HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESSB 5533

As Amended by the House

BYSenate Committee on Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Senators DeJarnatt, Bluechel, Owen, Zimmerman, Bottiger, Kiskaddon, Conner, Nelson, Tanner, Moore, Rinehart, Williams and Garrett)

Directing the preparation of an ocean resources assessment for Washington.

House Committe on Natural Resources

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (17)

      Signed by Representatives Sutherland, Chair; K. Wilson, Vice Chair; Amondson, Basich, Belcher, Bumgarner, Cole, Fuhrman, Hargrove, Haugen, R. King, Meyers, Sayan, Schmidt, C. Smith, Spanel and S. Wilson.

Minority Report:  Do not pass. (1)

      Signed by Representative Beck.

House Staff:Bill Koss (786-7129)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 15, 1987

BACKGROUND:

The outer continental shelf is the submerged land that lies beyond the state's three mile jurisdiction along the Washington coast.  The continental shelf extends seaward approximately 40 miles.  The area provides a productive commercial and sports fishery as well as marine mammal and marine bird populations.  The United States Department of the Interior estimates that approximately 180 million barrels of oil and 3.2 trillion cubic feet of gas exist in undiscovered but potentially economically developable reserves along the continental shelf adjacent to Oregon and Washington.

Industry interest has increased in the Northwest's offshore petroleum and gas reserves.  The recent Department of the Interior mineral management surveys place the Oregon and Washington region among the Department's top 15 planning areas.  Washington is included in the department's proposed leasing schedule, and if the schedule were to be maintained, a lease sale could take place as early as 1991.

Washington state is given the opportunity to respond to the economic benefits, environmental considerations, and social impacts of such leasing.  Data is needed by the state to provide an adequate response to the Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service which issues the permits for offshore oil and gas exploration and development.

SUMMARY:

The legislature recognizes that the marine waters off Washington's coast contain human, environmental, and natural resource values which are important to Washington's citizens.

The director of the Washington State's Sea Grant Program shall administer an ocean resource assessment for the state of Washington and will conduct a comprehensive analysis of existing data and studies.  The director of the Sea Grant Program shall select investigators to perform the assessment through submission of proposals and a peer review selection process that will be open to any qualified individual.

The tasks to be undertaken will be determined by the Sea Grant program in consultation with the legislators, Indian tribes, citizen groups and the state departments of Ecology, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation, Trade and Economic Development, Natural Resources, Fisheries, Game, and Community Development.  The director of the Sea Grant Program shall submit the assessment to the 1989 Legislature on the results of information gathered by the investigation.  The study will include analysis of potential environmental impacts and will include socio-economic studies, water column and biological studies, and environmental quality studies.

Fiscal Note:      Requested March 20, 1987.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Representative Ken Jacobsen; Christine Platt, Sierra Club; and Steve Arbaugh, Puget Sound Gillnetters Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    In 1991, the federal government may begin leasing tracts on the outer continental shelf for oil and gas exploration.  The state needs to begin acquiring information now in order to regulate oil and gas exploration later.  Any problem in the exploration for oil and gas could severely impact salmon runs.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.