California is poised to take a major new step in its battle with the federal government over the Trump administration's efforts to open the state's coastline to new oil and gas drilling.
It's in the form of a bill authored by a Santa Barbara assemblyman that received final approval by the legislature Thursday afternoon.
"It's very important, because the federal government has proposed new offshore leases to facilitate drilling off the California Coast," said Democratic State Assemblyman Gregg Hart of Santa Barbara. "California has been a strong opponent of that for nearly four decades. We want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening, so my legislation will not allow existing state infrastructure to be used to facilitate the offshore oil production that's proposed by the Trump administration."
Hart calls Assembly Bill 1448 another tool in efforts to stop the federal government from overriding the state's rejection of new offshore oil and gas development.
"There's been a bipartisan consensus in California for a very long time that offshore oil drilling is a threat to our economy, the quality of life, the marine environment," said Hart. "The forces that are trying to undo California regulations are persistent, and have been winning in the short term. I think ultimately, there is such a strong consensus in the state that offshore oil drilling is dangerous. We know it better than anybody because of the 1969 (Santa Barbara Channel) oil spill and the 2015 Refugio spill. We have to do everything we can, and that's the point of this legislation."
The state has jurisdiction over the ocean up to three miles from the coast, where it becomes federal jurisdiction. Coastal infrastructure is key to getting oil and gas from offshore platforms to onshore facilities.
"This (legislation) is mainly focused on the threat from the Trump administration to open up the entire California Coast to new offshore oil and gas leasing," said Linda Krop, Chief Counsel with the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center. "During the first Trump administration, then-Democratic State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara offered a bill that prohibited the state from approving any new leases or infrastructure in state waters that would support new federal offshore oil leases and development. This bill takes it a step further, and also prohibits he use of existing infrastructure to support new federal oil and gas development."
Krop said the legislation beefs up state authority over the issue.
"It also protects our coast by eliminating a loophole in the state's prohibition on new leasing in state waters which has been in effect since 1994," said Krop. "That law had something called a drainage exception, where they could issue a lease if reserves under state waters are being drained from a federal platform. There had been three proposals to do that from Platform Irene, off of Santa Barbara County. Now, that area is in a National Marine Sanctuary. This new bill acknowledges that, and says no new leases could occur using a drainage exception where there's a National Marine Sanctuary."
The bill has no immediate impact in the battle over Sable Offshore Corporation's resumption of oil production in Santa Barbara County.
After being passed by the State Assembly late Thursday afternoon, the legislation is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk awaiting his action.
