Sec. 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA, 43 U.S. Code § 1341(a)): “The President of the United States may, from time to time, withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf.”
As previously posted, the Sec. 12(a) authority has been cynically exercised by Presidents from both parties and should be repealed or revised.
Unsurprisingly, there are now reports that President Biden intends to permanently withdraw large areas of the OCS from leasing consideration before he leaves office in 2 weeks. Apparently, the leasing ban will include large segments of the Atlantic, Pacific, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Sec. 12(a) facilitates (encourages?) rash, politically motivated decisions that could have major long-term implications for energy security and the economy, and allows Presidents to ignore the deliberate, multi-phase review and comment process that has been established for making leasing decisions.
Note that Presidents have exercised this authority seven times. In every case, the action was taken just prior to the end of the President’s term in office.
Questions:
- Can a President reverse a Sec. 12(a) decision made by a predecessor? That is a massive legal question that has yet to be fully considered by the legal system.
- Could legislative action reverse a Sec. 12(a) decision? Yes, but such legislative action would be difficult to enact (just as it would have been difficult for any of the Sec. 12(a) withdrawals to have been enacted legislatively).
- Is a revision to Sec. 12(a) being considered? Not that I am aware of. Given that the authority has been exercised by both parties and that strong opposition is likely, a revision would be challenging.
Related:
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 