SB 233: Marine resources and preservation.

(1)The California Marine Resources Legacy Act establishes a program, administered by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to allow partial removal of offshore oil structures. The act authorizes the department to approve the partial removal of offshore oil structures, if specified criteria are satisfied. The act requires the first person to file an application to partially remove an offshore oil structure to pay, in addition to other specified costs, the startup costs incurred by the department or the State Lands Commission to implement the act, including the costs to develop and adopt regulations, and requires the payment of startup costs to be reimbursed by the department, as specified. The act requires an applicant, upon conditional approval for removal, to apportion a percentage of the cost-savings funds in accordance with a prescribed schedule to specified entities and funds. The act defines cost savings to mean the difference between the estimated cost to the applicant of complete removal of an oil platform, as required by state and federal leases, and the estimated costs to the applicant of partial removal of the oil platform pursuant to the act.

Before the first application to partially remove an offshore oil structure is filed, this bill would authorize a prospective applicant to pay a portion of the startup costs in an amount determined by the department to be necessary for staff and other costs in anticipation of receipt of the first application. The bill would require an applicant, upon conditional approval for partial removal of an offshore oil structure, to apportion and transmit a portion of the cost savings to the department, instead of to the specified entities and funds. The bill would require the department to apportion those cost-savings funds received from the applicant in accordance with the prescribed schedule to the specified entities if certain criteria are satisfied. The bill would require the department to apportion the cost-savings funds received from the applicant who elects to pay a portion of the startup costs before the first application is filed and who files the first application in accordance with the prescribed schedule based on when the application was submitted rather than when the cost savings are transmitted. The bill would authorize the applicant to withdraw the application at any time before final approval and would require the department to return specified funds, including startup costs, submitted to process the application that have not been expended as of the date of receipt of the notification of withdrawal. The bill would require the department to promptly return the cost savings to the applicant if the partial removal of the offshore oil structure is not permitted by a court or governmental agency and the applicant is required to carry out full removal of the structure.

(2)Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to serve as the lead agency for the environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of a proposed project to partially remove an offshore oil structure pursuant to the California Marine Resources Legacy Act. Upon certification of environmental documents pursuant to CEQA, the California Marine Resources Legacy Act requires the State Lands Commission to determine the cost savings of partial removal compared to full removal of the structure and requires the Ocean Protection Council to determine whether partial removal provides a net environmental benefit to the marine environment compared to the full removal of the structure.

This bill would instead require the commission to serve as the lead agency for the environmental review under CEQA.

The bill would require the council, in determining whether partial removal of the structure would provide a net benefit to the marine environment compared to full removal of the structure, to take certain adverse impacts to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions into account and to consult with the State Air Resources Board, among other entities. In making that determination, the bill would require the council to determine the appropriate weight to be assigned to adverse impacts to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions as compared to adverse impacts to biological resources and water quality.