A study conducted by researchers at Duke University and RTI International found that reusing oil field produced water that has been mixed with surface water to irrigate crops in Kern County’s Cawelo Water District does not...more
Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2019-2020 Legislative Session. Below is the latest update on a list of bills, summarized pursuant to the...more
3/3/2020
/ Energy Reform ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Process ,
Natural Resources ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Drafting ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Underground Injection Wells ,
Water Resources Control Board
Nearly two months ago, on November 19, 2019, the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”) announced a moratorium on approvals of new oil extraction wells that use a high-pressure...more
Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 legislative session. Below are the latest updates on the bills our team has been following...more
On July 19, 2017, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) increased autonomy over pipeline approvals. The bill, Promoting Interagency...more
On June 28, 2017, the Senate introduced a bill that aims to revitalize and overhaul various federal energy and natural resources policies. Senate Bill 1460 (S.1460), sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Arkansas) and...more
Stoel Rives’ Oil & Gas Team has been monitoring bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session. June 2, 2017 was the deadline by which the Legislature was required to pass...more
June 3, 2016 was the final deadline for oil- and gas-related bills introduced in the 2015-2016 legislative session to move through their house of origin. Below is a summary of those bills, many of which relate to natural gas...more
6/10/2016
/ Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Underground Injection Wells
In one of the most sweeping proposals since the creation of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”), the agency has announced proposed regulations to update requirements relating to gas gathering...more
February 19, 2016 was the deadline for lawmakers to introduce legislation to the 2015-2016 California Legislative Session, and the Legislature’s ever-growing appetite for regulating the energy industry in California shows no...more
Minerals are part of virtually all the products we use every day, acting as the raw materials for manufacturing processes or as the end products themselves. Not surprisingly, minerals also are used in the energy generation...more
September 11, 2015, was the deadline for lawmakers to pass legislation and send to the Governor for signature or veto. Below is a summary of several bills related to oil and gas activities, which Stoel Rives has been...more
On August 18, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a suite of proposed actions affecting the oil and gas industry. EPA’s proposed Clean Air Act rules address methane emissions from new and modified...more
8/31/2015
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Comment Period ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Methane ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Operational Permits ,
Tribal Lands ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Today, July 30, the Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) filed a complaint in Sacramento County Superior Court against the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”). CBD claims, among other things, that DOGGR...more
A lawsuit seeking an immediate halt to oil and gas wastewater injection at 2,500 wells across California took a positive turn for energy producers last week as Superior Court Judge George C. Hernandez denied plaintiffs’...more
7/28/2015
/ DOGGR ,
Drinking Water ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fracking ,
Imminent Harm ,
NPRM ,
Oil & Gas ,
Underground Injection Wells ,
Wastewater ,
Water
The clamor over hydraulic fracturing continued Wednesday as environmental activists filed another lawsuit to limit oil and gas development in California. The lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for...more
June 5, 2015 marked the deadline for lawmakers to pass bills out of their house to the opposite house. Bills that did not pass in their house of origin by that date have effectively died (unless such bill has been identified...more
On Tuesday, April 21 the Obama Administration released the first Quadrennial Energy Review (“QER”) as a component of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. The extensive report analyzes energy infrastructure in the United...more
February 27, 2015 was the deadline for lawmakers to introduce legislation to the 2015-2016 California Legislative Session and several bills related to oil and gas activities were introduced. Below is a summary of those...more
On Wednesday, January 28, the Senate voted against Amendment 48 which would allow the federal Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to regulate hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on state and private lands. The measure was...more
On Wednesday, December 17, I gave a presentation to the Groundwater Resources Association (“GRA”). I reviewed the past year’s developments in California’s regulation of hydraulic fracturing and previewed my future...more
SB-1281 was amended in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on August 4, 2014. A scheduled hearing on August 6 was postponed and held on suspense under Joint Rule 62(a). As of this writing, a hearing has not yet been...more
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report yesterday, July 28, 2014, that presents a need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) to update the Underground Injection Control class II...more
On June 13, 2014, the Department of Conservation (“Department”) issued a public notice and posted the latest version of the proposed regulations for the use of well stimulation in oil and gas production (“Revised Proposed...more
Yesterday, Senate Bill 1132 failed in the Senate. In a 18-16 vote, SB 1132 fell three votes short of the necessary majority. The bill was introduced by Senators Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Mark Leno on February 20,...more