On December 11, 2013, the DOC proposed an emergency rulemaking to implement interim provisions of SB 4. Public Resources Code section 3161, part of SB 4, provides for an interim grace period from the permitting requirement of SB 4 until SB 4’s regulations are effective. Section 3161 also provides for DOC’s Division of Oil, Gas
Rebecca C. Guiao
California Department of Conservation Publishes Notice of Proposed Regulations for Well Stimulation
On November 15, 2013, the California Department of Conservation (“DOC”) published the notice of proposed rulemaking action regarding draft regulations for well stimulation. These proposed regulations will implement SB 4, which Governor Brown on September 20, 2013, and will become effective on January 1, 2014.
The draft regulations supplement the Division of Oil, Gas and…
EPA Amends Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule
On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a final rule in the Federal Register amending the Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule. This is required by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (“DCIA”) in order to adjust civil monetary penalties for inflation. The DCIA sets out a four-step formula that…
Study Shows Potential Significant Economic Impacts from Development of Shale Oil in the San Joaquin Valley
Economists at California State University, Fresno recently published a study on the current and future economic impacts of oil production from the Monterey Shale Formation (MSF) in the San Joaquin Valley. The study was commissioned by the Western State Petroleum Association and responds to the need for a greater understanding of the petroleum industry’s…
California Moving Forward with the Implementation of SB 4
Efforts are already underway to implement SB 4, which was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 20, 2013 (see September 23, 2013 post). The California Department of Conservation (the “Department”) and its Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources have begun developing draft regulations months before the law’s effective date of January 1, 2014. …