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Nelson may block nomination

The senator wants assurances that a new agreement won't allow oil drilling to move closer to the Florida coast.

By WES ALLISON
Published March 19, 2005

WASHINGTON - Sen. Bill Nelson is threatening to block the Senate confirmation of a deputy Interior Department secretary unless the Bush administration continues to protect a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico off Florida from oil drilling.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton dated Thursday, Nelson asked for assurance that a 4.4-million-acre section of the gulf known as lease-sale area 181 will be protected from oil and natural gas exploration through 2012.

Nelson, a Florida Democrat, had helped secure protection for the area four years ago by blocking Senate confirmation of another deputy interior secretary, but the protection expires in 2007.

This time, he has placed a hold on the confirmation of Patricia Lynn Scarlett, a current assistant secretary of the interior for policy, management and budget who has strong ties to industry groups.

This week, the St. Petersburg Times reported that area 181 was not covered under a deal announced Wednesday between Norton and Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., in exchange for Martinez's vote to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The deal ensured that a current presidential moratorium on drilling in much of the eastern gulf would continue until 2012, but it covered only areas within 100 miles of Florida's coast.

Tapping the unprotected parts of area 181 could put oil rigs 101 miles off Pensacola and 213 miles off Tampa Bay, environmental groups and Nelson's office said.

"Published reports . . . raise new questions about the administration's intentions with regard to the area commonly known as lease sale 181," Nelson wrote. "In 2001, you committed to me that you would not open these areas for leasing in your agency's plan covering the years 2002 to 2007. . . .

"I have a standing request that you provide the same guarantees with regard to the area in your 2007 to 2012 plan."

Kerry Feehery, a spokeswoman for Martinez, said the more of the gulf that's protected, the better.

Nelson asked for Norton's commitment before the Senate considers Scarlett's confirmation, and a spokesman for Nelson confirmed that the senator had "taken steps to stop her confirmation." Under Senate rules, any senator can place a hold on a presidential nominee.

Scarlett is the former president of the Reason Foundation, an industry-funded group that opposes environmental regulation. She was tapped to replace J. Steven Griles, who resigned this year to return to private practice.

In 2001, Nelson placed a hold on Griles' nomination until Norton agreed to take a large part of area 181 out of its five-year plan for offshore oil and gas exploration. Under their agreement, drilling would be allowed in a 1.5-million-acre region no closer than 100 miles from Pensacola and 285 miles from Tampa Bay. A total of 4.4-million acres were excluded.

"The oil industry is knocking on Florida's doorstep right now, and Sen. Nelson is clearly trying to keep that door closed," said Mark Ferrulo, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group. "In the last compromise on lease sale 181, industry got a little closer to the coastline.

"Now it's possible . . . they could get much closer," unless Norton agrees to keep the area off-limits.

Interior Department spokesman Dan DuBray had no comment about Nelson's letter or drilling in area 181. But "the issue doesn't diminish, nor does it relate to, Lynn Scarlett's ability to serve as deputy secretary," he said. "She is a dedicated, knowledgeable and effective public servant."

[Last modified March 19, 2005, 01:16:09]