More than two-and-a-half million Californians live within 3,200 feet of an oil or gas well, predominantly in low-income communities of color. Research has linked an array of health effects, including a higher incidence of premature and low birthweight babies, to proximity of wells.
California in 2022 enacted a law that banned new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of residential areas and required safety measures at existing wells, including leak detection and noise controls. CalMatters reports the oil industry then launched a campaign to overturn it by collecting signatures to create a ballot measure. The industry, however, abruptly withdrew the ballot measure in June.
That meant the law must be enforced by state officials. But the Newsom administration on Wednesday proposed amendments to a budget trailer bill that would delay oil industry deadlines for various parts of the regulations, ranging from 12 to 54 months.
Stephen Benson, an assistant program budget manager with the state Department of Finance, told members of the Assembly Budget Committee on Thursday that agencies responsible for regulating oil operations as well as air pollution and water quality said they need more money and more staff to implement the new rules.
Benson said the proposed delays "were not being made for the benefit" of oil companies.
Some legislators aren't happy with the proposal, SB 178, including the original law's author, Lena A. Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, who said she would not vote for the bill in its current form.
Gonzalez said the bill came as a surprise, adding that even if state agencies are understaffed, there was "plenty of time to figure this out."
This year's legislative session ends Aug. 31.
