California Law Affirms Local Power Over Oil Extraction

In the wake of a court ruling that invalidated a Los Angeles law that would have phased out oil production in the city, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a trio of state laws that clarify local governments’ ability to regulate and prohibit oil extraction. The law, AB3233, “the law acknowledges the traditional role of local governments in exercising land use controls to protect the public health and safety of their residents.”

According to an article by Julia Smith on Legal Planet, “The other two laws in this package will have important effects as well, most especially for disadvantaged communities that are overburdened by pollution from oil and gas production activities.”

Assembly Bill 1866 increases fees on idle wells — uncapped wells that are not producing oil or gas but emit harmful pollutants into the surrounding air and soil — and calls on producers to cap these wells. AB 2716 requires the operator of the Inglewood Oil Field, California’s largest urban oilfield, to identify and cap low-producing wells by 2026 and shut down the entire field by 2030.