Memo from Lee Solsbery, deputy director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations, to David Herndon, John Gosdin, Steve Stagner, Andy Kever, Bill Fisher, Mark Lawless, Mike Hightower, and Seth Burnitt, regarding senate action on Outer Coastal Shelf (OCS) revenue sharing, August 5, 1982. The memo describes the Senate OCS bill on revenue sharing.
fa' Memorandum Date: To: From: Re: August 5, 1982 The State of Texas Office of State - Federal Relations 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., • Suite 255 Washington, D.C. 20024 202/488-3927 David Herndon, John Gosdin, Steve Stagner, Andy Kever, Bill Fisher, Mark Lawless, Mike Hightower, Seth Burnitt Lee Solsbery Deputy Directo Senate Action on OCS Revenue Sharing William P. Clements, Jr. Governor Daniel N. Matheson, III Director On Thursday, July 29, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), along with Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and 13 other co-sponsors, introduced the long- awaited Senate bi-partisan compromise bill on OCS revenue sharing, S. 2792. The bill was sent to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has already scheduled a hearing in Washington on August 12 and a field hearing in Oregon on September 1. Commerce Committee Chairman Bob Packwood (R-OR) is a co-sponsor of the bill, while Senator Stevens is Vice- Chairman of the Committee and Senator Hollings is a senior minority member. The committee is expected to act expeditiously on the legislation. A copy of S. 2792 and Senator Stevens' floor statement in support of the bill are attached. Also attached is a copy of S. 2794, another OCS revenue sharing bill introduced by Senator Lowell Weicker (R-CT) on the , same day, although the Stevens-Hollings bill will be the principal vehicle for Senate action. The Stevens-Hollings bill contains several provisions of particular interest to Texas, especially its funding allocation formula which recognizes states impacted by and participating in OCS development. Texas would receive $53.4 million under the Stevens-Hollings formula, third (behind Louisiana and Alaska) among all the recipient states. Also, the money made available to the state would be in the form of block grants for OCS and coastal development and management activities including, but not limited to: (1) fisheries research and management; (2) coastal management planning and implementation; (3) assessment and mitigation of impacts from OCS activities; (4) sea grant activities, long-range coastal research, and natural resources management; and (5) capital infrastructure necessitated by coastal energy development activities. At least 40 percent of the state's allocation must be passed on to local coastal communities for the same purposes. The House OCS Revenue Sharing bill, H.R. 5543, which has passed the House merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, would allow Texas only $16.4 million and require the money to be spent for a narrow range of specified programs related to the federal Coastal Zone Management Program. House members in charge of this legislation have been quoted as saying the Stevens-Hollings bill is "conferenceable" with their bill, especially since the Senate bill is more palatable to the Administration who has opposed H.R. 5543. No date for House floor action on OCS revenue sharing has yet been set. I will keep you posted on further developments. Attachments AUG 9 19wi
