California environmental groups and Democratic Party leaders blasted the Trump administration’s proposal Thursday to reopen areas off the state’s coastline to new offshore oil drilling lease sales for the first time since 1984.
The plan proposes putting seven new California sites in deep federal waters up for sale to oil producers, among a total of 47 new parcels identified nationwide. One of those oil leases could be obtained in Southern California in 2020 and a second would be available in 2022, if the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program is approved.