ASSEMBLYMEMBER PEDRO NAVA
35TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
For Immediate Release: April 4, 2008
Contact: John Mann
Phone: (805) 483-9808

Santa Barbara–State Assemblymember Pedro Nava, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office, the Surfrider Foundation and the Audubon Society held a press conference in Santa Barbara County today to announce two initiatives to go after the most egregious polluters in our state.

“I am proud to be joining forces with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, the Surfrider Foundation and the Audubon Society to better protect Californians and the environment from pollution,” said Nava. “As a former deputy district attorney, I know that it is imperative that state authorities have all the necessary tools to pursue serial polluters in California. It is unacceptable that the most egregious violators such as Greka Energy can pollute for years and not be held accountable and forced to clean-up their act.”

The initiatives are in response to a series of catastrophic on-shore oil spills in Santa Barbara County where more than 500,000 gallons of crude oil have been spilled during the last 8 years and almost 300,000 during the past several months by a multinational energy company.

AB 2912-Will improve California Department of Fish & Game’s authority by:

1)     Requiring the State Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) within the California Department of Fish & Game to plan for prevention of and response to oil spills in inland waters and on land.

2)     Requiring that fines and penalties for these spills be raised to the same levels authorized for marine spills.

This measure will correct an inequity in the state’s ability to respond to these oil spills, where more than 75 percent of all oil spills occur on inland waters and on land.  According to statistics, the state responds to less than one third of reported inland oil spills.  These spills pose a very significant threat to public safety, water quality and the environment.

AB 1960-This measure will provide increased authority to the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to do the following:

1)     Inspect land based oil facilities and strengthen minimum facility standards for operation in California.

2)     If a facility does not meet minimum maintenance standards, DOGGR will have the authority to order it to cease its operations until it can come into compliance.

3)     Require operators with a history of negligence or outstanding liabilities with the state to post a “life of well” and “life of facility” bonding.  The bonding will ensure that the state can properly decommission oil facilities, plug abandon wells and ensure that spills and incident clean-up costs will be covered. 

4)     The bond funds can also be used by DOGGR to cover needed maintenance so that a facility meets minimum operating standards.  

5)     Require an oil facility operator to file an oil spill contingency plan with DOGGR within 3 months following initial production or acquisition.

6)     Create an interagency committee to create and maintain an oil spill contingency plan.  The committee shall consist of officials from DOGGR, OSPR, the State Fire Marshal’s Office of Pipeline Safety, and the State Water Resources Control Board. The interagency committee shall convene no later than July 10, 2010 to adopt guidelines for onshore oil spill contingency plans.