\tSacramento, CA \u2014 <\/p>\n
A federal court today denied<\/a> the Trump administration\u2019s request to pause enforcement of Senate Bill 1137 (SB 1137), California\u2019s landmark oil and gas health buffer law, during its legal challenge. The court\u2019s denial of the administration\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction means the state\u2019s 3,200-foot health protection zones between new oil drilling and communities, established by SB 1137, will remain in effect while the lawsuit is heard.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s decision is a win for Californians who have been saying for years that oil and gas drilling and its rampant pollution shouldn\u2019t be anywhere near our schools, hospitals and communities,\u201d said Tom\u00e1s Rebecchi, Central Coast organizing manager at Food & Water Watch. \u201cThis is an important moment for our health and safety, which is under threat from the Trump administration, and we applaud the court for keeping this important protection in place while the lawsuit plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n In January, the Trump administration\u2019s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sued California, claiming that federal laws override the state\u2019s buffer law on federal land or leases. Enacted in 2022, SB 1137 prohibits new oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive places where science shows increased health and safety risks. The goal of the law is to improve public health by reducing exposure to pollution.<\/p>\n Shortly after filing its lawsuit, the BLM asked the court to stop the state from enforcing protections against operations on federal lands while the lawsuit is pending, which would have endangered people living near thousands of acres of federal lands throughout California. A coalition of advocacy groups joined the state in opposing that request, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Los Padres ForestWatch, and Sierra Club. The groups are represented by counsel at Earthjustice and Center for Biological Diversity.<\/p>\n The court characterized SB 1137 as a \u201creasonable environmental regulation\u201d\u00a0with an \u201cobvious and important purpose\u201d\u00a0of protecting people from adverse health effects that is backed by science. In denying the BLM\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction, the court found that it \u201chas not demonstrated that it is likely to succeed in showing SB 1137 conflicts with federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornians can breathe easier knowing that the state\u2019s protections against oil and gas drilling are still in place,\u201d said Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>\u2019s Climate Law Institute<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue fighting to ensure these critical safeguards aren\u2019t ripped away by the Trump administration\u2019s dangerous \u2018drill, baby, drill\u2019 policies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis initial ruling keeps vital protections in place for our neighborhoods and the precious parks and open spaces that surround them,\u201d said Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch. \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s desperate quest to drill next to homes, schools and open spaces knows no bounds, but today justice prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that the federal government would rather pander to the oil and gas industry than protect public health. Thankfully, today\u2019s decision leaves in place for now the protections that community members and the public fought hard to secure,\u201d said Colin O\u2019Brien, an attorney at Earthjustice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe court made clear that SB 1137 is a lawful, science-based safeguard to protect people from the well-documented harms of oil drilling. Efforts to block these protections are nothing more than an attempt to shield the oil industry at the expense of communities that have already borne the brunt of pollution for decades. This ruling ensures that those protections stay in place while the case proceeds, and Sierra Club California will continue fighting to hold the line for public health and environmental justice,\u201d said Miguel Miguel, Director, Sierra Club California.<\/p>\n California\u2019s buffer law is based on a growing body of scientific evidence<\/a> showing that close proximity to oil and gas activity likely causes a host of serious health and safety harms including adverse birth outcomes, respiratory illness, and higher rates of cancer.<\/p>\n