Sense of the Congress Regarding Southern California Offshore Oil Leases.

Sec. 156. Sense of the Congress Regarding Southern California Offshore Oil Leases. (a) Findings.—Congress finds that—(1) there are 36 undeveloped oil leases on land in the southern California planning area of the outer Continental Shelf that—(A) have been under review by the Secretary of the Interior for an extended period of time, including some leases that have been under review for over 30 years; and (B) have not been approved for development under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.);(2) the oil companies that hold the 36 leases—(A) have expressed an interest in retiring the leases in exchange for equitable compensation; and (B) are engaged in settlement negotiations with the Secretary of the Interior for the retirement of the leases; and(3) it would be a waste of the taxpayer’s money to continue the process for approval or permitting of the 36 leases while 117 STAT. 247 the Secretary of the Interior and the lessees are negotiating to retire the leases. (b) Sense of the Congress.—It is the sense of the Congress that no funds made available by this Act or any other Act for any fiscal year should be used by the Secretary of the Interior to approve any exploration, development, or production plan for, or application for a permit to drill on, the 36 undeveloped leases in the southern California planning area of the outer Continental Shelf during any period in which the lessees are engaged in settlement negotiations with the Secretary of the Interior for the retirement of the leases.