In a victory for environmental justice, local governments now have the right to defend their residents from oil and gas drilling and the state will close more idle wells
The California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) is thrilled that Governor Newsom has signed AB 3233 and AB 1866 into law. AB 3233 and AB 1866 will materially improve the lives of environmental justice communities, and safeguard the health and climate of all Californians. We congratulate Assemblymembers Dawn Addis and Gregg Hart for their diligence and leadership guiding these critical pieces of legislation into reality.
AB 3233 affirms local governments authority to limit or outright ban oil production in their municipalities. Our members advocated strongly for the ban on oil drilling in Los Angeles, and with this new law we’re excited to work with regulators and lawmakers to ensure it goes into effect. AB 1866 will require oil and gas companies to plug and clean many more of their idle wells, instead of passing that cost along to taxpayers. California is in an idle well crisis, with over 40,000 leaky, dangerous wells across the state. It’s time for polluters to pay their share.
“We believe that communities should be defined by the self-determination of the people who live there, not maximizing profit for greedy fossil fuel companies,” says Raquel Mason, Senior Legislative Manager for the California Environmental Justice Alliance. “Overwhelmingly, the people living next to oil and gas production and idle wells in ‘sacrifice zones’ are people of color. For too long, the health of those neighborhoods has been out of the hands of those who live in them. Our community members came out in force to lobby their representatives directly on the passage of AB 3233, and the message from Californians on this issue is clear: we’re done being sacrificed.”
Press inquiries: media@ceja.org