WASHINGTON — Rep. Frank Palllone Jr., the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is once again pushing to ban oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

Pallone, D-6th Dist., first proposed the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act in 2015 as President Barack Obama considered allowing drilling off the Jersey Shore, and reintroduced it two years later.

But the issue gained new urgency when President Donald Trump proposed scrapping the current five-year drilling plan that runs through 2022 and excluded the Atlantic Coast, and instead proposing a new 2019-24 five-year plan that could allow drilling in more than 90 percent of the outer continental shelf, encompassing the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

“President Trump’s dangerous plans for offshore drilling will risk the livelihoods of millions on the Atlantic Coast and in New Jersey,” said Pallone, D-6th Dist. “An oil spill anywhere along the Atlantic Coast would cause severe environmental damage to fisheries, popular beaches and wildlife."

Pallone’s bill would ban the Interior Department from issuing leases to explore, develop or produce oil or gas in the Atlantic Ocean, Straits of Florida, or the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The entire New Jersey House delegation, 11 Democrats and Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., is sponsoring the bill.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., plans to introduce the same bill in his chamber.

“As climate change continues to threaten our shore communities, the last thing we need is another manmade disaster in the form of an offshore oil spill,” Menendez said.

In addition, several other lawmakers plan to introduce legislation banning drilling in other areas, according to the National Resources Defense Council.

The Interior Department said it could not comment due to the partial government shutdown.

In April, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to ban drilling in the three miles of ocean that the state controls, and to prevent construction of any drilling infrastructure, including pipelines and docks, anywhere in New Jersey.

Then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told New Jersey’s House Republicans last February that they should expect the area around the Jersey Shore to continue to be off limits to drilling.

But no announcement was ever made and the Trump administration in November paved the way for seismic testing to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic. That decision is being challenged in court.

An oil spill would jeopardize a $43 billion a year tourism industry that supports 500,000 jobs, a $7.9 billion a year commercial fishing industry that supports over 50,000 jobs, and a large saltwater recreational fishing industry.

“It is critical for Congress to stand up to Donald Trump and block his reckless plan to drill off our coast," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is the biggest risk to our coast in over 40 years.”

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.