US Senator Bill Nelson, Florida-Democrat, has placed administrative holds on three Interior Department nominees and said he will not lift them until the Trump administration formally removes federal waters offshore Florida from the proposed 2019-2024 offshore oil and gas leasing plan.
In a statement released by his office Wednesday night, Nelson said that he will keep the holds in place, blocking the Senate from approving the nominations without a vote, until the offshore plan is replaced "with a new draft plan that preserves the current moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 2022 and fully protects all of Florida's coasts from the threat of both offshore drilling and seismic testing."
An Interior spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Following a meeting with Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, on January 9, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that he was "removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms," in regards to the draft proposed program his agency released the week before. That proposed plan calls for 47 sales in federal waters, including 12 sales in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, three in the South Atlantic and one in the Straits of Florida, over a five-year period.
Zinke has yet to detail which sales will be removed from the draft plan nor whether entire offshore planning areas, such as the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, will be removed from the plan as part of his agreement with Scott.
Nelson has criticized the agreement as a political stunt with intentionally vague promises. Scott may challenge Nelson for his senate seat in November's election.
Nelson on Wednesday placed holds on three nominees: Susan Combs to be assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget; Ryan Nelson to be solicitor; and Steven Gardner to be director of the office of surface mining, reclamation and enforcement.
