July 19, 2024 - SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California’s oil and gas regulator submitted its final regulations banning hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to the state’s Office of Administrative Law on Monday. This is the final step in adopting a rule that will officially prohibit fracking and other forms of oil and gas well stimulation in the state.

The Office of Administrative Law will have 30 business days to review the regulations, which will then go into effect Oct. 1.

The regulations are the culmination of more than a decade of advocacy by frontline communities and public health and environmental groups that raised the alarm over the dangers of fracking.

“California’s toxic love affair with fracking is finally coming to an end,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “It’s encouraging to see state regulators put people’s health and a livable planet over oil company profits. They can keep the momentum going by enforcing the new drilling health-and-safety buffer law and ensuring that oil companies are setting aside the required funds to clean up dirty drilling sites as extraction winds down.”

Fracking has been associated with numerous health and environmental harms, many of which are also present in conventional oil and gas development.

After the oil industry dropped its referendum effort in June, California’s landmark health and safety setback law took effect to protect communities. The law prohibits new oil and gas permits within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and other sensitive sites, and implements other safety measures on existing wells.

But the state regulator — the California Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM — has faced criticism for rushing through approvals of 30 new wells within the setback zone just as the law went into effect. Some of the well approvals have since been rescinded.

CalGEM is also under scrutiny for failing to enforce the Orphan Well Prevention Act that went into effect in December. The agency said it wouldn’t apply the law to the recent merger of California Resources Corporation and Aera Energy, which made the combined company the state’s largest oil producer. CalGEM’s failure to enforce the law puts taxpayers at risk of paying billions of dollars for cleanup of thousands of dangerous idle and orphan wells.

“Californians need a vigilant oil regulator that’s going to protect people and uphold the law, not cave to every dirty tactic from this dying industry,” said Kretzmann. “These new laws will save lives and make California a healthier, safer place to live as we transition to clean energy. But they have to be enforced.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in September 2020 that his administration would end fracking permits by 2024 because of the harms to the health and safety of communities and workers. In February CalGEM released its proposed rulemaking to codify the ban. By submitting the final regulations to the Office of Administrative Law, CalGEM has indicated it will adopt the ban without further changes.

Until this year, fracking was not banned by law, but the state has not approved any fracking permits since February 2021. CalGEM denied several permits since that time, citing environmental and climate concerns.