Florida Senate - 2018 (NP) SR 550
By Senator Broxson
1-00784-18 2018550__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution supporting an extension of the current
3 moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico east of
4 the Military Mission Line.
5
6 WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature represents the military
7 bases and personnel that maintain, manage, and use the Gulf of
8 Mexico Range Complex (GOMEX Range Complex) which provides for
9 the common defense of this state and the nation, and
10 WHEREAS, defense is the State of Florida’s fourth largest
11 industry, accounting for more than 775,000 jobs, $80 billion in
12 economic impact, and 65 percent of the regional economy of
13 Northwest Florida, and
14 WHEREAS, testing and training activities conducted from
15 Florida’s air and sea bases are considerably dependent on
16 unconstrained access to the Eastern Gulf of Mexico airspace and
17 seaspace, and
18 WHEREAS, the GOMEX Range Complex is a unique national
19 resource, and
20 WHEREAS, the range is larger than all other training ranges
21 inside the continental United States combined, stretching from
22 the Florida Panhandle south to Key West and encompassing the
23 Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and
24 WHEREAS, surrounding the GOMEX Range Complex are numerous
25 United States Department of Defense installations, ranges, and
26 airspaces, which make the complex unique, and
27 WHEREAS, originally a place to practice air-to-air
28 engagements and air-to-surface bombing and strafing, the GOMEX
29 Range Complex has served the nation for over 60 years, and
30 WHEREAS, after World War II, the GOMEX Range Complex was
31 used to test surface-to-air rockets against drones and, with the
32 advent of fifth-generation aircraft at Tyndall and Eglin Air
33 Force Bases, has been used extensively to test future weapons
34 systems, and
35 WHEREAS, the military missions require day and night access
36 to the airspace, from the surface up to 60,000 feet, for high
37 speed flying and maneuvering, as well as day and night access to
38 the seaspace, from the sea surface to the subsurface areas, for
39 use by ships and submarines, and
40 WHEREAS, the military uses live ammunition and missiles
41 against remotely piloted full-scale targets and drones,
42 resulting in large debris fields of dangerous objects, and
43 WHEREAS, for well over a decade and through two
44 presidential administrations, the United States Department of
45 Defense policy has been to keep the Eastern Gulf of Mexico free
46 from obstruction, and
47 WHEREAS, oil exploration and offshore platforms placed in
48 the Eastern Gulf of Mexico could jeopardize military missions
49 and severely reduce the state’s appeal in keeping military
50 installations, and
51 WHEREAS, without access to airspace in order to test modern
52 and emerging weapons systems and train the aircrews that support
53 such systems, Florida would lose its primary reason for hosting
54 the GOMEX Range Complex, and
55 WHEREAS, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) of
56 2006 restricts oil and gas leasing in all areas east of the
57 Military Mission Line established at 86°41’ W. longitude and
58 bans oil and gas leasing within 125 miles of the Florida
59 coastline in the Eastern Planning Area and in a portion of the
60 Central Planning Area until 2022, and
61 WHEREAS, attempts to reduce restrictions on oil and gas
62 exploration and production arose in 2013 and 2015, when the
63 members of the United States Senate and the United States House
64 of Representatives developed and introduced bills to change
65 GOMESA without addressing the military need to maintain the
66 GOMEX Range Complex, and
67 WHEREAS, in 2013, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act was
68 introduced by United States Representative Doc Hastings of
69 Washington to propose changes in oil and gas drilling and
70 exploration locations, and
71 WHEREAS, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act of 2015 was
72 introduced by United States Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana,
73 to increase oil and gas exploration and production, most notably
74 through reducing the exclusion area east of the Military Mission
75 Line from 125 miles to 50 miles offshore and through shortening
76 the time limit of the moratorium from 2022 to 2017, but the bill
77 ultimately did not advance past committee, and GOMESA remained
78 intact for the time being, and
79 WHEREAS, the United States Secretary of Defense, the Chief
80 of Staff of the United States Air Force, and fifteen members of
81 the United States Congress from Florida have written letters
82 requesting an extension to the moratorium, which is essential
83 for developing and sustaining the military’s future capabilities
84 and for guaranteeing long-term capabilities for future test
85 missions that may enable new technologies such as hypersonic
86 fifth-generation fighters, advanced subsurface weapons systems,
87 and other projects that require enlarged testing and training
88 footprints well beyond 2022, and
89 WHEREAS, without the certainty of an extension to the
90 moratorium, investment in upgrades in telemetry, tracking, and
91 other important improvements are at risk, and
92 WHEREAS, in March 2017, twenty local county commissions,
93 chambers of commerce, local economic development councils, and
94 military affairs committees drafted resolutions in support of
95 the moratorium and submitted them to the Florida Legislature,
96 NOW, THEREFORE,
97
98 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
99
100 That the State of Florida must maintain a united front in
101 supporting an extension of the current moratorium on drilling in
102 the Gulf of Mexico east of the Military Mission Line.
103 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that to allow drilling east of the
104 Military Mission Line would mean loss of range areas and
105 possible relocation of aircraft and bases to other unrestricted
106 range areas.
107 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Senate supports an
108 indefinite extension of the restriction, specified in the Gulf
109 of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, oil and gas leasing in
110 all areas east of the Military Mission Line established at
111 86°41’ W. longitude and indefinite extension of the Act’s ban
112 oil and gas leasing within 125 miles of the Florida coastline in
113 the Eastern Planning Area and in a portion of the Central
114 Planning Area.