Central Coast of California Conservation Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Central Coast of California Conservation Act amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to bar the Secretary of the Interior from issuing a lease for oil or gas exploration, development, or production in any area of the Central California Planning Area. The bill is a targeted Central Coast offshore leasing ban. It protects coastal communities, fisheries, tourism, and state coastal interests from new federal oil and gas leasing, while offshore oil and gas companies lose access to future lease opportunities in that planning area.
Who Benefits and How
Central California coastal communities benefit because the bill reduces risk from new offshore drilling near the Central Coast. Commercial fishing businesses benefit if the lease ban lowers spill, vessel, and infrastructure conflict risk. Coastal tourism businesses benefit from reduced exposure to offshore oil and gas activity near beaches and marine recreation areas. California coastal regulators benefit from a statutory leasing prohibition for the Central California Planning Area.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Offshore oil and gas companies lose access to future leases in the Central California Planning Area. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must treat the area as unavailable for covered oil and gas leasing. Federal royalty beneficiaries lose potential revenue from future production in the covered area. Energy-development advocates must pursue offshore activity outside the Central California Planning Area.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits oil and gas leases in the Central California Planning Area.
- Blocks exploration, development, and production leasing for covered offshore areas.
- Restricts Interior Department leasing authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
- Provides a targeted Central Coast conservation rule rather than a coastwide leasing ban.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Prohibits Interior from issuing oil and gas leases for exploration, development, or production in the Central California outer Continental Shelf Planning Area.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Environment, Public Lands
Primary Purpose
Prohibits Interior from issuing oil and gas leases for exploration, development, or production in the Central California outer Continental Shelf Planning Area.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Central California coastal communities
- Commercial fishing businesses
- Coastal tourism businesses
- California coastal regulators
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Offshore oil and gas companies
- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
- Federal royalty beneficiaries
- Energy-development advocates
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Panetta (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Min, Mr. Khanna, …
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology