Should California allow conversion of decommissioned offshore oil platforms into artificial reefs?
A bill now before the Legislature would do just that, under specified conditions.
Assembly Bill 2503, by Speaker John A. Pérez, would establish a state program for artificial reef research and development.
Under the measure, the Department of Fish and Game could conditionally approve conversion of an offshore oil platform or production facility into an artificial reef if it provided a net environmental benefit and met other criteria.
AB 2503 would also set up a California Endowment for Marine Preservation for what the bill says would be a permanent source of funding for marine conservation and restoration projects.
The oil industry has been trying for years to change the law to let the platforms stay in place even after they're no longer productive. The California Chamber of Commerce is behind the bill. So is the Sportfishing Conservancy of California. The measure passed the Assembly on June 2 on a 73-0 vote and is now before a Senate committee.
Pérez will be talking about his bill today in Huntington Beach at the state's second Rigs to Reefs conference, where National Geographic's explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle and other experts will debate the options for decommissioning the platforms.
Click here to check out the conference agenda.
FIELD POLL: Speaking of offshore drilling, 61 percent of registered voters say they're opposed to letting oil companies drill more wells along the California coast. But while Democrats and independent voters are strongly against it, a majority of Republicans favor it. Voters are much more split when it comes to building new nuclear power plants in the state. Click here for full results and statistical tabulations prepared exclusively for Capitol Alert.
PHOTO CREDITS: Top, high-storm surf pounds the beach in front of an oil rig at Seal Beach on Jan. 20 (AP file photo/ Nick Ut). Right, this photo of a Garabaldi, California's state fish, was taken under Platform Grace, an oil rig platform in the Santa Barbara Channel (Wayne Brown/ Coalition for Enhanced Marine Resources).
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