Information Circular 107


trip to the Florida Keys. The Governor was able
to show Secretary Hodel "exactly what it is that
we in Florida are fighting to protect." The
following March, the Secretary of the Interior
agreed to remove 11 million acres of sensitive
habitat around Florida Bay and the Keys from
further consideration for leasing under the five-
year plan (Figure 3). The Secretary further
agreed to require a one-year study before any
drilling could take place in an area of "special
concern" off northwest Florida (Figure 3). The
study would verify that the exploration would be
for gas and not oil. The Department of the
Interior would also establish an emergency
response team to deal with possible accidents.
As a result of this agreement, the petition for
judicial review of the five-year plan was dropped
(Press Release, Office of the Governor, March
24, 1988).
 In May, 1988, the Governor requested that the
federal government delay exploratory drilling for
oil and gas off southwest Florida. The request
specifically referred to leases which were sold off
southwest Florida during 1984 and 1985. The
leases are in an area south of Naples to just
north of the Dry Tortugas, Marquesas Islands,
and the Florida Keys (south of 260 north latitude,
Figure 3). Congress had required a three-year
environmental study before exploratory drilling
would be permitted in this area. A panel of
scientists was assembled by Governor Martinez
to review the federal environmental study. The
panel concluded that the federal study was not
extensive enough to ensure protection of
sensitive environmental resources. Specifically,
there was not enough information to determine
the potential effects of an oil spill. Subsequently,
the Governor supported and Congress imposed
a one-year drilling moratorium on the area south
of 260 north latitude (Press Releases, Office of
the Governor, May 26, 1988, and June 16,
1988).
 In June 1988, Hodel agreed to remove 14
 million acres in the same area (south of 260 north
 latitude) from the November 1988 lease sale
 (Figure 3). Martinez and Hodel appointed two


task forces to assess the environmental impact
of proposed drilling in previously leased areas.
One task force assessed the risk posed by oil
spills and the directions spilled oil would be
carried by winds and currents. The second task
force assessed the impact of drilling on marine
and coastal resources (Press Release, Office of
the Governor, June 16, 1988). President George
Bush established an additional federal task force
to review drilling and leasing in this area. As a
result of this task force, President Bush
canceled, until after the year 2000, Gulf of
Mexico Sale 116, Part II, which covered this
area. He also ordered the Minerals Management
Service to begin procedures to cancel the leases
that oil companies hold in this sale area and
begin discussions with Florida on a joint federal-
state repurchase of the leases costing $100-
$200 million (Oil and Gas Journal, 1990).
 The House Appropriations Committee voted in
June 1990 to delay lease sale 137 (scheduled for
November 1991), which includes the area from
Naples to Pensacola. Also in June 1990,
President Bush proposed a 12-year moratorium
on drilling off the southwest coast near the
Florida Keys, but this was not supported by the
same House panel that delayed lease sale 137.
The panel said they did not want to lock up the
area for that long a time.
 Florida's current Governor Lawton Chiles has
 begun discussion with President George Bush
 concerning the draft proposed 5-year OCS oil
 and gas leasing program for mid-1992 through
 mid-1997. The 5-year program includes oil and
 gas lease sales off Florida's panhandle in 1994
 and 1997. In a letter to the president dated
 February 18, 1991, the governor stated that:
 "The west Florida coast contains many
 sensitive marine and coastal resources
 which are vital to our State's well-being. The
 economy of Florida is directly tied to these
 resources through such industries as
 tourism and recreational and commercial
 fishing. We cannot afford to place these
 marine and coastal resources at
 unnecessary risk, simply because this