A draft plan from the Trump Administration to reopen parts of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil and gas drilling has put Florida’s long-standing coastal protections back under a harsh spotlight.
The Interior Department’s proposed leasing map, released this month, targets federal waters that Florida leaders have treated as untouchable for years and begins a 60-day public comment period required before any leases can advance.
Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, said the areas outlined in the draft overlap with waters she considers protected under two separate federal actions: a Biden Administration directive blocking new drilling in the Eastern Gulf and a moratorium issued under former President Trump that remains in place until 2032.
“Any attempts to drill in these protected areas would be illegal,” Castor said, though she acknowledged that any dispute over authority would ultimately fall to federal agencies or the courts.
In 2018, voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning oil and gas drilling in state waters with nearly 70 percent support. But state waters extend only a few miles from shore. Beyond that line, federal jurisdiction begins, and that is where the latest drilling proposal is aimed.
To close that gap, Castor reintroduced the Florida Coastal Protection Act in April. The bill would set a permanent ban on offshore drilling in federal waters off Florida’s coast, effectively carrying the state’s position into federal law, or in her words, “enshrining it.”
Florida’s constitutional amendment applies only to state waters – about nine nautical miles into the Gulf and three nautical miles off the Atlantic coast. Federal waters extend far beyond those boundaries, roughly 200 nautical miles offshore.
Castor said the Florida Coastal Protection Act would place the existing federal directives into statute and remove ambiguity around future leasing decisions.
In her interview, Castor said recent conditions in the Gulf illustrate why she believes offshore drilling poses heightened risk. “Last year, the Gulf hit record-high sea surface temperatures,” she said. “Hurricanes Helene and Milton were some of the most intense Gulf storms on record. As temperatures rise, so do more intense hurricanes.”
Castor also pointed to the long recovery from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill. Fifteen years later, many communities along the Gulf Coast still manage restoration work tied to that disaster. “Floridians already are struggling to stay safe – and we don’t need to increase those dangers by putting dangerous, polluting oil infrastructure along our coast,” she said.
Under federal law the Interior Department must review public comments, evaluate environmental impacts and finalize a five-year leasing plan before any lease sales can proceed.