This article first appeared at Streetsblog California.
Governor Newsom signed three new laws that will help protect people living near oil and gas facilities, including one that overrides a court decision blocking local control over gas wells.
The bills are:
A.B. 3233 from Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay). This law codifies the rights of cities and counties to control what oil and gas operations exist within their jurisdiction, allowing local governments to impose restrictions on operations and development, including banning fracking or any other method of extraction. The bill overrides recent court decisions that blocked local ordinances in Monterey, San Benito, and Los Angeles that limited oil drilling and fracking, putting some power over what happens in communities into the hands of residents.
A.B. 1866 from Assemblymembers Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Culver City) increases fees and imposes stricter regulations on idle oil and gas wells. Abandoned oil and gas wells pose a serious risk to the environment and local residents. California is rife with old wells that are no longer in use but have not been properly and legally decommissioned, which involves plugging them and also ensuring they are not leaking or contaminating nearby land or water. This bill should speed up the process by imposing hefty fees on companies that ignore existing regulations.
A.B. 2716 from Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) is a locally focused law that prohibits the operation of low-production oil and gas wells within the Baldwin Hills Conservancy. It starts with an inventory of those wells, showing where they are and how long they have been used as “low-production” wells. It imposes a $10,000 per month penalty on these wells until they are permanently plugged and properly decommissioned. Penalty funds will create the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, to be used for projects that benefit the local community.
California Environmental Voters responded to the bills being signed with a statement underscoring that the bills “are not just about cleaning up or regulating oil wells.”
These bills “address longstanding injustices for low-income and frontline communities that have been disproportionately affected by corporate polluters,” wrote Mary Creasman, Chief Executive Officer, California Environmental Voters. “For too long, these communities have lived with the risks of abandoned oil wells, toxic emissions, and without meaningful protection.”
“These laws reflect a commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of people over corporate interests,” she continued. “By holding polluters accountable for their impact and empowering local governments to make decisions about oil and gas operations in their own backyards, we are finally giving Californians the tools to fight for cleaner air, safer neighborhoods, and a greener future. We are grateful to Governor Newsom and Assemblymembers Hart, Smallwood-Cuevas, Bryan, and Addis for their tireless leadership in making this vision a reality.”
For more information see this article in the Long Beach Post.
