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Kimberly Hellwig

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Kimberly Hellwig is an energy and environmental policies specialist with the firm’s Energy Development group and also supports the firm’s Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources group. Kimberly assists clients with all aspects of energy project development, including siting, environmental review, and permitting, as well as regulatory proceedings.

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Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2019-2020 Legislative Session.  Below is the latest update on a list of bills, summarized pursuant to the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, that our team has been following and will continue to monitor as the 2019-2020 Legislative Session proceeds.

Please also see our Renewable + Law post summarizing bills related to other energy topics here.

AB 345 (Muratsuchi, D): Natural Resources: Oil and Gas: Regulation of Operations.

STATUS: Last amended March 18, 2019; currently in Senate Appropriations suspense file.

Would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to create an environmental justice program within the agency to identify and address any gaps in existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice. The bill, contingent upon funding for this purpose, would require the secretary to establish a grant-based reimbursement program to enable environmental justice and community groups to meaningfully participate in rulemaking and other regulatory processes at departments and entities within the agency.Continue Reading Oil & Gas Related Bills Update for the 2019-2020 Legislative Session

The 2019-2020 California Legislative Session has officially reached its first deadline. February 22, 2019 marked the deadline by which bills could be introduced for the first half of the Session. Lawmakers will begin Spring Recess April 12 and reconvene April 22. The last day for bills to be passed out of the house of origin is May 31, 2019.

Below is a list of some of the key bills Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team will be monitoring throughout the Legislative Session.

AB 255 (Limòn, D) and SB 834 (Jackson, D): State lands: leasing: oil and gas.

Status: Introduced January 23, 2019; referred to Committee on Natural Resources February 7, 2019.

The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act authorizes the administrator for oil spill response to offer grants to a local government with jurisdiction over or directly adjacent to waters of the state to provide oil spill response equipment to be deployed by a certified local spill response manager, as provided. This bill would provide that Native American tribes and other public entities are also eligible to receive those grants.

AB 353 (Muratsuchi, D): Oil and gas: Definitions: additive.

Status: Introduced February 4, 2019; awaiting referral.

Under current law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Current law defines various terms for those purposes, including “additive.” This bill would make a non-substantive change to that definition.
Continue Reading Oil & Gas Related Bills Introduced in the 2019-2020 Legislative Session

Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 legislative session.  Below are the latest updates on the bills our team has been following during the first half of the current legislative session.  In addition, we have included new bills introduced during the second half of the current legislative session.

The following is a list of bills either vetoed by the Governor or chaptered into law at the end of the first half of the current legislative session.  A summary of such bills can be found here.

  • AB 1197 (Limón, D): Oil spill contingency plans: spill management teams. Chaptered into law on October 8, 2017.
  • AB 1328 (Limón, D): Oil and gas: water quality. Chaptered into law on October 13, 2017.
  • AB 1472 (Limón, D): Public lands: assignments and transfers; oil, gas and mineral leases. Vetoed by the Governor on July 25, 2017.
  • AB 1647 (Muratsuchi, D): Petroleum refineries: air monitoring systems. Chaptered into law on October 8, 2017.
  • SB 44 (Jackson, D): State lands: coastal hazard and legacy oil and gas well removal and remediation program. Chaptered into law on October 8, 2017.
  • SB 724 (Lara, D): Oil and gas: wells and production facilities. Chaptered into law on October 10, 2017.

Continue Reading Second Legislative Update: Oil & Gas Related Bills Introduced in the 2017-2018 Legislative Session

Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session.  Below are the latest updates on a list of bills, summarized pursuant to the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, that our team has been following and will continue to monitor as the 2017-2018 Legislative Session proceeds.

Please also see our Renewable + Law post summarizing bills related to other energy topics here.

AB 476 (Gipson, D): Vehicular air pollution.

Status: Two-year bill; last amended April 17, 2017.

Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and non-vehicular sources and generally designates CARB as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law further defines a heavy-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s maximum gross vehicle weight rating of 6,001 or more pounds, a light-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of under 6,001 pounds, and a medium-duty vehicle as a heavy-duty vehicle having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating under a limit established by the state board. AB 476 instead would define a heavy-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s maximum gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 or more pounds.Continue Reading Legislative Update: Oil & Gas Related Bills Introduced in the 2017-2018 Legislative Session

Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session.  June 2, 2017 was the deadline by which the Legislature was required to pass bills out of the house of origin. Failing to meet that deadline does not automatically prevent a bill from proceeding through the legislative process; however, such failure will prevent the bill from being considered by the full legislature or the Governor during the first half of the Legislative Session.  Below is a list of bills, summarized pursuant to the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, that our team has been following and will continue to monitor as the legislative session proceeds.  This is an update to our February 23 post.

Please also see our Renewable + Law post summarizing bills related to other energy topics here.

AB 476 (Gipson, D): Vehicular air pollution.

Status: Two-year bill; last amended April 17, 2017.

Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and non-vehicular sources and generally designates CARB as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law further defines a heavy-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s maximum gross vehicle weight rating of 6,001 or more pounds, a light-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of under 6,001 pounds, and a medium-duty vehicle as a heavy-duty vehicle having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating under a limit established by the state board. AB 476 instead would define a heavy-duty vehicle as having a manufacturer’s maximum gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 or more pounds.Continue Reading Update: Oil & Gas Related Bills Introduced in the 2017-2018 Legislative Session

February 17, 2017 marked the deadline by which legislators had to introduce bills for the first half of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session.  The Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been and will continue to monitor bills throughout the current two-year session and will provide periodic updates as to the status of those bills.  Below is the current status and summary of some of the bills Stoel Rives is monitoring.

