Padre Island National Seashore             

Oil and Gas Development at a National Park?

During your visit to Padre Island National Seashore, you may notice oil and gas wells, oil and gas trucks that travel up and down the beach, and rigs or platforms stationed offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Laguna Madre. While this type of use seems to inconsistent in and around a national park, it is a use that Congress believed could be sufficiently managed so as not to unduly impair Padre Island National Seashore’s natural resources and values.

When Congress created the park in 1962, it did so ". . . to save and preserve, for purposes of public recreation, benefit, and inspiration, a portion of the diminishing seashore of the United States that remains undeveloped . . ." In the Act establishing the park, Congress did not authorize the purchase of the mineral interests that lie under the park land and submerged lands. Rather, it left those rights in the hands of private and state entities.

At Padre Island National Seashore, the United States owns the "surface estate" and private and state entities own the "mineral estate." The mineral estate gives the owners the legal right to extract oil and gas from deep beneath the Gulf Coast. Along with the right to the minerals themselves, the mineral owner also has the legal right of access across the park surface to develop the minerals. These rights are property rights protected under the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 5th Amendment prohibits the government from "taking" property without paying just compensation to the owner.

To protect the park’s natural and cultural resources and visitor values, the Superintendent at Padre Island National Seashore has the authority to manage oil and gas development through regulations found at Title 36 Code of Federal Regulations Part 9, Subpart B. These regulations, commonly referred to as the "9B Regulations," are designed to "insure that activities undertaken pursuant to [private and state oil and gas rights] are conducted in a manner consistent with the purposes for which the National Park System and each unit thereof were created, to prevent or minimize damage to the environment and other resource values, and to insure to the extent feasible that all units of the National Park System are left unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

The 9B’s require that each operator submit a plan of operations to the NPS describing all of the activities that an operator intends to perform. In that plan the operator submits critical information, including a site reclamation plan, and a suitable performance bond. The NPS reviews the operator’s plan to make sure that the information in the plan is complete and, in turn, to ensure the plan’s adequacy to protect park resources. Once the NPS has completed its review and environmental compliance responsibilities, it approves the operator’s plan. The plan serves as the operator’s permit to conduct operations within a park unit.

This section of the website is designed to inform both specialists and non-specialists about oil and natural gas operations at Padre Island National Seashore.  Each of the links below (duplicated at the top of the page) leads to detailed information on one aspect of oil and natural gas operations.

9B Regulations gives a general overview of the 9B regulations as described above.  To read the actual regulations, go to the "Operations" section.

For Students gives short synopses, designed for students and non-specialists, of the reasons drilling is allowed at the National Seashore, measures taken to mitigate damage to the environment, and the process by which companies apply for a permit to drill.

Sea Turtles provides brief information on the measures the park takes to insure that nesting sea turtles are protected from harm by traffic going to and from drilling sites.

Press Releases provides the latest press releases from the National Seashore concerning oil and natural gas operations.

White Paper is a document designed to answer the most frequently asked questions about drilling operations at the National Seashore.

Operations provides detailed, technical information on oil and natural gas operations at the National Seashore.  This page is designed for specialists who may be considering submitting a permit request or who are currently engaged in drilling operations within the National Seashore. This page provides PDF files of the National Seashore's current Oil and Gas Management Plan, a copy of the 9B regulations, requirements for a plan of operations, and a condensed version of required mitigation measures among others.

Environment provides samples of current and past environmental assessments of wells within the National Seashore.  For every well within the park, the National Seashore's Resource Management division writes a detailed analysis of the well's potential impact upon the environment.  These analyses are known as Environmental Assessments.