Offshore oil rigs could be 'toppled' off California under Trump plan

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Set us as preferred A quiet proposal from the Trump administration could change the way offshore oil platforms are managed when they reach the end of their useful lives, leaving more of them to lie permanently on the seafloor off the coast of California.Buried within a September executive order about recreational fishing, President Trump directed the Department of the Interior — through its newly formed Marine Minerals Administration — to establish a federal “reef-in-place” program for decommissioned offshore oil and gas platforms.“Reefing” refers to leaving all or part of the metal structures in the ocean, where they can become artificial reefs for marine life.

There are 23 platforms in federal waters off the state’s coast currently, eight of which are in various stages of decommissioning.Four others are within state waters.The Interior Department has signaled that it intends to go one step further.

A rulemaking scheduled for 2027 would make “toppling in place” the default decommissioning method if approved.It’s largely what it sounds like: knocking all or most of the platform over onto its side to rest on the sea bottom.

Though it’s been done in the Gulf of Mexico, it has never been tried in the Pacific waters off California, where all previously decommissioned platforms have been removed.Climate & Environment Future federal funding of California’s coastal management program is suspended, “unless and until the identified deficiencies are satisfactorily addressed.”Critics say the action is designed to benefit fossil fuel companies, which have already profited from several sweeping policy changes since the president returned to office last year.

Full removal of some of the largest offshore platforms could cost upward of $200 million, according to federal estimates.“Decommissioning via toppl...