Bill Flores: “Section 10410 of the bill prohibits offshore energy agencies from engaging in coastal and marine spatial planning, or…”

“Section 10410 of the bill prohibits offshore energy agencies from engaging in coastal and marine spatial planning, or ocean zoning, under the National Ocean Policy established by President Obama's Executive Order 13547. The House is on record six times in opposition to language such as that proposed by the gentleman, each time with bipartisan support against this type of language and also in support of efforts to oppose the Obama administration's attempt to zone the oceans under this unconstitutional executive order. Just as a little background: Executive Order 13547 was signed in 2010, and it requires that numerous Federal bureaucracies essentially zone the ocean and the sources thereof. This actually means that a drop of rain that falls on your house could be subject to this overreaching policy because that drop of rain will ultimately wind up in the ocean. As someone who worked on the ocean for 17 years, I know something about this particular issue. There are concerns that have been raised that the National Ocean Policy may not only restrict ocean and inland activities, but it may also be flawed because it has not been given any specific appropriations by this Congress, nor does it have any statutory authority from any Congress for this initiative. This administration was also directed by the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill to submit a spending report to the Appropriations Committee by March of 2014, and yet they have failed to do so.…”