American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016 - 20

format that is easier for royalty owners
to use; and allowing the Oil and Gas
Regulation and Cleanup Fund Advisory
Committee to expire, but continuing to
require the RRC report on the fund to
the legislature. ❒

CIPA Heading Into 2017
Mindful of Lessons
From Previous Year
SACRAMENTO, CA.-The
California Independent Petroleum
Association reports that 2017 will usher
in controversial new laws impacting
California oil and gas producers, as well
as some significant changes to the state
assembly.
CIPA Director of Government
Affairs P. Anthony Thomas notes that
legislation approved in 2016 is
scheduled to take effect and raise the
state's targeted greenhouse gas emission
cuts to 40 percent below 1990 levels by
2030. "SB 32 abdicates the legislature's
policymaking authority and instead
gives the unelected bureaucrats on the
California Air Resources Board
(CARB), the responsibility to
implement programs to meet the
aggressive mandated targets," he
assesses. "SB 32 remained dormant for
more than a year and never was brought
up for a policy hearing because of some
lawmakers' concerns and the bill's
supporters feared additional
amendments. In the final days of the
2016 legislative year, the bill was
brought up hastily after aggressive
lobbying that included personal pleas
from the White House, Governor Jerry
Brown, U.S. Senate candidate Kamala
Harris, and billionaire political
benefactor, Tom Steyer."
The legislature voted to give CARB
additional authority when it passed SB
1383, which requires the state to slash
organic waste by 50 percent by 2020
and by 75 percent by 2025, Thomas
notes. However, he observes, the bill
does not specifically address how the
state will reach those goals.
Fortunately, Thomas adds, other
legislation that threatened significant
harm to the industry was reshaped into
more palatable policies thanks to CIPA's
advocacy. He cites the example of AB
2927, a measure addressing idle wells
that originally required operators to
plug 25 percent of their idle wells every
year. "This would have cost industry
billions of dollars and eliminated
valuable assets," he describes.
He also recalls the intense legislative
20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

battle CIPA and its business allies won
over SB 1387, which would have given
the state unprecedented control over a
local board. Authored by Senate
President Pro Tempore Kevin De León,
D-Los Angeles, SB 1387 sought to
create three new seats on the South
Coast Air Quality Management District
(SCAQMD) that would be appointed by
the governor and legislative leaders. The
bill would have given the state 20
percent authority over a local board,
Thomas points out, adding that
SCAQMD opposed this measure.
"SB 1387 required a simple majority
vote, but failed miserably on the
assembly floor," he recalls. "Bills rarely
die on the floor of either house and it is
even rarer for legislative leaders to see
the demise of their bills on the floor."
Looking ahead, Thomas indicates
January marks the beginning of a new
legislative year in which Democrats will
enjoy a supermajority. "The two-thirds
majority will allow Democrats to push
through their agenda-including tax
hikes and constitutional amendments-
without Republican support," he
describes. "However, it's unclear if the
Democrats will exercise this option.
Political pendulums swing both ways
and any overreach could spell trouble
during the next election cycle." ❒

Wyoming DEQ Report
Belies Claims Fracturing
Polluted Water Wells
DENVER-The Wyoming
Department of Environmental Quality's
final report on the cause of groundwater
contamination in Pavillion, Wy., is a
"devastating blow for the national
environmental activist campaign against
fracturing," writes Energy in Depth
Mountain States Director Randy
Hildreth, who adds, "WDEQ's
announcement doesn't just close the
case on Pavillion, it's a knock-out blow
for the 'ban fracking' agenda."
Hildreth points out that WDEQ's
final report, released in early November,
states, "Evidence does not indicate that
hydraulic fracturing fluids have risen to
shallow depths utilized by water-supply
wells. Also, based on an evaluation of
hydraulic fracturing history, and
methods used in the Pavillion Gas Field,
it is unlikely hydraulic fracturing has
caused any impacts to the water-supply
wells."
WDEQ's report may be accessed at
http://deq.wyoming.gov/wqd/pavilioninvestigation/.
http://www.bluetickinc.com http://deq.wyoming.gov/wqd/pavillion-investigation/ http://deq.wyoming.gov/wqd/pavillion-investigation/
American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016

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