Please also reference our Renewable + Law post summarizing bills related to energy law here.

AB 55 (Thurmond, D):  Refineries: turnarounds

STATUS: Introduced December 5, 2016; referred to Committee on Labor & Employment on January 19, 2017

The California Refinery and Chemical Plant Worker Safety Act of 1990 requires every petroleum refinery employer to submit to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health a full schedule for the following calendar year of planned turnaround every September 15th. The employer is also required, upon the request of the division, to provide the division with specified documentation relating to a planned turnaround within a certain period of time. This bill would require the documents to be provided to the division upon request also include all documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with the above-described skilled and trained workforce requirements.  A violation of the bill’s requirements would be a crime.Continue Reading Oil & Gas Related Bills Introduced in the 2017-2018 Legislative Session

June 5, 2015 marked the deadline for lawmakers to pass bills out of their house to the opposite house. Bills that did not pass in their house of origin by that date have effectively died (unless such a bill has been identified as a 2-year bill). Stoel Rives’ Water Law Team has been monitoring water-related legislation, especially given California’s historic drought. Our Water Law Team will continue to monitor these bills, among many others, including environmental-related legislation, throughout the 2015-2016 Legislative Session. We will provide periodic updates as these bills move through the legislative process. Below is the status and summary of some of the bills Stoel Rives is monitoring.

SUPPLY AND GROUNDWATER

AB-307 (Mathis): Graywater: groundwater recharge
STATUS: This bill is a 2-year bill and currently pending referral in the Assembly.

If passed by the legislature and signed into law, AB-307 would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to explicitly permit the usage of residential, commercial and industrial graywater for the recharge of a groundwater basin or aquifer.

AB-453 (Bigelow): Groundwater Management
STATUS: AB-453 passed the Assembly on April 16, 2015 and currently is scheduled for hearing on June 23, 2015 before the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water.

If passed by the legislature and chaptered, this bill would authorize, until a groundwater sustainability plan is adopted, a local agency to amend an existing groundwater management plan in furtherance of, and consistent with, the groundwater management plan’s objectives.
Continue Reading Update on California Water Legislation Regarding Groundwater, Recycled Water and More

February 27, 2015 was the deadline for lawmakers to introduce legislation to the 2015-2016 California Legislative Session and several bills related to oil and gas activities were introduced.  Below is a summary of those bills. Stoel Rives is monitoring these bills and will provide periodic updates as the bills move through the legislative process.

SENATE BILLS

SB-13 (Pavley):  Groundwater

This bill would specify that the State Water Resources Control Board is authorized to designate a high- or medium-priority basin as a probationary basin. This bill would provide a local agency or groundwater sustainability agency 90 or 180 days, as prescribed, to remedy certain deficiencies that caused the board to designate the basin as a probationary basin. This bill would authorize the State Water Resources Control Board to develop an interim plan for certain probationary basins one year after the designation of the basin as a probationary basin.Continue Reading Status of Oil and Gas-related Bills Proposed in California’s 2015-2016 Legislative Session

SB 1096 (Jackson), which sought to foreclose the possibility of oil drilling in state waters from wells that could be drilled at Vandenberg Air Force Base, was defeated in the Assembly on Tuesday.  Pursuant to the Legislature’s summary of the bill, the California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 authorizes the California State Lands Commission (SLC)…

SB-1281 faced strong industry opposition due to the bill’s requirement that oil and gas drilling companies use recycled water for new operations during drought emergencies.  Industry representatives have stated that such requirements would violate the California constitution and other laws.  In response, the bill’s author, Senator Fran Pavley, last week agreed to amendments, which removed…

The end of the 2013-2014 legislative session is coming to a close.  Below are key deadlines for the Legislature and Governor:

  • August 15 was the last day for fiscal committees to meet and report bills to the Floor.
  • August 18-31 Floor Session only – no committees, other than conference committees and Rules committee, may meet for any purpose.
  • August 22 is the last day to amend bills on the Floor.
  • August 31 is the last day for each house to pass bills.
  • All bills passed by the Legislature by September 1, 2014 must be signed or vetoed by the Governor on or before September 30, 2014.

Below you will find summaries of each piece of oil and gas-related legislation, with an updated status for each bill. Stoel Rives has a dedicated team of professionals that will continue to track these bills.Continue Reading Updated Status of Oil and Gas-related Bills in California’s Legislature

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Few firms view their Environment, Land Use, and Natural Resources practices as core legal services. Stoel Rives is one of them. The firm ranks #8 in the United States according to Law360’s list of the largest practices of its kind. Our sophisticated compliance counseling, permitting, regulatory development, and litigation practices continue a long tradition of specialization and deep experience. Our environment, land use, and natural resource attorneys incorporate prior agency experience, technical acumen, and industry knowledge into their legal advice. They also build strong relationships with agency officials and industry associations. Our litigation successes include landmark decisions. More than 60 attorneys, paralegals, and compliance analysts comprise Stoel Rives’ nationwide Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources practice.