hr1016_LC_28_3811_a_3.html
08 LC 28 3811
House Resolution 1016
By: Representatives Bearden of the 68th, Amerson of the 9th, and Lewis of the 15th

A RESOLUTION


Urging the Minerals Management Service of the United States Department of the Interior to immediately begin a new five-year planning process to include the Atlantic Planning Areas, particularly the area off the coast of Georgia.

WHEREAS, the outer continental shelf is home to wide areas of recreational and commercial activities, as well as some of the nation´s most fertile areas of oil and natural gas production; and

WHEREAS, the development of oil and natural gas resources, where allowed, off our shores has coexisted for decades with these other activities while benefitting coastal residents and noncoastal Americans alike; and

WHEREAS, offshore development of oil and natural gas has provided needed supplies of American energy and substantial local, state, and federal revenues; and

WHEREAS, the offshore oil and natural gas industry provides thousands of jobs and is an important source of economic development; and

WHEREAS, offshore oil and natural gas production operations have a long history of environmentally sensitive and safe performance, and other federal Atlantic outer continental shelf areas, such as those offshore of Virginia, are included in the current 2007-2012 plan; and

WHEREAS, today, areas of the outer continental shelf offer some of the greatest potential for American energy resources, including the Sale 181 area of the Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the area known as the North Aleutian Basin.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body join in urging the Minerals Management Service of the United States Department of the Interior to immediately begin a new five-year planning process to include the Atlantic Planning Areas, particularly the area off the coast of Georgia.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit appropriate copies of this resolution to the United States Secretaries of Commerce, the Interior, and Energy and to the administrators of the Minerals Management Service, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.