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Guide to the Collection of California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas Files
MS-R140
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Title: California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas files
Date: 1970-1983,
Date (bulk): bulk 1977-1978
Collection Number: MS-R140
Creator:
California Coastal Commission
Extent:
3.6 linear feet
(9 boxes)
Languages: The collection is in English.
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: The California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas files contain reports, correspondence, court records, newspaper clippings
and miscellaneous files relating to liquefied natural gas (LNG) sites proposed by several public utility companies in 1972.
The California Coastal Commission was created through the California Coastal Act to prevent the privatization of California's
beaches through the regulation of land and water use in the coast. At the time of the LNG proposals the California Coastal
Commission was the state authority for approving and permitting rights for LNG terminals.
Important Information for Researchers
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head
of Special Collections and Archives.
California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas files. MS-R140. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries,
Irvine, California.
Transferred from the UCI Libraries Government Documents Division, date unknown.
Processed by Joanna Lamb, 2008.
The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 to identify and prevent ecological and environmental
dangers threatening California's coastal landscape and to protect coastal land from privatization. Since the California Legislature
passed the California Coastal Act of 1976, the Coastal Commission has planned and regulated the use of land and water in the
coastal zone through reviews of local and federal government programs and activities.
In the late 1960s, declining domestic natural gas reserves resulting from federal price controls on interstate gas led some
U.S. utility firms to explore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports as an alternative source of natural gas. Western LNG Terminal
Company, Pacific Gas and Electric, and El Paso Natural Gas Company proposed to build and employ LNG import facilities at multiple
California coastal sites in 1972. The Port of Los Angeles, Oxnard, and Point Conception were first identified as prospective
LNG Terminal sites; however, the three state agencies involved with siting authority: the California Coastal Commission, the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and the California Energy Commission were unable to approve the sites because
of conflicts of interest stemming from environmental and safety concerns of the Coastal Commission.
The LNG Terminal Siting Act of 1977 was passed by California legislature to prevent a stalemate and increase the likelihood
of site approval allowing for permitting of proposed LNG Terminal sites. The new law gave state siting authority for the project
to CPUC, while simultaneously acknowledging environmental concerns by granting the Coastal Commission the task of identifying
and ranking proposed sites that would mitigate environmental damage. The Coastal Commission initially evaluated 82 sites,
and found only four met the strict population density standards and other protective criteria that they had established regarding
wind and wave conditions, earthquake hazards, and soil conditions. Of these four, the Point Conception site was conditionally
approved by the CPUC despite concerns about minimal seismic risks in the area.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (formerly the FCP) also granted conditional approval of the Point Conception
site. However, project opponents appealed FERC's approval, and the Federal courts remanded the case back to FERC for reconsideration
of seismic risk factors. Although the Point Conception site eventually regained conditional approval from FERC in 1983, the
project was ultimately abandoned. The utility companies were forced to acknowledge that the project was no longer economically
viable after Congress passed the Natural Gas Policy in 1978, which lifted price controls on domestic natural gas discovered
after 1977 and diminished the cost of domestic LNG.
Biography/Organization History
| 1972 | Several public utilities announce plans to import LNG |
| 1972 | The California Coastal Commission established by voter initiative |
| 1976 | California Legislature adopts the California Coastal Act and makes permanent the California Coastal Commission as we know it today |
| 1977 | California Legislation passes the LNG Terminal Siting Act of 1977 |
| 1978 | U.S. Congress passes Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 |
| 1983 | FERC gives conditional approval to the Point Conception LNG Project site |
California Coastal Commission. California coastal commission home page. Available from http://www.coastal.ca.gov/ (accessed
December 10, 1978).
California Energy Commission, and Mignon Marks. 2003. Liquefied natural gas in California: History, risks, and siting. http://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-07-17_700-03-005.PDF
(accessed December 10, 2008).
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. 2005. The need for effective and forthright communication planning
for LNG siting: A checklist for state public utility commissions. http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/lng/LNG_NARUC_communication_lngfacsiting.pdf
(accessed December 15, 2008).
Weems, Phillip R., and Kevin D. Keenan. 2002. Greenfield LNG import terminal approvals. LNG Journal (May-June 2002), http://www.kslaw.com/library/pdf/GreenfieldLNGTerminals.pdf
(accessed December 16, 2008).
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises records assembled by the California Coastal Commission and associated with proposed LNG Terminal
Site Projects in the 1970s. The bulk of this collection includes reports that were collected or created by the California
Coastal Commission. Additionally the collection includes correspondence, LNG Terminal court records, miscellaneous LNG files,
and LNG related newspaper clippings.
This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by material type.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
California Coastal Commission - - Archives
Coastal zone management -- California -- Archives
Liquefied natural gas -- California -- Archives