In Case You Missed It E&E Daily: S.C. senator's bill would open Atlantic to drilling

Phil Taylor April 3, 2014 E&E Daily   A South Carolina senator's bill would open the southern Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas leasing while sharing the revenues with neighboring coastal states and funding job training for veterans.   Sen. Tim Scott (R) said his "Southern Energy Access Jobs Act" would create thousands of new jobs and reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy.   "By unleashing the potential of America's vast energy resources in the Atlantic, we can continue the long overdue process of reducing our national dependency on fuel produced in some of our world's most dangerous areas," Scott said in a statement.   Scott's bill would require the Interior Department to hold lease sales off the Virginia and South Carolina coasts within the next two years. It would also create a new "Southern Atlantic Planning Area," running from Virginia south to Georgia, and require Interior to hold eight lease sales there by 2022.   The new planning area would bunch together the states that are considered more supportive of offshore development. Delaware and Maryland, which are currently in the same mid-Atlantic planning area as pro-development Virginia and North Carolina, would be left out of the new southern area, as would Florida's northern Atlantic coast.   The bill would also give states the authority to ban oil and gas structures above the water line within 20 miles of shore, while allowing states to receive 37.5 percent of the revenues from offshore leasing and production.   An additional 2.5 percent of the revenues would fund grants that promote job training -- with a preference for veterans -- in oil and gas exploration, development and production. Ten percent of revenues would pay down the federal deficit, and the remaining 50 percent would go to the U.S. Treasury.   "The SEA Jobs Act will allow our nation's energy sector to innovate and grow while meeting several important needs, including creating more opportunities for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, increasing job opportunities for our nation's veterans, and helping ease the burden of energy for families," Scott said.   A subscription to E&E Daily is required to continue reading… ###