On July 14, 2016, the California Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced a “landmark set of regulations to strengthen workplace and environmental safety at oil refineries across the state.” The refinery safety rules consist of two sets of regulations: one amending the California Occupational Safety & Health (“OSHA”) worker safety regulations as they apply to refineries, and the other revising the California Accidental Release Prevention program (“CalARP”) regulations. The regulations implement recommendations from Governor Jerry Brown’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety, which was convened following a chemical release and fire at a refinery in August 2012.
Continue Reading Proposed Oil Refinery Regulations Tackle Safety Concerns
Updated Status of Oil- and Gas-Related Bills Proposed in California’s 2015-2016 Legislative Session
June 3, 2016 was the final deadline for oil- and gas-related bills introduced in the 2015-2016 legislative session to move through their house of origin. Below is a summary of those bills, many of which relate to natural gas storage following the Aliso Canyon natural gas well leak. Stoel Rives is monitoring these bills and will provide updates as the bills move through the legislative process.
Continue Reading Updated Status of Oil- and Gas-Related Bills Proposed in California’s 2015-2016 Legislative Session
The Other Shoe Just Dropped on Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry
Not to be outdone by its federal counter-parts, the California Air Resources Board (“ARB”) released Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Facilities (“proposed rule”) for methane emissions on Tuesday, May 31, following a slew of recent federal regulations targeting reduction of methane emissions. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 14, §§ 95665-95676 (proposed). The federal Bureau of Land Management released proposed regulations for reducing waste and methane emissions in oil and gas operations in January 2016. Then, in May 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also began regulating methane when it released final regulations to curb emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds from additional new, modified, and reconstructed sources in the oil and gas industry.
While methane is the current emissions target for regulators’ greenhouse gas reduction efforts, the oil and gas sector is the industry target. The proposed rule is part of California’s plan to reduce emissions from short-lived climate pollutants, including methane emissions, by 40-45% by 2025. This follows the Obama Administration’s similar methane emissions reduction goal.Continue Reading The Other Shoe Just Dropped on Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry
Southern California Environmental Update #1
This is the first update on environmental regulatory and legal developments in Los Angeles and adjacent counties, as well as the Southern San Joaquin l Valley. Let us know what you think. Your comments on this Update will be considered for inclusion in future updates.
South Coast Air Quality Management District
*New Management: The Governing Board has appointed Wayne Nastri, former Regional Administrator of USEPA for the Pacific Southwest and Hawaii, as interim replacement for Dr. Barry Wallerstein, dismissed by the Board in early March. While the Board’s April appointment of Nastri was disrupted by community activists protesting the appointment as anti-environmental, some wearing clown suits, Nastri has also been praised by a leading environmental group. Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Joel Reynolds, western director and senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council said, “He has a strong environmental record, a good sense of strategy and an understanding of how important the public is in environmental decision-making,” Others describe Nastri as flexible, open and collaborative.
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Part the Seas: Federal Report Finds Offshore Fracking has No Significant Impact
On May 27, 2016, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) jointly released a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (“PEA”) for well stimulation treatment activities at operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) of offshore California. The agencies identified and studied the environmental impacts of 43 lease areas at 23 active wells that could undergo well stimulation treatments, which includes hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).
As required under the National Environmental Policy Act, the PEA evaluated a range of potential impacts including air quality, water quality, commercial and recreational fisheries, recreation and tourism, and environmental justice. In conducting the analysis, the agencies adopted definitions contained in California’s Senate Bill 4. For example, well stimulation treatments “include, but are not limited to, hydraulic fracturing treatments and acid well stimulations.”Continue Reading Part the Seas: Federal Report Finds Offshore Fracking has No Significant Impact
Clean Up Green Up—Supplemental Use Districts—more regulation for three LA City Neighborhoods
On June 4, 2016, the City of Los Angeles rolls out its much-discussed Clean Up Green Up (CUGU) pilot program for three communities: Boyle Heights, Wilmington and Pacoima. Ordinance 184246, approved by Mayor Garcetti on April 22, 2016, adds new rules to the City’s Planning and Zoning Code and Building Code. CUGU is controversial. Communities and their advocates say that the cumulative environmental impacts from multiple businesses in these neighborhoods expose residents to higher levels of pollution than other City neighborhoods. They also say the program is designed to help neighborhood businesses obtain permits and comply with regulations. Businesses and their advocates assert that the program has abandoned promises for meaningful incentives and assistance to local businesses. They also say that the program will discourage business improvement because major improvements or additions bring down the new regulations on the heads of existing businesses.
