Resist Big Oil: Updates on Measures Z and S.B. 1137
History on Measure Z: Monterey County voters passed Measure Z in 2016 by a significant 56 to 44 margin. Measure Z prohibits land uses that support new oil and gas wells. It would also phase out oil industry wastewater disposal over the next five to 15 years. Chevron, Aera Energy, Eagle Petroleum and Trio Petroleum immediately filed a lawsuit to overturn Measure Z. In 2018, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills upheld the fracking ban, but overturned the rest of Measure Z, enabling the oil industry to continue operating. Protect Monterey County, the grassroots community organizing group that got Measure Z on the ballot, appealed and lost in 2021. Protect Monterey County appealed once more to the California Supreme Court, which took the case and deliberated this on May 25, 2023. On August 3, 2023, the Supreme Court of California released its decision, upholding the lower court ruling, striking down Measure Z. The court wrote: “Measure Z contradicts section 3106 of state law. Per that code section: “The [state oil and gas] supervisor shall so supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities attendant to oil and gas production…” In California, only the Oil and Gas Supervisor has the authority to approve or deny new oil and gas wells and wastewater injection practices..
History on the California Oil and Gas Supervisor: The California Oil and Gas Supervisor works within the California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM. In 2019, Gov. Newsom fired the Oil and Gas Supervisor, Ken Harris, as Harris had increased the number of approved permits by 35%. Furthermore, it was discovered that multiple members of Harris’ staff owned stock in oil and gas operators who were issued permits—a big conflict of interest. In October of 2019, Uduak-Joe Ntuk, a former Chevron engineer, was appointed to replace Harris as California’s Oil and Gas Supervisor.
Enter S.B. 1137: Last summer, the California state legislature passed a bill, S.B. 1137, that bans new or reworked oil and gas wells anywhere in the state within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and prisons. The bill also requires safeguards for people who live near existing wells, including tracking the release of toxic emissions from wells and storage tanks, restricting disruptive noise, and other measures. S.B. 1137 went into effect on January 1, 2023.
Towards the end of 2022, when S.B. 1137 was nearing implementation, Oil and Gas Supervisor Ntuk began approving an increasing number of oil permits, many within the 3,200 foot buffer zone, and then resigned in January of 2023, shortly after S.B. 1137 went into effect. Days after Newsom signed S.B. 1137 in 2022, the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) launched a petition drive for a ballot referendum that would block S.B. 1137. The referendum put forth by the oil and gas industry, called the “Stop the Energy Shutdown,” garnered enough signatures on February 3, 2023 for the 2024 state ballot, and S.B. 1137 was put on hold. To collect the number of signatures needed, the oil and gas industry spent more than $20 million. During that time, it is reported that some petition circulators, who are paid by the signature, falsely told petition signers that the measure would protect communities. It of course will do the opposite and remove community protections.
Gov. Newsom has not replaced Oil and Gas Supervisor Ntuk as of this writing, but CalGEM continues to issue permits. The good news is that CalGEM has approved only seven new active well permits in 2023, compared to more than 200 it had issued by this time last year. The not-so-good news is that CalGEM has approved more than 1,000 new oil and gas “rework” permits this year, with more than 600 of them within the 3,200 feet buffer zone. Rework permits allow gas companies to repair existing wells that have low production output.