State of Cal. By and Through Brown v. Watt, CV 81-2080

Citation520 F. Supp. 1359
Decision Date18 August 1981
Docket NumberCV 81-2081.,No. CV 81-2080,CV 81-2080
PartiesThe STATE OF CALIFORNIA, acting By and Through Governor Edmund G. BROWN, Jr., the California Coastal Commission, the California Air Resources Board, the California Resources Agency, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Department of Conservation, Plaintiffs, v. James G. WATT as Secretary of the Interior; the United States Department of Interior; Edward Hastey as Acting Director of the United States Bureau of Land Management; Robert Burford as Director Designate of the United States Bureau of Land Management, in his official capacity as Director when and if assumed; and the United States Bureau of Land Management, Defendants. NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC.; the Sierra Club; Friends of the Earth; Friends of the Sea Otter; and the Environmental Coalition on Lease Sale 53, Plaintiffs, v. James G. WATT, in his official capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; the United States Department of the Interior; Ed Hastey, in his official capacity as Acting Director of the United States Bureau of Land Management; Robert Burford, Director-Designate of the United States Bureau of Land Management, in his official capacity as Director when and if assumed; and the United States Bureau of Land Management, Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. Central District of California

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George Deukmejian, Atty. Gen., N. Gregory Taylor, Asst. Atty. Gen., Theodora Berger and John A. Saurenman, Deputy Attys. Gen., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiffs State of California, acting by and through Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., the California Coastal Commission, the California Air Resources Board, the California Resources Agency, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Department of Conservation.

Carol E. Dinkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., Michael W. Reed, Peter R. Steenland, and Anne S. Almy, Attys., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., Andrea Sheridan Ordin, U.S. Atty., Frederick M. Brosio, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Chief, Civ. Div., and James R. Arnold, Asst. U.S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants James G. Watt, as Secretary of the Interior; the United States Department of the Interior; Edward Hastey as Acting Director of the United States Bureau of Land Management; Robert Burford as Director Designate of the United States Bureau of Land Management, in his official capacity as Director when and if assumed; and the United States Bureau of Land Management, in both cases.

E. Edward Bruce, Covington & Burling, Washington, D. C., for defendants in intervention ("WOGA") Western Oil and Gas Association, Atlantic Richfield Co., Chevron, U. S. A. Inc., Cities Service Co., Exxon Co., U. S. A., Getty Oil Co., Gulf Oil Corp., Mobil Oil Corp., Phillips Petroleum Co., Shell Oil Co., Sohio Petroleum Co., Tenneco Oil Co., and Texaco, Inc., in both cases.

Howard J. Privett, McCutchen, Black, Verleger & Shea, Los Angeles, Cal., William

C. Miller and Donald E. Peterson, Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, San Francisco, Cal., for defendant in intervention Chevron, U. S. A., Inc., in both cases.

Donatas Januta, Irwin D. Karp, Boyd, Januta & Karp, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs in intervention, Local Governments, County of Humboldt, County of Marin, County of Mendocino, County of Monterey, County of San Luis Obispo, County of San Mateo, County of Santa Barbara, County of Santa Clara, County of Santa Cruz, County of Sonoma, City of Brisbane, City of Los Angeles, City of San Luis Obispo, City of Santa Cruz, City of Santa Monica and City of Seaside, in both cases.

Donald L. Clark, County Counsel, Lloyd M. Harmon, Jr., Chief Deputy County Counsel, Phillip L. Kossy, Deputy County Counsel, San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff in intervention County of San Diego, in both cases.

Trent W. Orr, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., San Francisco, Cal., Julie E. McDonald, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Inc., San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Sea Otter and the Environmental Coalition on Lease Sale 53, in both cases.

OPINION

PFAELZER, District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs in this case are the State of California, the California Coastal Commission (hereinafter referred to as "CCC"), the California Air Resources Board, the California Resources Agency, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Department of Conservation. (This case is hereinafter referred to as California v. Watt.) The Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "NRDC"), the Sierra Club, the Friends of the Earth, the Friends of the Sea Otter, and the Environmental Coalition on Lease Sale 53 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "environmental groups") are plaintiffs in the companion case. The plaintiffs in the companion case are associations who claim an interest in the coastal zone and its resources. (The companion case is hereinafter referred to as NRDC v. Watt.)

