A new public comment period for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is open through March 30th, 2026.
We’re encouraging all coastal stakeholders to submit comments and make their voices heard!
"If we care about being able to paddle into clean water, about healthy wildlife and about waves for future generations, we can't sit this one out. A clean ocean is not a special interest, it's a shared inheritance and a daily benefit to everyone who lives here. The baton is in our hands now. What we do with it will decide what kind of coastline the next generation inherits."
What Is Happening Now?
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency that oversees offshore energy development, is preparing a major environmental review document called a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or PEIS. This single document is intended to serve as the legal foundation for up to six separate offshore oil and gas lease sales along the entire California coast, from Southern to Northern California waters.
This approach has never been used in California before; it has only previously been used in the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, if BOEM can complete this one document without serious challenge, it could use it to justify drilling leases up and down the CA coast.
Why Does This Comment Period Matter?
This may be your best, and possibly only, chance to get your concerns on the record. Here is why:
No public hearings are guaranteed. Recent changes to federal environmental rules may allow BOEM to finalize the PEIS based solely on written comments, with no in-person hearings near our communities.
The PEIS will likely be challenged in court. Issues raised during this comment period could be the key arguments in any future legal challenge, if a concern is not raised now, it may not be available as a legal argument later.
BOEM has not shown it will protect even National Marine Sanctuaries from leasing, despite the strong legal protections those areas carry.
Coastal local governments have already overwhelmingly opposed leasing, but BOEM is pressing forward anyway.
How To Comment?
You do not need to be an expert, personal knowledge of your local coast is valuable.
- Go to www.regulations.gov
- In the search box, enter Docket Number: BOEM-2025-0681
- Click the blue “Comment” button
- Enter your name or organization and type your comment
- Click “Submit” — you’re done!
More information is available at: boem.gov/CA-OGPEIS
