Governor Signs California Bill to Affirm Local Choice on Oil, Gas Operations

Assembly Bill 3233 was sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity. It affirms the right of communities to make decisions about oil and gas operations that pose grave threats to public health, wildlife and the climate. The law clarifies that local authority may be used to protect frontline communities and other residents from dangerous pollution, safety hazards and greenhouse gas emissions caused by fossil fuel extraction.

“This law is a welcome green light for cities and counties to address residents’ concerns about oil and gas pollution,” said Dr. Laura Solorio, president of Protect Monterey County. “We can’t let the oil industry use threats and intimidation to kill vital protections from industry pollution. We finally have the assurances under state law that local governments can, and always could, restrict oil and gas to protect communities and the climate.”

In recent years, communities like Monterey, San Benito and Los Angeles have taken steps to limit oil and gas operations. Such local measures have faced fierce oil industry opposition and lawsuits.

In Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. County of Monterey, the California Supreme Court in 2023 overturned parts of Monterey’s overwhelmingly voter-approved Measure Z that would have phased out wastewater disposal and banned the drilling of new wells. The oil industry has weaponized that decision to attack local ordinances that phase out drilling, such as those passed in the city and county of Los Angeles. Recently, a trial court ruled in favor of the oil industry in striking down a city of Los Angeles ordinance, largely relying on the Chevron Supreme Court opinion.

“Legislators and Gov. Newsom have done right by clarifying and reaffirming communities’ right to protect themselves from oil industry pollution,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “This law puts the Los Angeles drilling phaseout securely within the scope of local power. This crucial effort to shield public health should be upheld by the courts without delay.”


Photo: Children play soccer near Inglewood oilfield. Photo by Gary Kavanagh


The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/governor-signs-california-bill-to-affirm-local-choice-on-oil-gas-operations-2024-09-25/