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 … Continue Reading
On September 14, 2017, Senate Bill 774 (“SB 774”) was ordered inactive on request of Assembly Member Calderon. The bill, which proposed creation of the new California Toxic Substances Board (“CTS Board”), will not become law this session, and we will continue to monitor this legislation if it becomes active again during the next legislative session. … Continue Reading
Senate Bill 774 (“SB 774”) was amended in July 2017 to delete a section of the bill that would have allowed the new California Toxic Substances Board (“CTS Board”) to adopt or amend relevant regulations. Under the revised version of SB 774, the CTS Board is not permitted to adopt regulations and is no longer … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
September 11, 2015, was the deadline for lawmakers to pass legislation and send to the Governor for signature or veto. Below is a summary of several bills related to oil and gas activities, which Stoel Rives has been monitoring. We note that several bills have been identified as two-year bills and, as such, we will … Continue Reading
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the California Senate and Assembly approved Assembly Bill 91 (“AB 91”) and Assembly Bill 92 (“AB 92”), both which are part of the Budget Act of 2015. The legislation allocates $1 billion for emergency response to the state’s ongoing drought. The drought is in its fourth year and Governor … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, March 3, twelve underground injection control (“UIC”) wells in California’s Central Valley, specifically in Kern County, were shut down in order to protect subsurface drinking water from potential contamination. These shut-ins occurred just one day after a letter from Matthew Rodriquez, Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, to the Governor was published, … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
California Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Carpinteria) has introduced an oil and gas bill to ensure that the state comes into compliance with the Class II underground injection (“UIC”) requirements under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”), California is currently out of compliance with certain requirements for some Class II … Continue Reading
The California Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v. Superior Court, No. S207173 (case submitted May 28, 2014), a case that gives the Justices the opportunity to determine whether a City Council's adoption of a voter-sponsored initiative measure, without submitting that measure to a popular vote, was a discretionary act that required CEQA review prior to approval. The Court of Appeal held that the City Council's act was subject to CEQA and that the City Council should have conducted environmental review. (See Tuolomne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v. Sup. Ct. (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 1006, cert. granted, No. S207173.)
It is established that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to a project approved by ballot initiative, where the initiative was placed on the ballot by the voters and adopted by the voters in an election. (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15378(b); DeVita v. County of Napa (1995) 9 Cal.4th 763, 794.)
In Tuolumne, however, the Appellants Wal-Mart and James Grinnell (jointly, Appellants) took a different approach in seeking to expand an existing Wal-Mart store to a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the City of Sonora. The Appellants submitted a petition supported by the signatures of more than 20 percent of the City of Sonora's 2,489 registered voters to expand the Wal-Mart. The City Council then chose not to submit the measure to an election, and instead, adopted the initiative as an ordinance on its own authority under California Elections Code section 9214(a). Although an EIR was prepared in advance, it was never certified by the City Council.
Under California Elections Code section 9214, when a project applicant submits a voter-sponsored initiative petition to the legislative body of a public agency, signed by at least 15 percent of registered voters, with a request that the ordinance be immediately submitted to a special vote, that body must either: (a) adopt the ordinance, without alteration; (b) immediately order a special election and place the measure on the ballot for popular vote; or (c) order a report pursuant to Elections Code section 9212, which allows for abbreviated environmental review.
The Justices seemed particularly interested in understanding the legislative policy behind the Elections Code's apparent conflict with CEQA and closely questioned the parties at the hearing packed with interested parties.… Continue Reading
As discussed in our post on May 5, 2014, there are a number of California State Senate and Assembly bills that could impact oil and gas operations this year, if passed. Friday, May 30 was the last day to pass bills out of their house of origin to the opposite house, the Senate or Assembly. … Continue Reading
There are a number of California State Senate and Assembly bills that could impact oil and gas operations this year, if passed. Stoel Rives has a dedicated team of professionals tracking these bills. Below you will find summaries of each piece of oil and gas-related legislation. SENATE BILLS (Status as of May 2, 2014) SB … Continue Reading
On October 7, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 417 (“AB 417”) authored by Assembly Member Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) that streamlines the CEQA process for bicycle transportation plans. Although the 2012-2013 legislative term began with high hopes for significant CEQA reform, AB 417, in addition to SB 743 (see blog post regarding … Continue Reading
Last month, the California legislature revived a bill that was shut down last year that would require the disclosure of fracking chemicals. In a compromise with industry, the revived bill (AB 591) includes trade secret protection. Current law requires the owner or operator of a well to file a history of the work performed within … Continue Reading
As I last reported here, regulation of hydraulic fracturing is poised to be a hot topic in California this legislative session. Last session’s AB 591 stalled in the Senate due to outstanding issues over the mandatory reporting of hydraulic fracturing fluid components and confidentiality issues based on trade secret concerns. The application of a Wyoming … Continue Reading
Governor Brown is expected to sign SBX1-2, which increases California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33% by 2020. With enactment of the bill, California will have the most aggressive renewable energy policy in the country. Details about the new legislation can be found in the Stoel Rives alert authored by Seth Hilton at: http://www.stoel.com/showalert.aspx?show=7805. In California, … Continue Reading
