SACRAMENTO, California — A landmark California drilling law that was delayed for a year and a half by the oil industry now faces additional delays because of a breakdown in negotiations between Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and the Legislature over the law’s implementation.
The administration is withdrawing its request to fund enforcement of S.B. 1137, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez’s (D) 2022 bill that prohibits new drilling within 3,200 feet of most occupied buildings and imposes additional requirements on wells already in that zone.
Newsom’s office confirmed Thursday that the administration wants to pull back the funding for enforcement. If lawmakers agree, the law’s prohibition on new wells will remain in place while the provisions for existing wells — including that oil companies submit additional plans for detecting and addressing leaks in the setback zone, file public maps of their wells and control noise — will be on hold.
The development, coming amid a frenzy of deal-making in the last week of the legislative session, reflects the heated politics around oil and gas development even in a state controlled by a Democratic supermajority. It also complicates Newsom’s framing of himself as a leading foil to the industry.