Intervening as plaintiffs in the case of California v. Watt are certain cities and counties of the State of California which are located on, or in proximity to, the California coast. The plaintiff-intervenors are County of Humboldt, County of Marin, County of Mendocino, County of Monterey, County of San Diego, County of San Luis Obispo, County of San Mateo, County of Santa Barbara, County of Santa Clara, County of Santa Cruz, County of Sonoma, City of Brisbane, City of Los Angeles, City of San Luis Obispo, City of Santa Cruz, City of Santa Monica, and City of Seaside (collectively referred to as "local governments").

The defendants are James G. Watt (the "Secretary"), acting in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior, the Department of Interior, Robert Burford, acting in his official capacity as Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM").

Intervening as defendants in both actions are Western Oil and Gas Association ("WOGA"), Amoco Production Company, Atlantic Richfield Company, Cities Service Company, Conoco, Inc., Exxon Corporation, Elf Aquitaine Oil and Gas, Getty Oil Company, Gulf Oil Corporation, Phillips Petroleum Company, and Shell Oil Company. WOGA is a regional trade association of companies and individuals in the petroleum industry. The remaining defendant-intervenors are oil companies which submitted high bids on one or more tracts offered in Lease Sale No. 53 on May 28, 1981.

Lease Sale No. 53 consists of a maximum offering of 243 designated tracts of the Outer Continental Shelf ("OCS") for mineral development. The tracts in Lease Sale No. 53 lie in five different basins off the coast of California — one of which is the Santa Maria Basin. That basin extends generally from Point Sur in Monterey County in the north to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County in the south.

Requesting injunctive and declaratory relief, plaintiffs claim that defendants have violated five federal statutes in offering for competitive bidding certain oil and gas leases on tracts located in the Santa Maria Basin. This Court has jurisdiction over the claims asserted herein pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (Federal question jurisdiction); 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202 (Declaratory Judgment Act); 28 U.S.C. § 1361 (Mandamus); 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706 (Administrative Procedure Act); 43 U.S.C. §§ 1349(a)(1), (b)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ("OCSLA"); the Coastal Zone Management Act ("CZMA"), 16 U.S.C. § 1451 et seq.; the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.; the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), 16 U.S.C. § 1540(a)(1), (b)(1); and the Marine Mammal Protection Act ("MMPA"), 16 U.S.C. § 1361 et seq.

There are no material issues of genuine fact in dispute in these two consolidated cases.

The following is a chronology of the events relating to the lease sale at issue in the two cases.

In November 1977, BLM issued a Call for Nominations for Lease Sale No. 53. The Call requested the petroleum industry to designate specific tracts on which it was interested in bidding if a sale were held. It also asked federal, state and local governments, universities, environmental organizations, research institutions, and the public to identify specific tracts which they believe should be excluded from leasing or should be leased under particular restrictions due to conflicting resource values or environmental factors.

In October 1978, the Department of Interior announced the tentative tract selection for Lease Sale No. 53. The Santa Maria Basin contained 115 of the 243 tracts to be involved in the sale.1

A draft environmental impact statement ("DEIS") was released for public comment in April 1980. The DEIS, which analyzed the environmental impacts in the five basins to be included in Lease Sale No. 53, was based on a resource estimate of 404 million barrels for the Santa Maria Basin.

On July 8, 1980, the California Coastal Commission requested that the Secretary submit a consistency determination at the time of the issuance of the proposed notice of sale.

In September 1980, a final environmental impact statement (the "EIS") was released. Shortly before its publication, on or about August 28, 1980, the United States Geological Survey ("USGS") made available revised resource estimates for the Santa Maria Basin in the amount of 794 million barrels of oil. The revised estimate, which almost doubled the previous estimate, was incorporated in an addendum to the EIS.

Also during the fall of 1980, BLM consulted with the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") and the Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") concerning the jeopardy posed to any endangered or threatened species by Lease Sale No. 53. The NMFS rendered a biological opinion that Lease Sale No. 53 would not jeopardize the endangered gray whale. The FWS...

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