The California State Assembly and Senate finished floor session last week, voting on several important oil bills prior to the House of Origin deadline, which was last Friday.
The active participation of CIPA members who called and emailed legislators over the last several weeks, in combination with our own intense staff and contractor lobbying efforts, succeeded in fighting a series of misguided bills that would have threatened our domestic energy supply and economic stability. Important Pieces of Legislation Include:
SB 1497 (Manjivar) – Dubbed the “Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act of 2024,” the bill would have required fossil fuel companies to pay for “damage caused by the sale of their products.” The bill failed to garner enough support and died in the Senate.
AB 3155 (Friedman) – Would have established a presumption of guilt for oil companies for any health impacts within the setback zone. For the second year in a row, CIPA and our members worked to ensure this legislation was defeated after failing to receive enough votes.
AB 1866 (Hart) – Would significantly increase the minimum wells needing to be plugged by operators annually. This bill passed the Assembly floor and now heads to the Senate. CIPA is working directly with the author and their staff to ensure this bill does not harm California producers.
AB 2716 (Bryan) – Creates a $10k penalty for an operator that has a single well that produces less than 15 barrels within the setback zone. Passed the Assembly, headed to the Senate.
AB 3233 (Addis) – Grants local governments the authority to regulate downhole operations, attempting to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling that local government is preempted by federal and state law from doing so. Passed Assembly, headed for Senate.
ACA 16 (Bryan) Clean Water & Air Constitutional Amendment – 2/3 vote needed. Not subject to the deadline. CIPA is working with a large coalition to make changes that protect our members if they were to achieve this two-thirds threshold Likely up later this week.
AB 2716 and AB 3233 will continue to be a major focus as they move through the senate. We will keep you informed and ask that members be ready to contact legislators as needed. (Click here to join our list and be informed of phone and email campaign activities.)
Despite considerable forces against it, industry will likely only have 1-2 bills (and maybe none) left to fight in the Senate as the session concludes in August. That’s quite an improvement from where it started just five months ago. Our success was recognized in POLITICO and as part of the POLITICO California Playbook morning newsletter read by legislators, staff and the Sacramento “Capitol Beltway.”
For more information, contact Rock Zierman.