The following article by Congressmen Jim Davis and Jeff Miller appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on April 25, 2005.

Energy Policy Act threatens Florida's coasts

Florida's golden sunsets and sand dollars are treasures for all who enjoy our pristine shoreline and solid currency for Florida's economy. Unfortunately, energy companies see profit in Florida's shores as well, and Floridians have had to wage frequent battles against their attempts to drill off our coasts.

The latest attack by drilling proponents is part of the Energy Policy Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Floridians will have to fight this legislative language tooth and nail if we want to continue to have a say in decisions about potentially hazardous projects in our state and off our shores.

Under the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), if Florida decides a proposed energy project conflicts with our state's coastal zone management plan, the governor has the right to appeal to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce to have the project stopped or modified.

For example, Florida has used this appeals process to fight a drilling project that threatened the Dry Tortugas National Park and a project that was just 13.5 miles off Pensacola's coastline. Under current law, appeals may be filed on mineral development projects, including oil and gas projects at sea and pipeline facilities on land.

However, the Energy Policy Act would limit Florida from submitting any information to the secretary for consideration under these appeals, effectively silencing any concerns about a project's impact on our state's coastal treasures or tourist economy. In fact, under the bill the only body permitted to provide information during the appeal is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which deals exclusively with energy needs and gives no consideration to environmental and economic issues.

Homeland security concerns could also fall on deaf ears if CZMA is weakened. The U.S. military has a number of testing and evaluation ranges in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling activity in the gulf could present numerous impediments to military exercises, as well as aircraft flight patterns in and out of Florida's Gulf Coast military facilities.

The Energy Policy Act gives corporations and drilling proponents an unfair advantage by stacking the energy project approval process completely against states and the local communities they are responsible for protecting. Since 1972, the Coastal Zone Management Act has provided a fair and successful process for considering energy proposals, and Congress should not gut the act.

For Florida, CZMA is one of our most powerful tools in our effort to defend our coastal communities. Over the last five years, the moratorium that prohibits drilling off our shores until 2012 has come under increasing attack from drilling proponents who seek to end the moratorium in 2012, if not sooner. If the Florida congressional delegation is unsuccessful in securing an extension of the moratorium, CZMA will become even more crucial to Florida's ability to protect our environment and our economy.

With Gov. Jeb Bush's support, we tried to offer the Davis/Miller amendment to the Energy Policy Act to eliminate the language in the bill that weakens CZMA, but we were not even permitted a floor debate on our amendment. Instead, the bill was allowed to proceed with no discussion on whether bureaucrats in Washington or state governors are better equipped to decide how a potentially hazardous energy project could affect local communities.

When an energy project is being considered, decisionmakers should know the full impact of the proposal - including the impact on the environment, the economy and the local community. Congress should not silence the very people who will be affected most by these projects. As the Senate prepares to debate the Energy Policy Act, we will continue to fight to have Florida's voice heard on energy project decisions.

-- Jim Davis represents the 11th Congressional District, which includes portions of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. Jeff Miller represents the 1st Congressional District, which includes Escambia, Santa Rosa, Holmes and Washington counties, as well as portions of Okaloosa and Walton counties.