Newly Passed Bill Would Prohibit Use of Old State Infrastructure for New Offshore Oil Drilling Proposed by Feds

California legislators are taking action to protect the state’s coastline — and let sleeping oil wells lie — amid federal efforts to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. 

On August 26, the California Senate passed a bill to prohibit the use of existing offshore oil and gas infrastructure in state waters for new federal drilling leases. It effectively closes the loophole that lets the federal government reopen offshore drilling and route the oil through California’s aging pipelines and platforms.

The bill, Assembly Bill 1448, authored by Santa Barbara Assemblymember Gregg Hart, now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk to be signed into law. 

On the Central Coast, oil drilling has wrought havoc on coastal ecosystems, environmental groups note, including the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the 2015 Plains pipeline spill at Refugio Beach.

Old offshore oil wells and other infrastructure still dot the Central Coast’s horizon. Local jurisdictions, nonprofits, oil companies, and the federal government have worked to decommission several of those wells. 

Hart’s bill would ensure that old infrastructure could not be used for new drilling proposed by the federal government. It is a countermeasure to the Trump Administration’s efforts to put federal waters off California’s coast up for auction, supporters of the bill say.

“Existing offshore platforms have aged far beyond their intended lifespans and now the federal administration wants to use that same infrastructure to expand offshore drilling in federal waters for the first time in 40 years,” said the Environmental Defense Center in a press release. 

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has proposed lease sales across California, including three in the Southern California Planning Area scheduled for 2027, 2029, and 2030 as part of the Trump Administration’s 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It is to further President Donald Trump’s American “energy dominance agenda,” according to his administration.

The proposed leases cover roughly 68 million acres, including portions of the Santa Barbara Channel. Currently, the proposal is in the early evaluation and environmental review stage.

In a statement, Assemblymember Hart said that his legislation puts clear safeguards in place to prevent state infrastructure from being used to support new federal offshore oil development, and “to make clear that our coastline is not for sale.” 

California already banned drilling in state waters decades ago, and no new leases have been issued in the state’s federal waters since 1984. But the administration has eyed the state’s existing infrastructure for new drilling. 

“California has fought for decades to protect our coast from the damage caused by offshore oil drilling, and we are not going backward,” Hart said in a statement. “Now, as the Trump administration seeks to open California’s coast to new threats from federal drilling, we have a responsibility to use every tool available to stop it.” 

The bill — co-authored by several legislators from Central and Southern California — would prohibit leases and oil and gas-related infrastructure located upon tidelands and submerged lands within state waters from being used to support Pacific Outer Continental shelf leases issued after January 1, 2026. 

Additionally, it would ban the extraction of oil or gas in areas designated as California marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries. These are areas of the ocean where human activity is strictly regulated to protect marine life. 

It would also remove a loophole in state law that permits the State Lands Commission to lease state-owned coastal areas for oil and gas extraction if deposits underneath the California Coastal Sanctuary are being drained by drilling in adjacent federal waters.

The bill also requires the State Lands Commission to weigh prior oil spills, unconventional drilling techniques, and coastal impacts before approving lease renewals or changes. 

Environmental groups, including nonprofit Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Santa Barbara–based Environmental Defense Center, are backing the bill. They are also concerned about the federal government’s ongoing review that could potentially weaken the California Coastal Commission, which reviews projects that impact the coasts, including offshore drilling.

“The Central Coast of California has suffered the consequences of offshore drilling for more than a century — oil poisoning the ocean, dead animals washing up on the beach, businesses closed, and lives disrupted,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center. 

“As the existing platforms age far beyond their intended lifespans, and as the current federal administration attempts to override environmental and safety laws and enable dangerous projects like the Sable pipeline, the threat of another major spill on our coast is becoming even more dire,” she continued. “It’s time to move past this destructive industry and make it clear that California will not stand for new drilling in our waters.”