SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new bill in California wants to require oil companies to pay a fine for certain gas and oil wells that are near sensitive areas such as homes, schools and parks.
Assembly Bill 2716 by Assembly member Isaac Bryan from Los Angeles would institute a daily fine of $10,000 for oil companies that operate stripper wells in the state.
Stripper wells are low-volume wells that produce less than 15 barrels a day.
“The low-production wells have the same horrible environmental impacts of high producing wells. So why are they there? Why are communities paying the cost of wells being there with their lives?” Bryan said.
The bill builds on a 2022 bill, SB 1137, that bans new drilling within 3,200 feet of communities. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1137 into law, but it is on hold as the oil industry led a referendum campaign to give voters the final say in the November election.
The California Independent Petroleum Association, or CIPA, is leading the ballot initiative to repeal the 2022 law and the organization also opposes Bryan’s bill.
“Jobs will be lost… gas prices will go up, and we will be more dependent on foreign oil that is exempt from our strict environmental rules, which will contribute to climate change,” said CIPA’s CEO Rock Zierman in a statement.
Like the 2022 law, Bryan’s bill would also apply to oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of schools, homes, hospitals and other sensitive areas.
According to the FracTracker Alliance, approximately 2.7 million Californians live within these zones, 70% of whom are people of color.
A USC study from 2021 links those living near active drilling sites with having similar lung damage to someone exposed to second-hand smoke every day.
The largest urban oil field in the country is the Inglewood Oil Field, which is located in Bryan’s district. He said his constituents are the ones paying the price.
“They have lower life expectancy. They have higher rates of heart condition. They have greater rates of asthma,” Bryan said.
The CEO of CIPA said oil wells in California mitigate their emissions to comply with the state’s standards.
“California-produced oil is the only climate-compliant product in the world. Our members must account for all emissions and operate under the world’s strictest environmental health band labor laws,” Zierman said.
Bryan, the chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, notes more needs to be done to help fight against climate change and keep his constituents safe.
“There’s no reason to have these stripper wells right along our neighborhood when we’re not getting any tangible, economic benefit from it — certainly not at the community level,” Bryan added.