California communities and environmental justice groups worked for years to win a law to prevent new oil and gas wells from being drilled near where people live, work and gather. Now, the Trump administration is suing to overturn it.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the U.S. Department of Justice challenged Senate Bill 1137, state legislation passed in 2022 that establishes a 3,200-foot minimum setback between new oil wells and “sensitive receptors,” defined as homes, schools, community centers, parks and playgrounds, healthcare facilities or any public building.
Under the law, existing wells that are close to these places can continue to operate, but must monitor emissions, control their dust and limit nighttime noise and light.
But the Trump administration says the law would “knock out” about one-third of all federally authorized oil and gas leases in California, amounting to unconstitutional state regulation of federal lands. In its complaint, the administration argues that federal law — specifically, the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land and Policy Management Act — supersede SB 1137, and asks that the court declare the state law unconstitutional and prevent it from being enforced.
While the majority of active wells in California are on private and state lands, the federal Bureau of Land management administers more than 600 oil and gas leases within the state, according to the lawsuit. About 218 of those leases overlap with the buffer zones established by the law.
Officials with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Thursday they had not yet been served with the lawsuit, but will defend SB 1137 and the health of California communities. Living near oil and gas wells has been linked to a range of adverse health issues stemming from air and water pollution that can be released by drilling and production, especially if a well is leaking badly.
“The Trump administration just sued California for keeping oil wells away from elementary schools, homes, daycares, hospitals, and parks,” said Anthony Martinez, a spokesman for the governor. “Think about that. SB 1137 creates a science-based buffer zone so kids can go to school, families can live in their homes, and communities can exist without breathing toxic fumes that cause asthma, birth defects, and cancer.”
The lawsuit advances an April executive order issued by President Trump titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach,” in which the president directed Atty. Gen. Pamela Bondi to identify “burdensome and ideologically motivated” state and local regulations that threaten the development of domestic energy resources and take action to stop them.
“This is yet another unconstitutional and radical policy from Gavin Newsom that threatens our country’s energy independence and makes energy more expensive for the American people,” Bondi said in a statement. “In accordance with President Trump’s executive orders, this Department of Justice will continue to fight burdensome regulations that violate federal law and hamper domestic energy production — especially in California, where Newsom is clearly intent on subverting federal law at every opportunity.”
Environmental groups were quick to condemn the action. The oil and gas setback law was hard won after multiple earlier attempts were stymied by opposition from the petroleum industry and trade unions. Its implementation was briefly paused by a 2024 referendum effort led by the California Independent Petroleum Assn., which ultimately withdrew it in light of a groundswell of public resistance.
“Attempting to block the law that protects the air we breathe and the water we drink from oil industry pollution is the Trump administration’s latest attack on our state,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. “Big Oil backed down from their deceitful referendum campaign because Californians wouldn’t stand for it. This is a last-ditch attempt to overturn the law’s critical health protections. I’m confident this historic law will stand.”
Rock Zierman, chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Assn., lauded the Trump administration’s challenge against what it described as an “arbitrary setback law.”
“Just as the state has tried to shut down duly permitted in-state production on private land in violation of the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, so too has the state tried to usurp federal law by shutting down production of minerals owned by the U.S. taxpayers,” Zierman said in a statement Thursday. “We welcome the U.S. Department of Justice joining our fight against these illegal actions that are leading to increased foreign imports.”
The suit marks an escalation of Trump’s battle against Newsom and California over energy and environmental policies. The president, who received substantial donations from oil and gas companies during his 2024 presidential campaign, has moved to block the state’s tailpipe emission standards, clean vehicle targets and renewable energy projects, among other efforts.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department filed another lawsuit against two California cities, Petaluma and Morgan Hill, over ordinances that ban the use of natural gas in new buildings. Both cities said they have not enforced those bans in several years.
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