American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016 - 90

ConventionSection: California Independent Petroleum Association

Kern County Revising Permit Process
SACRAMENTO, CA.-Kern County
promotes itself as an oil giant, source of
76 percent of the oil produced in California, and its Midway-Sunset Field is
the state's largest. The county has approved
regulations giving itself additional authority
to regulate oil operations within its borders.
Rock Zierman, chief executive officer
of the California Independent Petroleum
Association, says the association wanted
Kern County, not the California Division
of Oil & Gas, to be the lead regulatory
agency for oil activities. Under the program, a regional environmental impact
report replaces site-specific EIRs, and
the county may be able to rule on a
permit application within seven business
days.
"The reason is nongovernmental agencies are starting to sue the state, and the
state will not defend its actions, even
though it knows it is right. The state has
rescinded several permits," Zierman says.

90 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

"CIPA believes Kern County, where the
vast majority of the state's oil production
occurs, is in a better position to review
land use. That is what happens in 54 of
California's 58 counties. CIPA wanted a
'ministerial permit' program in Kern
County, whereby an EIR is done once
every 20 years. From then on, as long as
an operator meets the conditions-as many
as 88 in the Kern County environmental
impact report-and the operator pays fees,
then he gets the permit."
The Kern County Board of Supervisors
approved the oil and gas provisions governing exploration, extraction, operations
and production activities in unincorporated
areas on Nov. 9, Zierman recalls, and
they became effective a month later.
Although there are many benefits, the
new permit system has the potential to
slow any industry recovery, assesses CIPA
Chairman Steve Layton. "It provides certainty, as far as the ability of companies
to get permits, but that certainty comes

at a cost. That added cost is going to
make the period of industry healing longer
than it otherwise would have been," he
says.
Because implementing the regulations
still are a work in progress, CIPA is
unsure what their ultimate impacts will
be, judges Layton, president of E&B
Natural Resources in Bakersfield, Ca.
Many companies only recently have become aware of the new requirements to
secure permits for workover activities
such as perforating a well.
"There is an effort on the part of the
county to streamline things as much as
possible, but until all the rules and accompanying fees are finalized, it is hard
to say we have a complete understanding
of the impact," Layton remarks, although
he allows, "There is enough information
that you can get a pretty good idea what
you are going to have to do to get a
permit, and how much it is going to cost
you. We need to work with the county to
American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016

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