Socioeconomic Baseline and Projections of the Impact of an OCS Onshore Base
for Selected Florida Panhandle Communities
Volume I: Final Report
Volume II: Technical Description of the MMS Florida Panhandle Model
Volume III: User's Guide for the Model

OCS Study MMS 2002-024, MMS 2002-025, and MMS 2002-026

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Socioeconomic Baseline and Projections of the Impact of an OCS Onshore Base for Selected Florida Panhandle Communities, Volume I: Final Report, Volume II: Technical Description of the MMS Florida Panhandle Model, and Volume III: User's Guide for the Model.

In the Agency’s five-year plan of 1997-2002, we stated our intention to lease an area for development on the western edge of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Because the experience of Texas and Louisiana showed substantial social and economic effects onshore from offshore Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity, we wanted to investigate the potential effects on communities along the eastern Gulf Coast.

This study is one result; its purpose is to make projections of potential offshore activity on Florida’s Panhandle. The contractor, Research Planning Consultants, Inc. (RPC), of Austin, Texas, developed basic social and economic descriptions of the five Florida counties that constitute the Panhandle. Those counties are Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay. From those descriptions, RPC staff designed projection models to investigate possible social and economic consequences on communities in the research area of various onshore support scenarios. Staff also studied four local industries that could be affected by a support base in this area — fishing, military, ports, and tourism. This portion of the report includes analyses of possible user conflicts or benefits.

Major findings of the research are as follows: the Panhandle area would handle only limited onshore supply bases, given the extensive number already established from Texas to Alabama; there would be few, if any, user conflicts; the two ports of Pensacola and Panama City would be the most likely locations for any onshore service bases and would benefit accordingly, as long as boat and air traffic are controlled to avoid interruptions of normal port activities; OCS-related increases in employment would be small; and there are few economic incentives to drive OCS support businesses to locate to Florida.

There are three volumes of the report. Volume I includes description of the research area and the analyses of possible effects on major industries. Volume II gives a technical description of the Florida Panhandle model of projections. Volume III is the user’s guide to apply the model’s projection.