federal or state regulatory activities. It is the intention of the city council and the people of the city of Point Arena that this chapter shall be interpreted to be compatible with federal and state enactments and in furtherance of the public purposes which those enactments express.

(Ord. 124 § 4, 1987.)

(1) Nothing shall prevent the Point Arena city council from recodifying the substantive provisions of this chapter from time to time to incorporate the provisions of this chapter into the city code in the most appropriate location.

(2) No substantive provision of this chapter shall be amended or repealed without a vote of the people.

(Ord. 124 § 4, 1987.)