By Manola Secaira, CAP RADIO
Two years ago, California legislators passed a law requiring a 3,200 foot setback between new oil and gas wells and community areas like neighborhoods and schools.
Prior to its passage, “buffer zones” or setbacks between wells and community areas varied in different parts of California, with many areas having no setbacks at all. Advocates said the law would help prevent health issues caused by living near leaking wells.
But after oil and gas industry leaders pushed back, the law was put on hold until November, when voters will decide whether or not to keep it.
Advocates of the original law have turned their attention to new bills in the hopes of taking steps to address health concerns tied to living near wells in the meantime. Kyle Ferrar, the western program director at the advocacy nonprofit FracTracker Alliance, described the bills as a direct response to the paused law.
“If a setback rule had been in place and had been instituted to protect communities, we wouldn’t be having these current fights over these current bills,” Ferrar said. “I think the communities are going to keep fighting until the public health protections that they need are put into place.”
Those efforts include support for two bills related to setbacks, Assembly Bill 3155 and Assembly Bill 2716.
If passed, the first bill would hold oil and gas well operators liable if a person living within 3,200 feet of a well experiences a negative health impact linked to it. The latter bill would require the state to identify all low-producing wells that have operated for over two years within 3,200 feet of a community and begin fining their owners $10,000 a day until the well is plugged and abandoned.
Jamie Court is the president of the nonprofit organization Consumer Watchdog, which is sponsoring both bills. He agreed with Ferrar on part of the reason for the existence of the bills.
“These bills would not be here but for the fact that the drillers are fighting the setback law,” he said.
If the bill related to health impacts and liability is made law, Court said the onus would be on well operators to prove they used the best-available pollution control technology in an effort to mitigate health impacts, or that the impacts came from another source. He said this approach helps impacted people avoid having to prove their issues came from a well, which can be a near-impossible task.
“If the driller is going to drill and they’re not investing in preventing leaks, then they are going to be liable anytime someone gets cancer, a prenatal defect or has a severe respiratory problem,” he said. “They can be liable for up to a million dollars.”
Other bills addressing well concerns include Assembly Bill 1866, which would require all well operators to plug 10% of their idle wells a year. For bigger operators, like Chevron, that percentage would go up to 20%. The bill seeks to replace existing law which requires well owners to pay an annual fee for their idle wells.
Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney for the environmental nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, said other states like West Virginia already have similar laws set up around plugging wells. This bill is among those that his organization is supporting.
“While it’s the financial and legal responsibility of those oil companies to properly plug and abandon their wells, the reality is that they leave them sitting idle for years if not decades,” Kretzmann said. “And in the meantime, those wells are endangering nearby communities.”
These efforts have not gone unnoticed by oil and gas companies. Last week, Politico found that Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association spent $5.5 million during the first quarter of 2024 on lobbying efforts related to issues addressed by these bills.
Kretzmann said the opposition doesn’t come as a surprise.
“We’ve expected opposition all along,” Kretzmann said. “You can count on the oil industry to push back and try to peel off political support for what should be a no-brainer — protecting our climate and our communities from pollution.”
Kevin Slagle, a WSPA spokesperson, said it’s not unusual for bills to target these issues, but said he’s seen a little more than usual this year. And overall, he said it’s a significant year for the industry with upcoming updates to the state’s cap-and-trade program as well as its low-carbon fuel standard. He said he expects these changes will impact how the oil and gas industry operates, along with gas prices.
“A lot of concern, a lot of interest and probably a very significant year as we look ahead,” he said.
He added that WSPA is not involved in efforts related to the paused 2022 law.
“Any lobbying efforts around production issues or setbacks is only in trying to understand that law and how it may be implemented moving forward, not in trying to repeal it or stop it,” Slagle said.
