SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Senate Budget Committee today passed a bill that reaffirms the authority of local governments to protect communities by restricting or prohibiting oil and gas exploration, methods and locations. The bill now moves to the state Senate for a vote.
Assembly Bill 3233, sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity, affirms the right of communities to make decisions about oil and gas exploration, which poses serious threats to public health, wildlife and the climate.
“This is a huge step forward for communities affected by oil and gas pollution who want their local governments to take action,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “We cannot allow the oil industry to use threats and intimidation to undermine important protections against industrial pollution. It’s time for the Senate and Governor to make this clarifying bill into law.”
“Communities should be able to make decisions about the oil and gas projects in their immediate area,” said Dr. Laura Solorio, president of Protect Monterey County. “This bill is critical to protecting democracy as well as our health and environment.”
In recent years, communities such as Monterey, San Benito and Los Angeles have taken steps to restrict oil and gas production, but such local measures have faced fierce opposition from the oil industry.
In Chevron USA Inc. v. Monterey CountyIn 2023, the California Supreme Court struck down parts of Measure Z, which voters in Monterey overwhelmingly passed and which would have phased out wastewater disposal and banned the drilling of new wells. The oil industry has used this decision as a weapon to attack local ordinances restricting drilling, such as those passed in the city and county of Los Angeles.
UK Parliamentary Assembly Bill 3233 would clarify local jurisdiction to protect frontline communities and other residents from dangerous pollution, safety risks and greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel extraction.
The bill now goes to the full Senate, and if passed, it must be presented again in the Assembly for approval before being sent to the governor for his signature.
