American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015 - 33

tricity, and a doubling of building energy
efficiency, all by 2030, the state legislative website says.
"AB 32's targets already have proved
very expensive to California consumers
and businesses. SB 32 would shut down
most productive activities in the state,"
Thomas warns.
He says neither SB 32 nor SB 350 provided any definitive mechanism to achieve
their goals, and both gave CARB-a regulatory body-authority that should be
limited to legislators elected directly by
Californians.
"SB 350's major goal was to reduce petroleum use by 50 percent. However, the
bill was extremely unclear on how to get
there. It is like telling your child to go to
the store without saying what store,"
Thomas assessed. "CIPA was asking that
any plan (to implement) SB 350 or SB 32
have to come back for an open and robust
debate in the legislature."
He added that both bills passed off the
Assembly suspense file, and would proceed to the floor for a vote. Thomas says
CIPA and the entire Sacramento oil lobby oppose both bills.
Coastal Protection
Senator Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, introduced SB 788, which would

delete a narrow exemption authorized in
the Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994,
Thomas reports. The bill deleted a provision that allowed the State Lands Commission to authorize oil and gas extraction
from state-owned tidal and submerged
lands in the California Coastal Sanctuary,
if it determined those resources were being drained by wells on adjacent federal
leases, the legislative website says.
The sanctuary, which covers the entire
California coastline, allows drilling only
on leases off Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los
Angeles and Orange counties that were in
effect Jan. 1, 1995.
"This is a rerun of SB 1096, written by
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa
Barbara, last year. Senator Jackson's bill
was defeated on the assembly floor,"
Thomas recalls. "SB 788 was on suspense
and we will attempt to keep it there."
Thomas adds McGuire introduced SB
788 in response to the May oil spill at
Refugio Beach in Santa Barbara, when
more than 3,000 gallons of oil leaked from
an onshore pipeline, noting the legislation
did nothing to address the issues raised by
that incident. The members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee evidently
agreed, he noted, as they have kept SB 788
on the suspense file for the year.
He points out that AB 864, introduced

by Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpentaria, did target the transportation sector. According to the state website, AB 864
required pipeline operators with infrastructure adjacent to the coast to use the best
achievable technology to reduce the
amount of oil released during a spill.
It required the state Office of Spill Prevention and Response to develop guidelines to assess the adequacy of an operator's risk analysis, and required any new
or replacement pipeline in critical areas to
be built with leak detection technology, automatic valve shut-off systems, and remotely controlled block valves, the website says.
"CIPA is working with the author to ensure nothing comes into statute that is too
overbearing for the industry to have to adhere to," Thomas commented in August. ❒

Coming In October

AOGR's Drilling Fluids Technology reports assess new developments
ranging from water-based systems
for shale formations, to new-generation synthetics for offshore applications and oil-based fluids for managed pressure vertical drilling in
conventional carbonates.

SEPTEMBER 2015 33

American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015