County May Alter Onshore Oil Repeat Offender Ordinance

The Santa Barbara County Supervisors are considering tweaking their high-risk ordinance for onshore oil operators. Designed specifically to give the county another layer of enforcement when dealing with particularly flagrant and/or frequent oil spilling operators, the ordinance is up for adjustments after some board members and staff members expressed concern about its effectiveness. Slated for a vote on 2/1, the proposed adjustments would change the ordinance such that an operator is deemed flagrant after spilling more than 15 barrels worth of crude (beyond containment lines) on two or more separate occasions within 12 months (versus three spills of 25 gallons or more) or if they are found to be in violation of the county Petroleum Code for more than 30 consecutive days.