A high-profile law intended to phase out oil production within Los Angeles city limits has been struck down by a judge who ruled that the state, not the city, has jurisdiction over many aspects of drilling operations.
The ruling by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin invalidated a law spearheaded by environmental justice activists and unanimously backed by the L.A. City Council in 2022. The law barred new oil and gas extraction and required that all existing operations stop production within 20 years.
However, the ruling could be moot if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill allowing cities and counties to reduce or eliminate oil and gas operations. Assembly Bill 3233 recently passed the state legislature and is on the governor’s desk.
Los Angeles has dozens of oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 oil and gas wells. Activists say that low-income communities of color are disproportionately harmed by the wells, which are largely concentrated in Wilmington and the harbor areas, as well as downtown, West L.A., South L.A. and the northwest San Fernando Valley.
Oil wells emit likely carcinogens, including benzene and formaldehyde, and living near wells is linked to health problems including respiratory issues and preterm births, according to studies.
In a 16-page ruling dated Sept. 6, Kin wrote that “while the city has a general interest in protecting the health of and environment for its residents, with respect to oil and gas production, the [state] is charged with balancing those concerns for all Californians, along with meeting the energy needs of the state.”
A representative for Warren Resources, one of several companies that sued the city last year over the ban, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Representatives for City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, City Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the city’s committee on energy and the environment, declined to comment.
Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling, a coalition of community groups that campaigned to pass the law, blasted the ruling in a statement.
“It is appalling that the oil industry has been given a free pass to continue their harmful and racist business practices. We will not stop fighting!” STAND-L.A. wrote on the social media platform X.
“This isn’t the final word,” Tyler Earl, senior staff attorney for Communities for a Better Environment, which is part of STAND, said in an interview. “There is a variety of different ways that this will not be the final, final decision.”
Earl cited the state bill and said the city can appeal the ruling.
In his ruling, Kin cited a recent California Supreme Court case involving a Monterey County ballot initiative that barred oil drilling. The court sided with Chevron and other oil companies, ruling that state regulations took precedence over the county ban.
“While the city [of L.A.] has the authority to determine the location of wells within its boundaries,” wrote Kin, citing the Chevron case, “the Ordinance at issue here goes beyond the regulation of location and bars or regulates the oil production methods that may be used to extract oil from existing wells.”