The State : Panel Acts to Delay Leases

The House Appropriations Committee approved a proposal that would restrict funding to conduct a highly controversial offshore oil and gas leasing program off Northern California until after Oct. 1, 1989. The sale had been scheduled for February, 1989, pending a decision by the next administration, but Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel delayed it until late summer. The proposal by Rep. Leon Panetta (D-Monterey) would extend the delay until after Oct. 1, 1989, by denying funding for Lease Sale 91 off the Mendocino and Humboldt coasts. The measure is expected to be taken up in July by the full House.