DRILLING DOWN: The future of oil production in California could hinge on one court hearing this week in Bakersfield.
A whopping 80 percent of the state’s oil comes from Kern County, and the sector has made some powerful allies in local government. In 2015, county officials tried to fast-track tens of thousands of new wells over a 25-year-period — using a single environmental study for all of them.
Environmentalists sued, and the courts ruled the county’s sweeping ordinance — which industry groups had helped to write —violated state environmental law.
So county officials wrote a new one.
The legality of that new ordinance — which environmentalists were also quick to challenge — is the subject of Thursday’s hearing in Kern County Superior Court.
Aside from the pollution-producing and planet-warming impacts of continued drilling, environmentalists are looking to see what role the state will play as the county’s situation is sorted out.
The case highlights an arrangement in Kern County that environmentalists have criticized: the county, rather than the state, approves permits within its borders.
If the judge rules against Kern, the county will likely be instructed to go back to the drawing board for the second time — and, possibly, resume its practice approving the wells on an individual basis. It could also mean restoring a more active role for state regulators.
California’s oil and gas regulator, the California Geologic Energy Management Division, walks a fine line between its two most vocal constituencies: drillers and environmentalists. By allowing Kern officials to make the bulk of the state’s permitting decisions, CalGEM avoids some of the heat that comes with such calls.
But this logic has also alienated environmental advocates.
The division is “passing the buck because no one wants to do anything to upset industry or environmental groups,” said Kyle Ferrar, Western program coordinator at FracTracker Alliance. “They’re trying to find some type of compromise, which in this case means making it someone else’s fault that these wells are going to be approved or aren’t going to be approved.”
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UVALDE’S RIPPLING EFFECT: California Gov. Gavin Newsom today vowed to fast-track pending gun safety legislation but offered no new proposals as the nation continues to reel after a gunman shot and killed 19 young children and two adults at a Texas elementary school.
The Democratic governor added to a cacophony of state and national Democrats urging tightened firearms restrictions in wake of the second-deadliest U.S. school shooting on record, committed Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Newsom echoed his legislative priorities alongside legislative leaders and said he hoped to sign a package of gun bills working their way through the Legislature into law by the end of June. — Blake Jones
THIS BILL IS MADE FOR WALKING: California state lawmakers are making a second attempt at passing a law to decriminalize jaywalking. The Assembly today advanced a bill that would prohibit an officer from citing someone for walking outside of a crosswalk or against a red light unless there’s an immediate threat of colliding with a vehicle. The bill’s backers argue that jaywalking stops disproportionately target people of color, and point to three violent incidents involving black men in recent years.
Newsom vetoed similar legislation last year that would have eliminated some pedestrian walking laws. This bill would leave those laws on the books, but give walkers more leeway to enter the street when it’s safe.
SECURING THE STATE: State government isn’t known for its cybersecurity savvy. After some damning reports from the state auditor, who noted intensifying breaches globally, the Assembly has approved yet another try by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) to make state agencies that don’t have to report to the governor (also known as “constitutional offices”) step up their cybersecurity preparation. Past efforts faced opposition from constitutional offices arguing that the proposals could undermine their independence.
Assembly Bill 2135 passed 62-0 today and moves next to the state Senate. In this latest version of her proposed reforms, Irwin sought to soften independent agencies’ concerns about threats to their autonomy. — Susannah Luthi
UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL: Legislation that would establish a free universal preschool system for all 3- and 4-year old children passed the state Senate today. Senate Bill 976, introduced by state Sen. Connie Levya (D-Chino), would let families choose between public elementary school and community-based programs. The bill is designed to increase support for licensed child care providers — many of whom are women of color — who have seen declining enrollment of preschool-aged kids. — Juhi Doshi
Compiled by Juhi Doshi
“California just adopted new, tougher water restrictions: What you need to know,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Ian James: “California water regulators strengthened the state’s drought rules this week, ordering local suppliers to take steps to reduce water usage to stretch limited supplies this summer. Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that more stringent statewide water restrictions could come if the state doesn’t make more progress on conservation soon.
Acting on an order from Newsom, the State Water Resources Control Board voted to adopt emergency drought regulations that require water suppliers to activate their local drought plans to prepare for a shortage of up to 20%. Those water-saving measures vary for each area and are based on each city or water agency’s drought plan.
As part of the new rules, the state also banned the use of drinking water for irrigating grass that is purely decorative at businesses and in common areas of subdivisions and homeowners associations.”
“Mayor Breed proposes $67 million investment in homeless housing, following Chronicle investigation,” by SF Chronicle’s Joaquin Palomino and Trisha Thadani: Mayor London Breed wants to invest $67.4 million to increase wages, boost staffing and make upgrades within San Francisco’s beleaguered permanent supportive housing system, following a Chronicle investigation that detailed understaffing and squalid conditions in the city’s housing for its homeless.
As part of the mayor’s upcoming two-year budget proposal — which has not yet been finalized — Breed would allocate much of the funds, about $62.4 million, toward pay raises for frontline workers and increasing the number of onsite case managers, who are critical in connecting residents to health care, job training and other services.
The Chronicle investigation found that case managers in some single-room occupancy hotels, or SROs, oversaw as many as 85 residents, five times higher than federal standards, and that staff turnover was frequent. The influx of funds would lower caseloads to 25 in SROs and raise salaries from as low as $43,000 to $58,000.”
— Bill Cosby is back on trial for alleged sexual assault, almost a year after he was released from prison on an overturned criminal conviction in a separate case. (LATimes)
— A second-grade student brought a gunand loaded magazine to school in Sacramento County. (Sacramento Bee)
— Orange County police are increasing their presence at schools in order to reassure students and parents. (OC Register)
