A group of Republicans is seeking to reinstate protections for Florida’s Gulf Test Range after they were removed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Eric S. Laschever Share:
On June 15, 2020, Dr. Neil Jacobs, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, acting for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, overruled North Carolina’s and South Carolina’s determinations under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1451–1466, that seismic exploration for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was inconsistent with their federally approved Coastal Management Programs. Decision & Findings by U.S. Under Sec’y of Com. for Oceans & Atmosphere in the Consistency Appeal of WesternGeco from an Objection by the State of N.C. (June 15, 2020) (hereafter N.C. Findings & Decision); Decision and Findings by U.S. Under Sec’y of Com. for Oceans & Atmosphere in the Consistency Appeal of WesternGeco from an Objection by the State of S.C. (June 15, 2020) (hereafter S.C. Findings & Decision). These detailed Commerce decisions emphasized the importance of survey data for achieving energy i