American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 39

IOGA also supported SB 1458, which
writes into statute changes made when
Illinois created the Office of Oil and Gas
Resource Management. The bill, sponsored

by Senator David Luechtefeld, ROkawville, amends the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act to provide that investment income from the Oil and Gas

Resources Management Fund will be retained in the fund, and makes the oil and
gas regulatory group a stand-alone agency,
Richards says.
r

UIC Overhaul Stays Alive In California

SACRAMENTO, CA.-Although a
slew of bills relevant to California's oil
and gas industry died in early June, a few
other pieces of pertinent legislation remain
alive in the state assembly after clearing
their houses of origin, but the California
Independent Petroleum Association hopes
they will meet the same fate.
According to CIPA Director of Government Affairs P. Anthony Thomas, the
bills CIPA continues to track include SB
248, sponsored by Senator Fran Pavley,
D-Augora Hills, which seeks to greatly
expand regulatory requirements for the
state's underground injection control program. Although the legislation passed
the Senate in early June, Thomas notes,
the fact that it garnered only 22 votes
may suggest a difficult road ahead.
Another bill to which CIPA objects,
and which also achieved narrow Senate
passage in early June, is SB 788, introduced by Senator Mike McGuire, D-Eureka. According to Thomas, the bill seeks
an avenue to delete provisions of the
California Coastal Sanctuary that allow
offshore oil and gas leases when a federal
platform is draining the state's resources.
CIPA also is working to persuade
lawmakers not to pass SB 32, by Pavley,
which passed the Senate 24-15 in early
June. According to the California legislative information website, SB 32 would
require the state to approve statewide
greenhouse gas emissions limits equivalent
to 40 percent below those of 1990 by
2030 and 80 percent below the 1990
level by 2050. The bill also authorizes
the state to adopt an interim GHG target
to be achieved by 2040.
Similarly, SB 350 by Representative
Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, includes
a provision to require the state to reduce
petroleum use in motor vehicles by 50
percent by Jan.1, 2030, and, Thomas
says, hands all the policymaking authority
to the California Air Resources Board. It
passed the Senate 24-14 in early June.
"Unfortunately, SB 350 reads more like
a shell as opposed to a policy-driven directive with goals, deadlines and reporting
requirements," Thomas assesses. "A regulatory body would have the authority to
raise taxes, institute fees and increase
regulatory oversight with no legislative
accountability."
Thomas also warns against a pair of

new bills in SB 424 and AB 864, both of
which deal with oil spill response.
Thomas says CIPA's successes this
session include seeing the state assembly
vote down AB 356, which would have
required a groundwater monitoring plan
for all 47,000 of the state's UIC wells.

CIPA also is pleased that SB 454 is dead
for the session. According to Thomas,
the legislation sought to forbid injection
into any aquifers with total dissolved
solid levels below 3,000 milligrams per
liter, even for water unsuitable for drinking, irrigation, or other beneficial use. ❒

JULY 2015 39

American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015

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