Congress moves to ban offshore drilling off central California coast
H.R. 2882 — Central Coast of California Conservation Act of 2025 · Filed by Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) · 19 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 10, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal law to permanently prohibit the Department of Interior from issuing oil and gas leases in the Central California Planning Area of the outer continental shelf. It blocks future drilling permits in that specific offshore region, regardless of other legal authorities that might otherwise permit them.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a direct statutory prohibition on future oil and gas leasing in a named offshore region. It is a straightforward environmental conservation measure with no hidden provisions or cross-purposes.
What the text implies
- Permanently forecloses future revenue to the federal government from lease sales in this planning area, reducing Interior Department budget flexibility for that region.
- May affect long-term energy supply planning and domestic oil/gas production capacity, though impact is limited to one planning area.
- Establishes a precedent for regional offshore drilling prohibitions that could be extended to other planning areas in future legislation.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill restricts government authority to permit extractive activity in a specific marine region, preserving environmental and coastal protections for residents and the public. Coastal communities, fisheries, and environmental quality are protected from the risks and externalities of offshore oil and gas development.
Named in the bill
Department of Interior, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), Central California Planning Area, Secretary of the Interior
Where it stands
19 cosponsors: 19 Democrats.
- Apr 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 10, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
6 lobbying clients named this bill on 10 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,263,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 18 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.
Jimmy Panetta, the sponsor, reported $1,676,556 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Ocean Conservancy — $403,000 on 2 filings
- Defenders of Wildlife — $370,000 on 2 filings
- Oceana Inc — $280,000 on 1 filing
- Herbert J. Thomas Memorial Hospital Association (fka Thomas Health) — $120,000 on 2 filings
- Highmark Wholecare (formerly Gateway Health Plan, Lp.) — $60,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (538 characters) on Aug 18, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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