On Friday, February 6, California’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”) published a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) addressing issues with California’s Class II Oil and Gas Underground Injection Control program (“UIC”).  DOGGR wrote the letter in response to two previous letters from the USEPA where the USEPA pointed out…

On January 26, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) issued a letter to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (the “Authority”) that found that the Authority’s contractors are not in compliance with the Authority’s original environmental commitments to the USFWS in performing the preliminary work on the first segment of the high-speed rail project (the…

Today saw two significant developments for oil and gas operators utilizing well stimulation treatments in California.

Pursuant to SB 4, the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources released a statewide programmatic Draft Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) analyzing the potential environmental impacts associated with well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”).…

The California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”) recently released its long anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing changes to the warning requirements under Proposition 65’s (“Prop 65”) implementing regulations. In summary, the proposed regulations would establish a new mandatory regulation regarding the responsibility of product manufacturers and others in the distribution chain…

On December 30, 2014, the California Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) approved the Final Permanent Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations (“Permanent Regulations”).  The regulations go into effect on July 1, 2015, and the Interim Regulations, which were operative all of last year, will remain the governing law in the meantime.  By finalizing the Permanent Regulations, California leads the way with the most stringent, comprehensive hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) regulations in the country.

The Permanent Regulations are the result of multiple regulatory revisions and reflect extensive input from the public, industry, and various state agencies. Please see our oil and gas resources page for more information about the development of the Permanent Regulations.Continue Reading SB 4 Well Stimulation Treatment Permanent Regulations Finalized

As the High Speed Rail Authority (“Authority”) prepares to begin construction this week of the first segment of the High Speed Rail Project (the “Project”), the State Public Works Board is concurrently scrambling to consider resolutions of necessity to acquire property for the first segment within Fresno and Madera counties.  Because of the recent litigation…

On Wednesday, December 17, I gave a presentation to the Groundwater Resources Association (“GRA”).  I reviewed the past year’s developments in California’s regulation of hydraulic fracturing and previewed my future predictions for the industry.  Below is a summary of my talk and the power point presentation is attached here.
Continue Reading Here Today & Fracked Tomorrow: A Review of SB 4 in 2014

A new oil and gas reporting bill, Senate Bill 1281, sponsored by State Senator Fran Pavley, was signed by Governor Brown on September 25, 2014.  The California Department of Conservation – Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”) issued a Notice to Operators containing important information on the new law’s reporting mandates on December 8, 2014.

Under Senate Bill 1281, Section 3226.3 was added to the Public Resources Code and requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to provide an annual inventory report of all unlined oil and gas field sumps to the State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards.

Section 3227 of the Public Resources Code was also amended to require operators of wells to provide a monthly and quarterly statement disclosing the following information:

  • The source and volume of water produced from each oil field
  • The water used to generate or make up the composition of any injected fluid or gas
  • The volume of untreated water suitable for domestic or irrigation purposes
  • The treatment of water and use of treated or recycled water in activities, such as exploration, development, and production
  • The disposition method of all water used in or generated by oil and gas field activities – including water produced from each well reported
    • Also the identity of any temporary onsite storage of water and the ultimate specific use, disposal method or method of recycling, or reuse of the water

For each reporting requirement, if water is commingled, it must be assigned proportionately to each well.

DOGGR has provided an interim water reporting form on its website for use until February 2015, at which time a final version of the form will be made available.
Continue Reading New Water Reporting Requirements for Oil and Gas Operators

The Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) issued a declaratory order in a 2-1 vote last Friday, finding that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) is categorically preempted by federal law, as it relates to the Fresno to Bakersfield segment of the California High-Speed Rail Project (“HSR Project”).

Section 10501(b) of Title 49 of the United States Code provides that remedies with respect to rail transportation are exclusive and preempt remedies provided under State or Federal law. The STB has previously ruled that states or localities are precluded from intruding into matters directly regulated by the STB, in particular when the state or local action would have the effect of foreclosing or unduly restricting the rail carrier’s ability to conduct its operations or otherwise unreasonably burden interstate commerce.

Under this section, the STB could not overlook the fact that CEQA, as a state pre-clearance requirement, could ultimately deny or significantly delay the High-Speed Rail Authority’s (the “Authority”) right to construct a railroad line. This would directly defy the STB’s exclusive jurisdiction over a project that it regulates. Even if it could be argued that the Authority created an implied agreement by voluntarily beginning the CEQA process, the STB concluded that any such agreement would unreasonably interfere with interstate commerce because it would prevent the Authority from exercising its authority to construct the rail line, which it had been previously authorized to do by the STB.
Continue Reading High Speed Rail Moves Forward Without CEQA Review

On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, three counties in California presented voters with measures to ban hydraulic fracturing and other forms of intensive oil and gas operations.  Voters in Santa Barbara County rejected the measure there, while voters in San Benito and Mendocino Counties approved their respective ballot measures.

Santa Barbara’s Measure P would have banned the use of “high-intensity” oil extraction methods, including fracking, by future oil and gas projects on unincorporated county land.  Measure J, the San Benito County Fracking Ban Initiative, also bans “high-intensity petroleum operations,” which includes fracking, acid well stimulation, and cyclic steam injection.  Additionally, it bans any new gas or oil drilling activity in residential and rural areas in the County.  Measure J passed 57% to 43%.  The Mendocino County Community Bill of Rights Fracking and Water Use Initiative, Measure S, bans “unconventional extraction of hydrocarbons,” including fracking.  The ordinance creates a strict liability scheme for damages to any person or property inside Mendocino County caused by unconventional extraction.  Measure S passed 67% to 33%.Continue Reading Two County Fracking Prohibitions Succeed While One Fails: What the Voting Results in Santa Barbara, San Benito, and Mendocino Counties Mean for the Oil & Gas Industry in California

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