Bureau of Land Management faces fresh challenge over oil and gas permitting

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (CN) — Environmental groups this week challenged the federal government over oil and gas drilling on public lands, arguing the unlawful permitting is hurting Southern California communities.

Groups like the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club argue in their suit that the permitting violated the Clean Air Act and National Environmental Policy Act, among others. They claim that the San Joaquin Valley is one of the most polluted in the nation, with oil and gas extraction as a major contributor.

However, instead of accounting for the pollution before approving new drilling, the Bureau of Land Management has regularly allowed new wells on public land without obeying existing law.

The groups are asking a federal judge to rule that the bureau violated the law by approving permitting, vacate decisions that led to the drilling permits, and stop any activity related to them.

“Fossil-fueled climate change is causing death and destruction in California right now,” said David Pettit, an attorney at the center’s Climate Law Institute, in a statement. “We need to be pumping less oil, not more, to turn that around.”

A spokesperson for the bureau declined to comment when contacted by Courthouse News.

According to the center, the bureau never properly examined the cumulative harm its permitting approvals would cause to area communities and the environment. Specifically, it failed to analyze the damage some 30 new wells — approved over the past two months — could bring. Most of those wells would be near homes, a violation of the state’s new oil and gas setback regulations.

Additionally, the bureau gave approval without any public comment, the center said.

“We’re going back to court for what are now becoming routine violations and disregard of our country’s laws and California’s Valley communities,” said Michelle Ghafar, an attorney at Earthjustice, in a statement. “The law requires the BLM to look at big-picture pollution impacts when it approves a bunch of new drilling permits in the same oil fields on the same day.”

Earthjustice represents the plaintiffs, including the center, The Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, and Central California Asthma Collaborative.

This suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California, isn’t the first time environmental and health groups have sued the federal government over oil and gas drilling.

Earthjustice previously sued the bureau over its failure to analyze the harm of oil and gas extraction in the central part of the state. The bureau in a 2022 legal agreement said it would perform an environmental review, though Earthjustice said that hasn’t yet occurred.

With that agreement in place, the bureau continued to allow new drilling in the area. The center said new permitting happened despite the existing litigation or any corrections to the bureau’s permit system.

That led to more legal action against the bureau, starting in June 2023. That litigation remains pending.

Oil and gas became a hot-button issue in California state government last year.

During its regular session, the Legislature passed bills that require the cleanup of idle wells and reinforce local governments’ power over oil and gas production.

On the last day of the regular session, Governor Gavin Newsom called for a special session to focus on oil and gas prices.

A bill passed in that special session gave the state energy commission the ability to make new regulations. Those regulations would dictate refinery maintenance schedules and minimum gasoline inventory if specific criteria are met. Supporters of the bill said that criteria would include proof that any requirements would lead to lower average retail prices at the pump and maximize existing fuel storage.

Oil and gas industry representatives said the legislation would cause refiners to leave the state. Days after the bill was signed, Phillips 66 announced it would stop operations at its Los Angeles-area refinery this year.