Leasing and Development of OCS Lands

The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Program began with the passage of the OCS Lands Act and, for a number of years, was a noncontroversial program restricted to the Gulf of Mexico. In response to the energy crisis and other events of the 1970's, however, aggressive plans were made to accelerate the leasing and development of OCS lands. Although leasing increased significantly, the planned leasing goals of the 1970's were never achieved. One reason is that the need to develop more information about the environmental aspects of offshore development has led to an extension in the time needed to plan for lease sales, resulting in the delay or cancellation of numerous sales. At the same time, much of the acreage initially considered by the Department of the Interior for leasing has not actually been leased, including land for which high interest was indicated during the nomination process. In addition, there is a large amount of the OCS which is excluded from leasing because of environmental issues, boundary disputes, and national defense priorities. The new administration is currently reviewing the OCS Lands Act Amendments and is considering administrative changes for streamlining the leasing process and for making more lands available for leasing. The coordination and cooperation between federal and state agencies in approving plans and issuing permits for post-lease activities will be crucial if the exploration and development of leased OCS lands is to proceed in an orderly and timely manner. GAO believes that congressional initiatives may be needed to spark improvements and recommends that legislation be enacted to establish a reasonable time within which all federal agencies would complete their post-lease approval and permitting processes.