The California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff invites the public to participate in a workshop on ARB’s draft Regulation for Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Operations, on Monday, April 27, 2015.
At the workshop, ARB staff will present draft regulatory language and solicit stakeholder and public feedback.
Misguided opposition to fracking based on “junk science” would have “massive repercussions on California’s economy,” especially on Black and Hispanic families, says Aubry Stone, head of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.
In an op-ed column, Mr. Stone notes that in Los Angeles County alone, the oil and gas industry generated more than $5 billion in taxes and created 103,000 jobs. “The county has the second-largest number of black-owned businesses in the nation,” he says. “As a result, L.A.’s communities of color have the most to lose when our economy takes a hit.”
DOGGR announced plans to propose emergency regulations to bring California’s Class II Underground Injection Control (UIC) program into compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
The new rules will codify the deadlines for the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) for submittal to the EPA of aquifer exemption applications for Class II wells.
ExxonMobil, which holds permits to drill off the coast of California, has asked the court for permission to intervene in a lawsuit that challenges the federal government’s authority to approve offshore drilling.
The Environmental Defense Center (EDC), a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit law firm, sued the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) of the Department of the Interior in December of 2014. The lawsuit claims the agency did not adequately consider the environmental impacts of proposed wells in the Santa Barbara Channel when it approved their development.
The Mexican Energy Opportunities Summit: Oil, Gas, Power, held April 28-30 in 
Mexico City, provided a comprehensive look at the important structural changes in the nation’s energy industry.
California Oil and Gas Report was a co-sponsor of the Summit, which explored current and future opportunities for companies in oil, gas and power, and how to maximize the opportunities made possible by the historic reforms in Mexico’s energy sector.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors rejected a ban on hydraulic fracturing, opting instead to rely on state regulations that implement Senate Bill 4. The county is a significant producer of oil and gas.
The Board found “no evidence of an immediate threat to public health.” Supervisor Simon Salinas, whose district includes active oil and gas operations, said ‘We can’t regulate the industry county by county. I think we ought to give (the state) a chance and then monitor it.”
