ELR Citation: ELR 20618
No(s). Civil 82-2420 (D.N.J. Sep 7, 1982)

The court enjoins the Secretary of the Interior from offering oil and gas lease sales for tracts off the New Jersey coast, ruling that the Secretary must consider the effects on the coastal zone of all stages of the leasing, not just the pre-leasing activities, and therefore a consistency determination is required by §307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The court first rules that questions concerning the meaning of §307(c)(1) of the CZMA are not moot although the Department of the Interior received no bids on the disputed tracts, because the controversy is sufficiently concrete and adversarial to be justiciable. However, the challenge to the Secretary's rejection of the state's recommendation under §19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) is moot because new recommendations may be made when new offers are made to lease.

After tracing the history of litigation over §307(c), the court concludes that the Interior Department must consider all stages of the oil leasing program, not just the pre-leasing activities, in deciding if a consistency determination under §307 must be made. Moreover, where all stages are considered, the leasing activities "directly affect" the coastal zone within the meaning of §307 and therefore a consistency determination must be made in this case. The court next rules that economic impacts on a state's fishing industry of lease exploration or development outside the coastal zone need not be considered when making a consistency determination. The CZMA is designed to protect natural resources and wildlife habitat, not economic interests. The legislative history of the Act does not require a different result and extending the scope of the CZMA to economic impacts caused by activities outside the zone would unreasonably extend the Act's reach. Activities outside the coastal zone that do not affect the natural environment within the coastal zone do not directly affect the coastal zone within the meaning of §307(c)(1) of the CZMA. The court also rules that where a threatened injury to the natural environment is outside the coastal zone §19 of the OCSLA applies.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Irwin I. Kimmelman, Attorney General; John Van Dalen, Mary Jacobson
State House Annex, 2d Floor, Trenton NJ 08625
(609) 292-4919

Counsel for Defendants
W. Hunt Dumont, U.S. Attorney; Louis Buzzari
402 E. State St., Rm. 265, Trenton NJ 08608
(609) 989-2190

Mules E. Flint, Rebecca A. Donnelan
Land and Natural Resources Division
Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 633-2704

Counsel for Amici Curiae Atlantic Richfield Co. et al.
E. Edward Bruce
Covington & Burling
P.O. Box 7566, Washington DC 20044
(202) 662-6000

Counsel for Amici Curiae Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. et al.
David B. Keto
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
122 E. 42d St., New York NY 10168
(212) 949-0049

Counsel for State Amici Curiae
Francis X. Belloti, Attorney General; Maxine I. Lipelis
One Ashburton Pl., Boston MA 02108
(617) 727-3688

James E. Tierney, Attorney General; Elizabeth R. Butler
State House, Station No. 6, Augusta ME 04333
(207) 289-3661

William I. Condon, Attorney General; Lauri J. Adams
Pouch K, State Capitol, Juneau AK 99811
(901) 465-3600