Potential production could be all or part of an estimated 40-200 million barrels of oil and 20-100 billion cu/ft natural gas. Of the 36 leased areas of the OCS, without discoveries, and on which no exploratory wells have been drilled, 22 leases were included in the previously proposed National Energy Reserve. (Fig. 1-2 and Plate I). • The single valid lease with an existing discovery The several unleased tracts of the previously proposed impacts, must be considered likely to follow if the Should the Secretary decide to resubmit his proposed legislation (see Appendix VIII-1 at the end of this section), in view of recent court decisions it is assumed that simultaneous action to halt all operations on the 35 existing leases would not take place. Subsequent to those decisions in 1974, the Geological Survey has terminated the suspension of operations and approved the initial plan of operations for exploration drilling on the Oak Ridge Unit which was included in the 35 leases formerly proposed for inclusion in a National Energy Reserve. The initial plan includes the drilling of two exploratory wells to evaluate the geologic structure in the Unit area. The Geological Survey has approved an application to drill and the Unit Operator plans to commence drilling in March 1976. Passage of the legislation (if resubmitted) would have the following environmental effects: It would substantially reduce the potential for impacts of is precluded. It would open Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska, to exploration under Federal auspices, with all attendant environmental impacts in a totally different but possibly more fragile environment than the Channel OCS. It would preclude development and utilization of a known be found and developed, with attendant environmental impacts which may be greater or lesser than those anticipated in further Channel development. It would preclude the environmental impacts which could Should the Congress not pass the legislation, the various tracts of area would once again revert to their present status. Previous discussion of potential oil and gas activities on these tracts, and related impacts need not be repeated here. 3. Submit New Proposed Legislation for Establishment of a National Energy Reserve be Encompassed. The Secretary could propose legislation for establishment of a National Energy Reserve in the Channel which encompassed a different selection of tracts from those proposed to the 93rd Congress. The basis for a new selection would flow from a different basic rationale for proposing such a Reserve; it could range from reasons much more specific than the original, to something much more general. The possible combinations of tracts to be included could conceivably range from a single tract, to only the Federal Ecological Preserve, to the entire OCS of the Channel. The legal and operational status of various segments of the Channel OCS, their general potential for oil and gas development, the kinds and estimated amounts of impacting activities involved in each such level of development, and the magnitude of environmental impacts of each such activity, have been previously identified in this document. The possible combinations of rationale and tract selection that might be encompassed in a new Energy Reserve in the Channel are too numerous and speculative to warrant further attempt at specificity here as to possible environmental consequences of each. The Secretary's decision in the matter of a National Energy Reserve in the Santa Barbara Channel is now speculative in any event. His decisions in the future will involve a balancing of the environmental consequences as described herein as well as a number of other factors including, but not limited to, national energy need and security, balance of trade, national energy self-sufficiency, and national and local economy. G. Alternative Sources of Energy Should further oil and gas development of the Santa Barbara Channel be prevented in whole or in part, a potential source of domestic energy would be lost and according to the National Energy Policy Act, alternative energy sources should be considered. The extent of alternative sources of energy which would be needed to replace the potential sources from the Santa Barbara Channel is dependent upon both the type of administrative decision and the results of exploration and development, if permitted. Complete information can be gained only by these operations. In light of the present energy situation and the United States' self-sufficiency goals, it is questionable whether substitution of any one energy alternative is a viable alternative to any environmentally acceptable operation that would result in increased energy from a domestic source. In the President's message to the Congress transmitting the budget for Fiscal Year 1975 (February 4, 1974), he stated: "The 1975 budget reflects a comprehensive national |