Issues facing review during suspension of lease decisions

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

During a 90-day suspension of the deadline for decisions on 36 offshore oil leases, the Interior Department plans to review the following issues, according to a letter sent to the California Coastal Commission.

-Concerns over how new or revised plans will address the new distribution of the sea otter population, taking into account the increase in the species' range into the Santa Barbara Channel.

-Whether or how the plans will address potential impacts to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which was not a sanctuary at the time that development plans originally were reviewed.

-How the plans address changes in air and water quality regulations that postdate the prior approvals.

-Whether the plans address newly available information on the effects of undersea noise on marine mammals and other marine life.

-How the plans address changes in drilling technology since the mid-1980s, when the prior plans were approved.

-Whether the plans address the fact that the leases have changed hands since the first approval.

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