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California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas Files
(Collection of)
MS.R.140
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
Title: California Coastal Commission Liquefied Natural Gas files
Creator:
California Coastal Commission
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.140
Physical Description:
3.6 Linear Feet
(9 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1970-1983
Date (bulk): 1977-1978
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.
Language of Material:
English .
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. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information
about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder
descriptions, and box/folder locations.
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.
| 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 |
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.
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).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Coastal zone management -- California -- History -- 20th century --
Sources
Liquefied natural gas -- California -- History -- 20th century --
Sources
California Coastal Commission -- Archives