Continue Reading Clean Up Green Up—Supplemental Use Districts—more regulation for three LA City Neighborhoods
Status of Oil- and Gas-Related Bills Proposed in California’s 2015-2016 Legislative Session
February 19, 2016 was the deadline for lawmakers to introduce legislation to the 2015-2016 California Legislative Session, and the Legislature’s ever-growing appetite for regulating the energy industry in California shows no signs of being satiated anytime soon. More bills than ever proposing to add new regulations on the oil and gas industry have been introduced. Below is a summary of those bills, many of which relate to natural gas storage following the Aliso Canyon natural gas well leak. Stoel Rives is monitoring these bills and will provide updates as the bills move through the legislative process.
ASSEMBLY BILLS
AB 1759 (Bonta): Hydrogen fluoride: notice of use: substitution
This bill would require an owner or operator of an oil refinery that uses hydrogen fluoride, hydrofluoric acid, or modified hydrofluoric acid in its operations to send out biannual notices to each business, school, child care facility, library, church, community facility, senior facility, and residence within a 3.5-mile radius of the refinery. The cost of the notice must be paid by the owner or operator of the refinery, and the owner or operator must file a copy of the notice and distribution list with the California Air Resources Board.Continue Reading Status of Oil- and Gas-Related Bills Proposed in California’s 2015-2016 Legislative Session
No Issuance of Federal Offshore Fracking Permits Until May 2016
On January 29, 2016, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”), agencies within the federal Department of the Interior (“DOI”), agreed to put a temporary moratorium on issuance of fracking permits in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf until environmental review is conducted. The temporary moratorium is the result of a settlement agreement between the DOI and the Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”). CBD sued the federal agencies in February 2015, alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and other federal statutes. The litigation culminated in this settlement agreement.
Continue Reading No Issuance of Federal Offshore Fracking Permits Until May 2016
Stricter Underground Gas Storage Regs are in the Works
On January 15, 2016, the Department of Conservation gave notice of an interim rulemaking package to regulate underground natural gas storage facilities. The proposed rulemaking comes in response to the continuing gas leak at an underground gas storage facility in Aliso Canyon.
Governor Brown called for the new regulations in his emergency proclamation, which
Environmental Challenge Blasts Kern County Oil and Gas Rules
On Thursday, December 10, environmental organizations filed a complaint against Kern County in California Superior Court alleging that the County violated the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) by preparing a “grossly inadequate” Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for its new oil and gas rules. The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (jointly “the Sierra Club”), along with several other local organizations, take issue with the programmatic approach of the EIR, and urge a well-by-well environmental analysis. This lawsuit comes as no surprise to the County. Environmental groups have a long history of opposing oil and gas development in Kern County, which produces over 70% of all the oil in California.
This lawsuit comes in reaction to a Kern County zoning ordinance amendment which harnessed broad local support. On November 9, 2015, the Kern County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved amendments to Title 19 of the Kern County Zoning Ordinance which provides a streamline permitting process for oil and gas operations. Notably, the new ordinance encourages oil and gas producers to work with surface owners to agree on a development plan, promoting cooperation and transparency. The amendments also required the County to conduct an extensive environmental analysis pursuant to CEQA. The Board of Supervisors certified the Final EIR after holding multiple public Scoping Meetings and reviewing various mitigation measures.Continue Reading Environmental Challenge Blasts Kern County Oil and Gas Rules