Rigell steps up pressure to allow offshore drilling

Virginia lawmakers in Washington again are pushing for oil and natural gas drilling off the state's coast, especially after President Barack Obama announced he wants more domestic production of fossil fuels on land and beneath the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, intends to introduce legislation this week that would force the Department of the Interior to sell leases to energy companies wanting to drill for oil and gas at least 50 miles off the Virginia coast. The bill calls for leasing to begin within one year of passage.

Last year, after the record Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf coast, Obama canceled plans for offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf off Virginia. The move was applauded by environmentalists worried about potential spills but was criticized by Gov. Bob McDonnell and most Virginia legislators on Capitol Hill eager to create jobs and spur economic activity.

Rigell's bill is similar to one proposed last summer by Virginia's U.S. senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, a measure that remains bogged down in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The two Democrats last week sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, urging him to include Virginia in the latest plans for offshore drilling leases during 2012-2017.

Both bills seek more royalties for Virginia than the current revenue-sharing plan in Congress, which gives all the money to the federal government. Half the proceeds would go to Virginia, according to the bills, with a portion set aside for environmental programs.

Fiddling with royalty proceeds, however, has never won much support in Congress. The exception was in 2006 when Congress, in part because of the devastation from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, approved sharing some royalties with Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas from wells far out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Both pieces of legislation concerning Virginia also would redraw maps defining where drilling could occur. The existing maps afford Virginia only a small piece of offshore water, shaped like a wedge of cheese.

While new maps would give Virginia more leasable areas, Rigell said his proposal would include even more space than the Webb-Warner measure.

Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said the senator welcomes Rigell's bill and, despite some differences, hopes both proposals can seize upon political momentum for greater domestic exploration for oil and gas.

Environmental groups are opposed to both bills, saying leaders should be pushing for faster development of alternative energies instead of relying on traditional, dirtier sources.

"It looks like I'll have to get my no-drilling bumper stickers out again," Glen Besa,director of the Sierra Club of Virginia, said Wednesday when told of Rigell'sbill.

Rigell's bill also touches on the subject of offshore wind energy, which officials are eyeing off the coast due east from Virginia Beach.

The freshman congressman's proposal seeks more wind-energy royalties for the state and would expedite the regulatory process for building an offshore wind farm.

Rigell also would give the military veto power over an offshore drilling lease that interferes with training activities.

Scott Harper, 757-446-2340,scott.harper@pilotonline.com

Bill Bartel, 757-446-2398,bill.bartel@pilotonline.com