(The Center Square) – California is suing the Trump administration over its decision to take control of two state pipelines and permit Sable Offshore Corp. to restart pumping oil through them.<\/p>\n
With the Pacific Ocean behind him, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the suit<\/a> Friday during a news conference at a Los Angeles beach. It was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.<\/p>\n \u201cI brought you here so you can see first hand what Trump and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration are putting at risk,\u201d Bonta, a Democrat, told reporters. He cited the value of coastal areas to businesses dependent on tourism.<\/p>\n The lawsuit challenges the PHMSA’s Dec. 17 order to federalize two pipelines that originate at Las Flores Canyon in Santa Barbara County, CA-324 and CA-325, and end in Kern County, where refineries are located. On\u00a0Dec. 22, PHMSA, which previously classified the pipelines as intrastate and subject to state oversight, re-designated them as “interstate,” making them subject to federal oversight. PHMSA also approved Sable\u2019s plan to restart pumping oil through the pipeline, citing President Donald Trump\u2019s National Energy Emergency Executive Order.<\/p>\n The Center Square reached out to PHMSA, which defended its decisions on the pipelines.<\/p>\n “This pipeline was regulated for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, as an interstate pipeline,” a PHMSA spokesman told The Center Square Friday afternoon, answering questions by email. “The Las Flores pipeline was only redesignated as intrastate in 2016 when it was taken out of service. Based on the facts presented by Sable in their letter to us last November, PHMSA agreed with the operator that returning the pipeline to our jurisdiction was appropriate.<\/p>\n “Restarting the Las Flores Pipeline will bring much needed American energy to a state with the highest gas prices in the country,” the PHMSA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n On Friday, California’s average price was $4.215 a gallon, well above the national average of $2.862 a gallon. The only state with a higher average was Hawaii at $4.413 a gallon, according to AAA.<\/a><\/p>\n “We look forward to a swift resolution in this case to provide the operator with regulatory certainty and Californians with affordable American energy,” the PHMSA spokesperson told The Center Square.<\/p>\n