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Recent State Regulatory, Legislative and Local Action on Fracking in California Kathryn Phillips Director, Sierra Club California [email protected]
| Date post: | 29-Jul-2015 |
| Category: |
Environment |
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Recent State Regulatory, Legislative and Local Action on
Fracking in California
Kathryn Phillips
Director, Sierra Club California
Fracking/Well Stim Basics in California
• Fracking and well stimulation used mostly for oil extraction in California. Referred to as extreme oil extraction methods.
• About 84,000 oil wells in California; about 3,000 extreme extraction wells in California (low estimate).
• About 200 million barrels of oil produced annually; extreme extraction accounts for about 20 percent.
• Some occurs in urban Los Angeles City/County; most occurs in Southern San Joaquin Valley (Kern County).
Oil and Gas Wells in California
Public Opinion
Public Policy Institute of California • July 2013—51% of adult Californians oppose fracking
• July 2014—54% of adult Californians oppose fracking
FM3 Poll for Sierra Club • May 2014—68% support a fracking moratorium bill
Regulators
State Level: • Division of Oil Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR)
• State Water Resources Control Board
• Air Resources Board
Local Level: • Local air districts
• Local water boards
Policymakers (Deciders)
State: • State legislature
• Governor
Local • County Board of Supervisors
• City Councils
• Voters (ballot measures)
Legislative Action
Senate Bill 4: • Passed in 2013
• Requires DOGGR to develop a permitting system for fracking/well stimulation
• Requires DOGGR to prepare a programmatic environmental impact report
• Directs DOGGR, Air Board, Water Board to do better data collecting, monitoring
• Directs Natural Resources Agency to do a study on the impacts of fracking/well stimulation (study expected to be completed in July 2015)
Legislative Action (cont.)
Moratorium bills • Attempted twice, failed to pass first house both times
Redefining DOGGR • One bill moving through legislature now
Beefing up other regulations • Injection well regulatory bill moving through legislature now
• Open pit regulatory bill moving through the legislature now
Local Action
Ballot Measures: • Santa Barbara County fracking ban—failed
• San Benito County fracking ban—passed
• La Habra Heights—failed
Local Ordinances & Resolutions: • About 15 city or county resolutions (includes a few ordinances)
• Most recent is Butte County ordinance banning importation or disposal of fracking waste
Legal Challenges
• 2013 multi-organization challenge to environmental review practices of DOGGR (thrown out by court)
• 2015 new challenge to DOGGR re underground injection wells
On Horizon
• Programmatic EIR
• New data/monitoring recommendations by state water board
• Additional lawsuits
• Additional local efforts
• Release of the scientific study required by SB 4 (July 2015)
• Other
Thank You
Contact Info:
Kathryn Phillips
Director, Sierra Club California
909 12th Street, Suite 202
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph.: 916-557-1102
