Lois Capps: “This motion does two things: First, it instructs conferees to include in the conference report House provisions…”

“This motion does two things: First, it instructs conferees to include in the conference report House provisions concerning consistency determinations under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Under the CZMA, States can review projects, like offshore oil and gas development, which impact their coastal zones. While a State can reject a project not found to be in its best overall interest, that rejection can still be appealed to the Secretary of Commerce. Currently, there is no limit on the time the Secretary can use to develop the record to make a decision in an appeals case. During consideration of the energy bill, a bipartisan compromise to impose a reasonable time frame on this appeals process was developed and included in the legislation that passed in the House. The House should respect this bipartisan, commonsense compromise, and so should the conference committee. Second, the motion instructs conferees to confine themselves to matters in the House bill regarding any offshore preleasing, leasing, or development moratorium.”