Leaked documents detail Trump plans to open East and West coasts to offshore drilling
The Trump administration plans to open “whole swaths” of the East and West Coasts to offshore drilling, including areas previously protected for environmental reasons, according to a report by the Houston Chronicle.
The Chronicle report, written by energy reporter Rachel Nostrant, cited “federal documents” that had been made available and reviewed by the Chronicle.
According to the Chronicle, the documents detail the Trump administration’s proposed oil and gas national program, which sets the agenda for offshore lease sales for the next five years. The plans, pending formal approval, would allow offshore oil drilling along the California coast. It would also allow oil companies to operate along the East Coast for the first time since the 1980s, but it would retain a ban on drilling off of Florida.
In fact, the report indicated that areas of the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina would be exempt from offshore drilling, or lease sales for that purpose.
Leases would be available, however, in the areas around Alaska and up and down both seaboards. The first geographic area scheduled for sale would be the Beaufort Sea, off the coast of northern Alaska, which would be up for consideration next year.
Lease sales in southern and central Californian waters would be available in 2027; East Coast areas would open in 2028, according to the internal plans.
There would be sale options in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed the Gulf of America by the Trump administration, every year through 2031.
The source from the Interior Department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said the proposed program was legally questionable.
The program is set to be released quietly within the coming weeks, the source said. Typically, agencies would hold public meetings, allowing people to learn more about the program and voice any concerns. But the administration removed public meetings from the bureau’s agenda. The Chronicle said that it had confirmed this move from the documents it reviewed.
In addition to opening up previously unavailable offshore territories, the source also said that the administration planned to remove the requirement for draft environmental impact statements.
These statements are submitted by companies applying for leases and provide the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management with an analysis of the potential environmental impacts of drilling. They are usually made available to allow for public comment before the permitting committee makes a final decision.
Removing the draft EIS requirement, the source said, was the administration’s attempt to speed up the permitting process. The Chronicle says that it was unable to independently verify this claim, however.
A second source from within the Interior Department – who also spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation – said that any program documents currently available are not final.
If adopted, however, the proposed program would exponentially expand the ongoing battle between some US states and the administration over the federal government’s role in offshore drilling operations.
The Trump administration has long voiced its support for increased offshore drilling and exploration as a way of ensuring that the US remains a leader in global energy.