Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three bills Wednesday that regulate the locations and operations of gas and oil drilling sites across California, a measure he said would allow local governments to limit how close they operate to places like schools and neighborhoods.
One of the new laws, AB 3233, gives these smaller governments authority over how and where oil and gas operations can be conducted, allowing them to override decisions by the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who currently has the final say. Another law, AB 1866, sets stricter rules for inactive wells that could leak and contaminate areas when they are no longer in use. The last of the three new laws, AB 2716, sets new rules specifically for an oil field in the Los Angeles area that is known as the largest urban oil field in California and under scrutiny in the past from health officials about the pollution of nearby areas.
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AB 3233: Local governments can restrict oil and gas activities
The new law allows local governments to ban new gas and oil development in their communities, overturning court decisions that blocked such bans by Monterey County and the Los Angeles City Council. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that a new L.A. city ordinance designed to phase out oil production could not be enforced because the state — not the city — has jurisdiction over such regulatory decisions, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The State Oil and Gas Supervisor currently oversees the drilling, maintenance, and operation of these wells, and California Supreme Court case law says the state agency can override local ordinances like LA’s. AB 3233 changes that by giving local governments the final say, allowing them to enforce bans on drilling sites.
The bill has been cheered by environmentalists like the Center for Biological Diversity, but has drawn criticism from oil and gas companies like the Western States Petroleum Association. The state Department of Finance has said enforcement could be costly and involve significant litigation, while environmentalists say it is a necessary measure to regulate pollutants and fossil fuel emissions in communities across California.
AB 1866: Regulation of inactive oil wells throughout the state
Strict restrictions and increased penalties are imposed on inactive oil wells, which could leak and contaminate surrounding areas if abandoned. Under current law, operators of such wells face fees, but this law increases such penalties, among other changes.
“The bill would, among other things, increase rates for inactive wells and also impose rates on any inactive well that has been inactive for less than 3 years, as defined in the legislation,” the bill said.
It would also require operators who fail to file for such compensation by May 1 of each year to submit a plan to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor outlining the management and elimination of such abandoned wells. Current law requires that a person who violates or neglects such wells and refuses to comply with related oil and gas laws is guilty of a misdemeanor. But AB 1866 would essentially expand such compensation and penalties.
“By expanding the scope of crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program,” the legislation reads.
Like AB 3233, this bill has faced opposition from oil and gas companies, and criticism from the California Independent Petroleum Association and the Western States Petroleum Association, who argued that it increases dependence on foreign oil. Meanwhile, it has been widely supported by environmental groups, including Sierra Club California, the Coalition for Clean Air and The Climate Reality Project, and others such as the California Public Interest Research Group, or CALPIRG.
AB 2716: Oversight of LA’s Inglewood Oil Field
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Low-producing oil and gas wells within the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (Inglewood Oil Field) would be banned under the legislation, which also imposes a $10,000-per-month fine on these wells until operators permanently plug them. The governor’s office has said that funds raised from these fines would go toward recreation projects in parks and similar programs.
The state Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management division must identify all low-producing wells in the area by March 1, 2025. Beginning March 1, 2026, owners of those wells will be prohibited from operating low-producing wells for more than 12 months. State officials have said such low-producing wells lead to leaks, air pollution and other harmful effects.
Environmentalists have said that low-producing wells in this oil field have contaminated surrounding areas, leading to health risks, according to some local politicians. impact nearby communities of colorThe Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has announced that researchers from UCLA are conducting a study into such effects.
“These impacts disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in California, who are the most likely to live near oil extraction operations and are the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change,” the legislation reads.
The bill describes the Baldwin Hills Inglewood Oil Field as the largest urban oil field in the state, with approximately 655 active oil wells in the heart of Los Angeles County and in historic communities in South LA.
“Production has been marginal in recent years, but its negative health impacts have cost nearby communities their life expectancy for decades,” Rep. Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), who introduced the legislation, said in a statement from the governor’s office.
