The Trump Administration is proposing to open more than a million acres of publically controlled land on California to oil and gas fracking, something which could affect some federal land on the Central and South Coasts.
The Bureau of Land Management issued a call for comments on the proposal, a step which starts the process.
It involves land in eight California counties, including Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.
Some environmental groups sued the federal government a few years ago over fracking and drilling proposals on the land, claiming that the plan at the time failed to adequately examine potential negative impacts. The groups won the fight, with the BLM agreeing to do a new analysis of environmental impacts.
The new proposal could lead to an end of a five year freeze on new leases or fracking on the federally controlled land.