Significant Dates Concerning Offshore Drilling
and Seismic Testing off South Carolina’s Coast
2014-2015 Obama administration considers opening the Atlantic Coast to offshore oil and gas drilling. Three geophysical
testing entities apply for permits to do airgun blasting off the Atlantic Coast. 140 Atlantic Coastal Communities pass
resolutions opposing both drilling and the seismic testing that precedes it.
2016 The current five-year (2017-2022) National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program is finalized; lease
sales for the Atlantic are not included in the Program. President Obama specifically withdraws parts of the Arctic and
parts of the Atlantic Coastline from consideration for oil and gas leasing under section 12(a) of the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).
April
2017 President Trump announces reopening of the Atlantic and other coastlines to offshore drilling via Executive Order
13795. The permitting process for seismic surveys is entirely separate from the offshore drilling permit process. Presi-
dent Trump specifically directs federal agencies to fast-track the permit process for seismic airgun testing in his Execu-
tive Order.
June
2017
January
2018 The Town of Kiawah Island passes a resolution opposing both seismic testing and offshore drilling.
September
2018
November
2018 The Post and Courier uses National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data to generate simu-
lations of oil spills that take into account the impact the Gulf Stream on oil spills off the coast of South Carolina,
December
2018 Sixteen municipalities along the SC Coast (including Kiawah) and the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce file a
lawsuit in US District Court in Charleston contesting the validity of the five incidental harassment authorizations. SC
Attorney General Alan Wilson joins the lawsuit on behalf of the State in January.
February
2019 Concern that seismic blasting may be authorized before the case is resolved leads the 16 municipalities and the SC
Small Business Chamber to file a motion for a preliminary injunction. A group of conservation organizations also re-
quests that the US District Court issue a preliminary injunction to stop seismic testing. The two lawsuits are merged,
and ten East Coast Attorneys General, including South Carolina’s Alan Wilson, intervene in the combined suits.
March
2019 The US District Court for the District of Alaska vacates the portions of Executive Order 13795 that had revoked the
withdrawal of parts of the Arctic and Atlantic Coast previously withdrawn from consideration for oil and gas leasing
under section 12(a) of the OCSLA.
April
2019 The South Carolina legislature passes a budget proviso introduced by Senator Chip Campsen, that prohibits the use
of state funds to facilitate development of an onshore infrastructure for offshore oil. This essentially places a one-year
moratorium on offshore drilling in waters off the South Carolina Coast.
July
2019 DHEC denies the request for a Consistency Certification made by WesternGeco, one of the five seismic testing entities
seeking federal testing permits. DHEC determined that the proposed seismic airgun blasting is not consistent with SC
Coastal Zone Management Program policies. WesternGeco has appealed the denial to the US Department of Com-
merce.
September
2019 The US House of Representatives passes The Coastal Marine and Economies Protection Act, which calls for a moratori-
um on offshore drilling and seismic testing along both the East and West Coasts. The bill, introduced by SC Congress-
man Joe Cunningham, also reinstates the stricter oil and gas rules implemented (and later rescinded) after the 2010
Deepwater Horizon Spill. The bill awaits action by the US Senate.
2019
January
2020 The United States becomes a net exporter of all oil products.
The Draft 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which would rescind and replace
the current (2017-2022) one, is issued. During 60-day comment period that follows, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Man-
agement (BOEM) receives 2,058,752 comments.
The National Marine Fisheries Service issues five incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) to allow five different
companies to conduct overlapping seismic airgun surveys simultaneously along the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.
All five IHAs include waters of the South Carolina Coast.
US District Judge Gergel ruled that the federal agencies in charge of approving seismic testing for offshore oil and gas
in the Atlantic must turn over documents and communications that show how they arrived at their permitting deci-
sions.
On January 15, a subcommittee of SC Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources voted in favor of a bill
to ban any state or local government efforts that would facilitate drilling for oil in the Atlantic Ocean. If enacted, Senate
Bill S.870 would make permanent what was in a one-year budget proviso passed last year. The legislation, which has
31 Republican and Democratic co-sponsors, would prohibit the Department of Health & Environmental Control from
approving a plan, license, or permit application for infrastructure used to facilitate the transportation of crude oil or
natural gas from the Atlantic Ocean into the state, or for the exploration, development, or production of offshore crude
oil or natural gas.
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