‘Landmark Victory’: California’s Newsom Signs 3 Bills Protecting Communities From Oil and Gas

Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference where he signs legislation related to oversight of oil and gas wells, and community protections on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Los Angeles. Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The signing of three new bills into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom allows local communities to limit oil drilling while helping the state address pollution from “idle wells.”

The laws will help protect the environment and public health, while empowering communities to set better protections around fossil fuel activities in their neighborhoods, a press release from the governor’s office said.

“The health of our communities always comes first. These new laws allow local leaders to limit dangerous oil and gas activities near homes, schools, and other areas as they see fit for their communities, and give the state more tools to make sure that idle and low-producing wells get plugged sooner. This builds off of our all-of-the-above efforts to protect communities from pollution and hold Big Oil accountable,” Newsom said in the press release.

The new laws give more authority to local governments to restrict oil and gas activities and shut down wells that aren’t being used, but haven’t been properly closed and sealed, reported the Associated Press.

“It’s been a long journey that we’ve been on over the course of many, many years,” Newsom said alongside local officials and advocates at a neighborhood park near Inglewood Oil Field. “But tremendous progress is being made.”

One of the trio of laws — AB 3233 — empowers smaller governments by giving them authority over where and how oil and gas operations are run. It also allows them to override rulings by the current highest authority, the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, to enforce bans on drilling sites, CBS News reported.

“By providing local jurisdictions with the power to make these decisions, California is taking a major step toward protecting vulnerable communities from the health impacts of industrial operations. The bill overrides recent court decisions that blocked ordinances limiting oil drilling adopted by the voters of Monterey County and the Los Angeles City Council,” the press release said.

Another of the new laws — AB 1866 — imposes more stringent regulations on idle wells, which sometimes leak, leading to contamination of surrounding areas.

“This is a landmark victory for taxpayers and communities most affected by the harmful health impacts of neighborhood oil drilling,” said Gregg Hart, an assembly member from Santa Barbara, in the press release. “I am proud of this decisive action we are taking today to hold the oil industry responsible for plugging over 40,000 idle oil wells across California. I want to thank Governor Newsom for recognizing the urgency of solving the idle oil well crisis in the state.”

The third law — AB 2716 — is a set of new rules targeting Inglewood Oil Field, the state’s largest urban oil field, which has come under scrutiny by health officials for polluting nearby areas, reported CBS News.

Environmental advocacy groups like the Center for Biological Diversity hailed AB 3233 as a much-needed measure to regulate fossil fuel emissions and other pollutants, while the California Department of Finance said it could face considerable litigation and be costly to enforce. Oil and gas companies like the Western States Petroleum Association criticized the bill.

“The signing of AB 3233 is [a] vital win for communities across the Central Coast, and all of California,” said Dawn Addis, Democratic assembly member from Morro Bay, in the press release. “Putting this bill into law affirms our right to clean air and water, free of oil and gas pollution.”

Newsom has referred to the oil industry as the “polluted heart of this climate crisis,” as he aims to pass a proposal to reduce the spiking of gas prices for consumers, as the Associated Press reported.

Among other measures, Newsom’s administration has passed rules to phase out fossil-fuel powered cars, trucks, trains and lawnmowers. California has set a target of being carbon neutral by 2045.

Under one of the new regulations, the state is required to fine companies $10,000 per month if they operate low-producing oil wells near Inglewood Oil Field. The money raised from the measure will be put into an account funding local projects like creating affordable housing and parks. The law requires that companies close and seal all of the site’s wells by the last day of 2030.

“The Inglewood Oil Field is the largest urban oil field in our State,” said author of the bill Isaac Bryan, a Democratic assembly member representing Inglewood, in the press release. “Its production in recent years has been marginal, but for decades the negative health impacts surrounding it have cost the nearby community with their life expectancy. Today, with Governor Newsom’s signature, we will finally shut it down and establish the state’s first repair fund for the frontline communities who have been organizing for years to be seen, heard, and protected.”

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